Nature as a source of inspiration in musical creation, from Beethoven's Pastoral to Debussy's La mer or Richard Strauss's Alpina. But also its opposite, that dissociation between the human being and nature that Nietzsche warned about: from Music for Airports, by Brian Eno, a foundational piece of ambient music, to the electronic music of Ryoji Ikeda, which plays with the perception of space time. This is the axis around which the 2024-25 season of L'Auditori is built, which with (Contra) Natura completes the diptych started in the current season with Poder o Revuelta.
The new season of the OBC will be filled with these pieces related to nature: Mahler's Titan, Sibelius's 5th... But it will also continue the Ravel project, with the complete ballet of Daphnis et Cholé and his opera L'Heure spanish. And he will premiere a major commission, the Dream Requiem by Rufus Wainwright, with soprano Anna Prohaska.
The big news is the signing as main guest conductor of the very young Stephanie Childress, the new revelation of orchestral conducting - although she came in second place in the La Maestra competition organized by the Philharmonie of Paris - who also already has a growing career in opera, with debuts such as that of the Hamburg Opera.
Among the soloists invited by the Barcelona and National Symphony Orchestra of Catalonia, Renaud Capuçon returns on violin, and Frank Peter Zimmermann. Julia Hagen and Gautier Capuçon will be heard on the cello, and on the piano, Jan Lisiecki, Albert Cano Smit and Leif ove Andsnes. To highlight the voices of the mezzo Fleur Barron, with whom the OBC has made its recent European tour, Nicky Spence, Alexandra Loewe and, be careful, Sílvia Pérez Cruz. This time the tour that the OBC will undertake will take it to the Easter festival in Aix-en-provence and the Auditorium in Lyon. And in the summer of 2025 he will play at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Regarding its heritage commitment, on this occasion the OBC will perform and record Robert Gerhard's violin and harpsichord concertos.
The stage of the Sala Pau Casals will also be occupied by international orchestras such as the Helsinki Philharmonic, with Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and the Vienna Symphony with Andrés Orozco-Estrada. in addition to the always-awaited visit from Teodor Currentzis. Jordi Savall will investigate the original sound of romanticism, delving into Schumann, Schubert and Bruckner, in addition to performing Mozart's Mass in C less with his ensembles.
The Llums d'Antiga festival will rescue for churches in Barcelona the forgotten Oratorio of Carles Baguer, El hijo pródigo (1807) or the Requiem in four voices by Joan Cererols, in addition to going hand in hand with the Emergents festival or the Bachcelona.
And from old to new music: L'Auditori places this season the emphasis on the Swedish composer Lisa Streich and the Catalan José Río-Pareja, also with works of great symphonism that will lead to collaboration with institutions such as the WDR Orchestra of the Cologne Radio, the Royal Estcolomo Philharmonic or the Lucerne Festival. And both within the framework of the Mixtur Festival, of which L'Auditori is one of the main venues, and with Subsònic, in its second edition, it will make its determined commitment to avant-garde music, with the aforementioned Ikeda and Eno.
As for the chamber, the Quartets Biennial opens the course for the third time with historical groups such as the Tacaks Quartet and with new creations by Caroline Shaw, Judith Weis, Krzysztof Penderecki and José Río-Pareja. And the Gerhard, the Modigliani and the Apollon Musagete will perform. The Untouchables cycle welcomes figures such as Janine Jansen accompanied by pianist Denis Kozhukin. And violinist Augustin Hadellich returns.
The Municipal Band led by maestro José R. Pascual-Vilaplana, pays tribute to Amando Blanquer Ponsoda on his 90th anniversary, one of the figures who turned the wind orchestra into a worthy vehicle of artistic expression. It also commemorates the first centenary of Puccini's death and the 150th anniversary of Bizet's death. And he will play pieces such as Pinni di Roma by Ottorino Respigui or the Empordanese Suite by Juli Garreta. On March 23 they will celebrate the centenary of Richard Strauss by directing the BMB in Plaça Sant Jaume. That fact that passed to posterity will deserve a Death and Transfiguration and a premiere by Eduard Betes, Barcelona 1925.
In the Sessions and Sit Bak cycles you will see Tarta Relena, Oso Leone or Anna Andreu. And in jazz, Marco Mezquida returns and Ramon Prats or the American composer and virtuoso drummer Tyshawn Sorey will attend.
There are more than 500 concerts, six festivals, 15 absolute premieres and 18 national premieres, with a total of eleven commissions.
