Wednesday 21 October, 2020

The Basque National Orchestra records the ‘Cello Concerto’ by Fernando Velázquez under his direction and with Johannes Moser as soloist

Fernando Velázquez and Johannes Moser with the Basque National Orchestra. Picture: David Herranz.

The conductor from Getxo, with whom the Basque National Orchestra enjoys frequent and fruitful collaborations, on this occasion focuses on recording his own independently created symphonic music.

The outstanding German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser is the guest soloist in the recording with the Basque National Orchestra of this ‘Cello Concerto’ by Velázquez, which he conducts himself.

The prolific collaboration between the conductor Fernando Velázquez and the Basque National Orchestra continues to bear fruit this 20/21 season. Between April and July of this year, the videos in which Izaro and Huntza took the leap into the world of symphonic music in the company of the Basque National Orchestra and Fernando Velázquez were released, videos that have amassed more than a million views. At the end of September we announced that the orchestra and Velázquez would be attending the San Sebastian Festival for the presentation of Patria and Hil kanpaiak, whose soundtracks were composed by this productive duo.

In this first part of the season, Velázquez and the Basque National Orchestra have joined forces again to make a series of important recordings that will be released later at different times. Notable among these is the recording of the ‘Cello Concerto’ that Velázquez himself has composed and which will feature the soloist Johannes Moser. The renowned German-Canadian cellist, who was a guest of the Basque National Orchestra in the 2011 and 2014 seasons, is currently in San Sebastian to undertake this recording with the orchestra in the Miramon Auditorium.

Fernando Velázquez, composer, cellist and conductor

Although most of his work involves the composing of music for films, television series and musical arrangements for singers and musical groups, on this occasion Fernando Velázquez reveals his facet as a composer working independently, not constrained by filmed images but giving complete freedom to his creative talents.

Now Fernando Velázquez presents himself as composer of the Cello Concerto, a 26-minute piece whose solo instrument he is more than familiar with as a result of his training and career as a cellist. In this recording, Velázquez occupies the roles of composer, musician and conductor.

Johannes Moser, a world-class cellist

Hailed by Gramophone magazine as ‘one of the best among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists’, cellist Johannes Moser has performed with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the BBC Philharmonic at the Proms, the London Symphony, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Tokyo NHK Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra, with top-tier conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Valeryin Gergievta, Vladimir Jurowski, Franz Welser-Möst, Christian Thielemann, Pierre Boulez, Paavo Jarvi, Semyon Bychkov, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Gustavo Dudamel.

Fernando Velázquez and the Basque National Orchestra: a collaboration that goes back a number of years

The projects mentioned above are the most recent in which Fernando Velázquez and the Basque National Orchestra have collaborated, but there have been many others. Recently, in addition to Fernando Aramburu’s Patria, Velázquez and the orchestra have also recorded the original soundtrack for another novel brought to the screen: Soinujolearen semea, by Bernardo Atxaga. Also worthy of mention is the recent recovery of the music from Truffaut’s film The Bride Wore Black. But going a little further back we find A Monster Calls, a film directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, for which Velázquez won the Goya for best original music; Submergence, a feature film by Wim Wenders; the absolute premiere live performance of the soundtrack of The Impossible (J.A. Bayona), coinciding with its presentation at the San Sebastian Festival; Ocho apellidos vascos; Contratiempo; and others.

The renowned multi-award winning composer and conductor Fernando Velázquez is the leading exponent in a new generation of composers of music for film and television in Spain and the USA. His extensive career, which began in 1999, encompasses more than 50 feature films and national and international series, in addition to an important catalogue of concert works, incidental theatre music and commissions from all kinds of artists.