Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC)

Rehearsals of the OBC

Pupils can attend part of the rehearsals of the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya. This is an activity in three parts: thirty minutes of initial explanation, approximately forty-five minutes of attendance at the rehearsal and fifteen minutes of final comments.

The programme and the duration of the rehearsal may be modified depending on the conducting, and it is not possible to guarantee the presence of soloists and/or choirs on the day of the rehearsal.

25 THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS

Don't miss the opportunity of seeing one of today's most renowned conductors, Japan's Kazushi Ono, in a concert performing Russian Ballet music as the main feature. Idyll of Siegfried is the only symphonic poem by German composer Richard Wagner. Written as a gift to his wife Còsima on the birth of their son Siegfried, the work sets out the love theme between the hero and Brunhilda that the composer used many years later in the opera of the same name. Another poem, this one for dance, is Jeux, by Claude Debussy, commissioned by Diaghilev for the Russian Ballets and one of the most daring and, therefore, essential pieces in the composer's catalogue and of the first half of the twentieth century. Schéhérazade by Rimsky-Korsakov was also used by Diaghilev for the benefit of his company. The symphonic suite is based on different episodes from the Thousand and One Nights and recalls the eastern essence of these tales through captivating music.

Follow this concert live on Catalunya Música:
- Sundays at 11am
- Repeated broadcast on Tuesdays at 9pm on www.catclassica.cat

You can prepare yourself for the concert by listening to Orchestra Guide on Catalunya Música:
- Thursdays at 11pm
- Sundays at 9am
- At any time by clicking on www.catmusica.cat

26 A GREAT CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN

Acclaimed German violinist Viviane Hagner will be appearing before OBC audiences for the first time performing the well-known concerto for violin and orchestra by Jean Sibelius, a highly technically complex work in which the composer displays his mastery of this headline instrument. The work, composed in 1903, is one of the challenges for any soloist violinist. The northern romanticism of this work is complemented by Wagner's more passionate and yet transcendental piece: Tristan and Isolde, in which love and death become one with the death of Isolde. César Franck's Symphony in D minor should be placed in a context of complete symphonic transformation in France, together with composers such as Saint-Saëns, Lalo and Indy. The work is a testimony to this breath of fresh air that romanticism taken to the limit imposed on classical forms and that, in the case of Franck, is highly influenced by the German masters, such as Beethoven and Wagner.

Follow this concert live on Catalunya Música:
- Sundays at 11am
- Repeated broadcast on Tuesdays at 9pm on www.catclassica.cat

You can prepare yourself for the concert by listening to Orchestra Guide on Catalunya Música:
- Thursdays at 11pm
- Sundays at 9am
- At any time by clicking on www.catmusica.cat

27 HAYDN AND MOZART IN PARIS

France's chamber orchestra par excellence, l'Orchestres de Chambre de París, will be performing a predominantly classical programme during the OBC de Barcelona season, reflecting the type of group led by violinist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair. The delicious Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart should be seen as being in a purple patch for the composer, during which time he established the innovations discovered on his visits to Paris and Mannheim and which led to his mature works. It is no coincidence that this work appears together with Symphony no. 85 “The Queen of France” by Joseph Haydn. The work owes its nickname to Marie Antoinette, who was a particular fan of this work. This comes as no surprise, as this symphony combines the gallant elegance to which the French were accustomed with the desire for everything popular and the great vitality that announced the end of a style and an era: the Ancien Regime.

Follow this concert live on Catalunya Música:
- Sundays at 11am
- Repeated broadcast on Tuesdays at 9pm on www.catclassica.cat

You can prepare yourself for the concert by listening to Orchestra Guide on Catalunya Música:
- Thursdays at 11pm
- Sundays at 9am
- At any time by clicking on www.catmusica.cat