Classic rancheras made classical

How’s this for a concert concept: an evening of symphonic, all-instrumental versions of beloved songs by, say, Willie Nelson or Johnny Cash?

It may not sound like a winner when it comes to country music from the United States. But there’s something about Mexican country music -- and the classic rancheras of songwriter Jose Alfredo Jimenez in particular -- that makes the idea seem natural and appealing. Perhaps it’s all those violins used in mariachi ensembles. Or the inherently operatic quality of the vocals.

Whatever the reason, the transposition from cantina to concert stage worked wonderfully Saturday when Tijuana’s Orquesta de Baja California offered exquisite renditions of 11 Jimenez standards at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. The evening’s enchanting program and perfect spring climate made for an ideal debut of the Ford’s outdoor concert season.

The show was actually a two-part concerto. The first half showcased the dazzling and disciplined guitar of Roberto Limon (who is also the orchestra’s executive director) on the Jimenez arrangements.

The second half took a departure from Mexico to explore classical renditions of eight pop music standards, mostly from Latin America, rendered by the stunning soprano of Florencia Tinoco, the orchestra’s featured soloist.

She opened with an elegant treatment of “Como Fue,” the Cuban bolero popularized by Beny More and written by Ernesto Duarte (not Armando Manzanero as the program mistakenly stated). After some piercing high notes on the challenging “Mattinata” by Italy’s Ruggero Leoncavallo, Tinoco confessed that “after this song” she needed a drink of water, whereupon somebody from the audience shouted, “Tequila!”

“Tequila would be fine too,” she answered genteelly. “Who said that sopranos don’t drink tequila?”

Somehow, I don’t see the singer sidling up to a bar and asking for a shot to drown her sorrows, like the protagonists of so many Jimenez songs. That light exchange, however, captured the spirit of the evening, mostly refined but punctuated by flashes of rowdiness from the crowd as a reminder of the music’s roots.

Capturing the unbridled character of Mexican music in a classical format without a lead singer was a challenge for the 17-member orchestra, led by the young and affable Armando Pesquiera as guest conductor. That passion came through in some bravura passages from Limon’s guitar and in the rousing arrangements by Alberto Nunez Palacio.

Yet the point wasn’t simply to repeat songs so many already know so well, such as “El Rey” (The King) and “Un Mundo Raro” (A Strange World). This wasn’t the Muzak or Mantovani version of Mexican music. These Tijuana artists reconstructed the old chestnuts, revealing new dimensions in song structures and heightened beauty in their so-familiar melodies.

You knew it had worked when a man in the audience let out one of those exuberant mariachi yells: “¡Ay, ay, ay, ay, echale!”

Classical translation: Bravo!