Guanajuato Music: Trejo and Barajas Go for Baroque at the Gene Byron

In front of an intent spectator, the duo gets ready for the encore

Early this week, I was sitting on the terrace of my first floor apartment on a quiet side street in Pastita when I heard beautiful flute and cello playing. Must be a CD, I thought, although I had often heard my neighbor Luis Barajas practicing his cello. Two days later, when I saw Luis in the street, I mentioned hearing the music. He laughed and told me he and Cuautemoc Trejo, the first flautist of the UG Symphony Orchestra (OSUG), had been preparing for their concert at the Gene Byron on Sunday.

The two played works by Telemann, Bach, Handel and the 18th Century French flautist and composer, Michel Blavet. Born 20 years later than Telemann, Blavet played in the quartet that premiered Telemann's Paris Quartets for flute, violin, viola de gamba and cello in the City of Light. He was the preeminent French flautist of his day but, most of the music he composed for the instrument has not survived as only the easiest pieces were published for his students to perform.

The small but appreciative audience kept clapping for an encore and were rewarded with one movement by Bach. Not for the first time, a Guanajuato audience had the chance to expand its listening repertoire with an old-but-new work.