Since its foundation in 2006, the Franz Schubert Filharmonia has stood out for its artistic quality, the versatility of its programs and its own sound that its director does not hesitate to describe as “Mediterranean”.
Formed by a new generation of musicians from the country and directed by Tomàs Grau from the very beginning, this orchestra has collaborated with soloists of the stature of Anne-Sophie Mutter or Maria João Pires and with conductors of the level of Josep Pons, Rinaldo Alessandrini or Antoni Ros Marba.
His presence at the Palau de la Música Catalana has already become, thanks to the support of a loyal and dedicated public, one of the main musical events in the city. Its twelfth season in this auditorium offers music lovers numerous reasons to be happy, with 8 concerts scheduled in which we will find works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Rachmaninov, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Richter and Guinovart.
In addition, Grau will conduct works such as The Rite of Spring or The Symphony of the New World and the 200th anniversary of the premiere, on the exact same day, of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony will be commemorated.
The season will open in style, on Sunday, October 1, with the guitarist Miloš Karadagli? performing the Concierto de Aranjuez, by Joaquín Rodrigo. In the second part, we will be able to enjoy the New World Symphony, which Antonin Dvo?ák composed during his stay in the United States, creating a score reminiscent of black and Indian music melodies. In addition, the orchestra will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the disappearance of Pau Casals with two of his most emblematic works.
On Sunday, November 19, the talented Polish conductor Krzysztof Urba?ski will make his debut at the head of the group with one of Tchaikovsky’s important works, undoubtedly one of his reference composers, the Fourth Symphony, whose first movement –as he explained at the time the Russian author himself – is a representation of the influence of fate on human lives. Before, in the first part, the South Korean violinist Soyoung Yoon, winner of the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin Competition in 2022, will perform the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius.
The Ludwig Trio, considered the best ensemble in this format in the whole country, and made up of the pianist Hyo-Sum Lim and the brothers Abel and Arnau Tomàs, also founders and members of the renowned Quartet Casals, will be at the Palau on Sunday, 21 January 2024, to perform, together with the orchestra, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, created in 1804 for violin, cello and piano. After the break, Grau will be in charge of conducting Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1 Winter Dreams.
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites have become, at least since the time Casals rediscovered them for the general public, one of the various expressive peaks of the composer from Eisenach. Now, we will have the opportunity to enjoy them again by the renowned Latvian interpreter Mischa Maisky, whose curriculum includes the milestone of having been the only cellist to record great concerts for this instrument with maestro Leonard Bernstein, and who will return to Barcelona on Tuesday , January 30, to close the revision of the Bachian integral that began two seasons ago.
As part of the Palau Grandes Voces cycle, there will be an extraordinary concert on Monday, February 19, with a very special guest, the Albanian soprano Ermolea Jaho, who will make her debut at the Palau de la Música to perform, together with the Franz Schubert Filharmonia, the Giacomo Puccini’s most emblematic arias. Jaho will also be the soloist of the new symphony that Albert Guinovart has created to commemorate the centenary of the birth of the Barcelona soprano Victoria de los Ángeles, and which will premiere in the second part.
On Tuesday March 5, the orchestra will receive the German-born maestro Christoph Eschenbach, one of the most prestigious conductors on the current scene, whose career began thanks to the support of Herbert von Karajan himself. On this occasion, Eschenbach will conduct works by Mozart and Beethoven. Grau, for his part, will be in charge of addressing the Ninth Symphony –the last one that Beethoven was able to complete– with the Madrigal Choir and 4 exceptional soloists, on Tuesday, May 7, the same day that marks the 200th anniversary of the premiere of this immortal work.
