The Miramon Matinées are back next Saturday 8 October
The Akelarre Abesbatza and Vocalia Taldea choirs, the ‘Living Room Music’ percussion show, the brass instruments of Cuivres en Pays Basque and many chamber ensembles with members of the Basque National Orchestra make up the 16 musical events of the new Miramon Matinées season, for which tickets are on sale.
Ensemble Oiasso will kick off the season next Saturday 8 October at 11:00, with a concert that includes Beethoven’s Septet as the main feature. Tickets are on sale at 11 euros for this event and for all others in the Season.
The 2022-2023 Miramon Matinée Season will begin on Saturday 8 October at the headquarters of the Basque National Orchestra. The matinées have been running for more than three decades as part of the Basque National Orchestra's schedule, offering a quality musical alternative. The season, which since its creation has been supported by Kutxa Fundazioa, will extend until 3 June and includes a total of sixteen events.
Chamber ensembles in the Basque National Orchestra usually occupy a large part of the season’s schedule, and this Season will be no exception. Several different string and wind instrument ensembles will continue to offer classical repertoires and other more hidden treasures of chamber music: Sexteto Apasionado, Hemiola Quartet, Belle Époque Quartet, Haize, Arima Quartet or Cuivres en Pays Basque, a curious ensemble of almost thirty brass wind instrumentalists from orchestras in the French Basque Country and the Basque National Orchestra.
However, there will also be room for proposals that differ from this format. For example, the Basque National Orchestra's percussion section will resume the percussion performance with domestic elements, Living Room Music, which was so successfully launched in the Music Room educational activity but could not be carried out during the last season in the Matinées due to the pandemic. Also worth highlighting is the presence of two choir ensembles from the territory offering a concert each: Akelarre Abesbatza and Vocalia Taldea. All of these proposals make up an attractive menu where everyone can find their own particular treasure.
This is the complete schedule of this season's Matinées:
- 8 October: Ensemble Oiasso
- 22 October: Le Monde Quartet
- 5 November: Sexteto Apasionado
- 26 November: Belharra
- 3 December: Minerva Quartet
- 17 December: Izai
- 14 January: Haize
- 28 January: Basque National Orchestra Percussion Section
- 11 February: Queentettas
- 4 March: Akelarre Abesbatza
- 11 March: Hemiola Quartet
- 1 April: Vocalia Taldea
- 22 April: Groupe Damasienne
- 6 May: Arima Quintet
- 13 May: Cuivres en Pays Basque
- 3 June: Belle Époque Quartet
Ensemble Oiasso opens the Matinées Season next Saturday
Next Saturday 8 October at 11:00 the ensemble of seven musicians from the Oiasso Ensemble will start the new season of the Miramon Matinées, with a concert titled ‘Sounds on the Danube: from Budapest to Vienna’. The line-up includes Laura Balboa (violin), Delphine Dupuy (viola), Gabriel Mesado (cello), Paloma Torrado (double bass), Luis Cámara (clarinet), François Proud (bassoon) and Cristian Palau (French horn).
Ensemble Oiasso will play two pieces at this Matinée: the Intermezzo for String Trio by Zoltan Kodaly and the Septet by Ludwig Van Beethoven.
Kodaly is considered one of the most important Hungarian composers of the 20th century. His Intermezzo for String Trio, which will be heard at the start of this first Matinée of the Season, dates back to around 1905. It was during this period when the composer started his travels visiting remote villages to compile Hungarian folk songs. As a result of all this fieldwork, folk melodies play an important role in Kodaly's music. In the Intermezzo there are abundant sounds from real Hungarian folk melodies, instead of the image of gypsy music made popular by Austrian and German composers such as Brahms. This piece, with just one movement, has the character of a relaxed serenade.
The central piece of this concert will be Beethoven's Septet, which was launched with great success in April 1800, within the same program that included the presentation of his Symphony No. 1. In spirit and in form, the Septet follows the model of 18th-century divertimenti, a lighter entertainment in a series of short movements. However, it opens with an almost symphonic movement, with a slow introduction followed by an adagio which offers lyrical opportunities for the soloists. The Minuet is based on a theme of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 2, which had been composed in 1796. The German composer uses all the instrumental variety he has available in the theme and variations that follow. The French horn introduces the rustic scherzo, and the contrasting section of the trio presents a beautiful melody for cello. A solemn march introduces the final part, a luminous and elegant presto
Season tickets and tickets
The season ticket for the 16 concerts has a general price of €96 and €75.20 for beneficiaries of the special price (over-65's, under-30s, holders of season tickets for other seasons of the orchestra, for Kursaal Eszena, holders of K26 and K26+ cards from Kutxabank, friends of Eureka! Zientzia Museoa and Musikene). Already available for purchase by calling the Basque National Orchestra's offices (943 01 32 32) or via the website euskadikoorkestra.eus.
Tickets for single concerts cost €11 and are available for purchase on euskadikoorkestra.eus, at the ticket booth of the Kursaal Auditorium and on the same day of the concert, if seats are available, at the ticket booth of the orchestra's headquarters in Miramon.
Free bus service
The concerts will be held at 11:00 am, at Basque National Orchestra's headquarters in Miramon. In order to attend them, the orchestras will continue to provide a free public bus service. It leaves at 10:25 from Gipuzkoa Plaza 4 and stops at Sancho El Sabio 18 and Avda. de Madrid 34.
