Mariachi – The Spirit Of Mexico @ PBS.

A Spanish operatic tenor hosting a special dedicated to the music most often associated with tequila and cantinas? Plácido Domingo reveals another side of his musical self as host of PBS’s MARIACHI: THE SPIRIT OF MEXICO, and his participation underscores the tenor of this special – the program finally gives mariachi music its due.

The special premieres Saturday, May 3 at 7 PM on PBS (check local listings).

MARIACHI: THE SPIRIT OF MEXICO will thrill everyone who has fallen in love with – or to – the melodies of the mariachi. And it just might start a new wave of the “Latin explosion” in American popular music. For ten days each year during the International Mariachi Festival in Guadalajara, more than 500 mariachis perform in concert halls and street markets – musicians famous and unknown gathered to celebrate the passionate music that is the beating heart of the Mexican people. Now for the first time, MARIACHI: THE SPIRIT OF MEXICO captures the excitement of this event in an exuberant display of the best of mariachi, headlined by the world’s best groups – Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, Nati Cano’s Mariachi Los Camperos, and Mariachi de América de Jesús Rodríquez de Híjar.

Plácido Domingo hosts and narrates, and even performs his favorite mariachi song, “Paloma Querida.” The operatic tenor, who cites his Grammy for 100 Anos de Mariachi as the award in his career that means the most to him, says, “I have loved mariachi ever since I first came to Mexico from Spain as a child. When I courted my wife, I hired mariachi singers to serenade her just as lovers do today. So how could I pass up a chance to experience the greatest mariachi festival in the world?”

Throughout the special, host Plácido Domingo explores the history of mariachi and the emotional songs that have journeyed from the countryside to the concert hall. MARIACHI: THE SPIRIT OF MEXICO demonstrates the wide range of mariachi music – passionate love songs performed on a stage covered in red and white rose petals, celebratory anthems of Mexican culture – even a mariachi rendition of “Ave Maria.” The groups featured in the special come from North and South America, Cuba, Spain, and as far away as Croatia, and perform in venues ranging from the historic Degollado Theater to an outdoor market, a diversity that reflects the very nature of the music itself, which is reinvented in each generation the further it spreads beyond Mexico.

MARIACHI: THE SPIRIT OF MEXICO features performances from the 9th annual International Mariachi Festival (September 2002).

Produced by WLIW New York in association with KCET Hollywood. Executive Producer: Roy Hammond; Producer/Director: Leo Eaton (Eaton Creative, Inc.); Musical Director: Rubén Fuentes. Underwriters: Mexico Tourism Board, Jalisco Tourism Board, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information at http://www.wliw.org