‘A Walk Through Film’ at the Velodrome
The Basque National Orchestra, the SGAE Foundation and the San Sebastian Festival are pleased to present the film music concert that the Basque National Orchestra is offering for the 66th Festival.
This year, once again, the first Saturday of the Festival, the Velodrome will open at noon for music lovers, film buffs and the general public, with a performance blending a symphonic interpretation of soundtracks and a medley of scenes from the films they belong to. An hour and a half of audio-visual delight, Saturday 22 September at twelve noon. Entry is free of cost.
The Basque National Orchestra's film music concert is now a classic at the San Sebastian Festival, one of the must-see shows at the Velodrome, undeniably the most popular stage at the Festival with seating for almost 2,700 spectators. Biscay native composer and orchestra conductor Fernando Velázquez, who promoted the Orchestra's return to the San Sebastian Festival's agenda in 2012 with the world live premier of the soundtrack for The Impossible (J.A. Bayona), will be in charge of conducting the orchestra at this massive convergence of film and soundtracks.
The Concert & Screening this year, entitled "Paseo por el cine (A Walk through Film)," is a collection of music composed for a dozen films. Half of the musical numbers to be performed were composed by Velázquez himself: this includes soundtracks for the films Zip & Zap and the Captain's Island (by Oskar Santos), Gernika (by Koldo Serra) (Marrowbone (by Sergio G. Sánchez), Setback (by Oriol Paulo) —composed with singer-songwriter Zahara— and A Monster Calls (by Juan Antonio Bayona). Indeed, it was the Basque National Orchestra that was commissioned to record the soundtrack for A Monster Calls, whose European premier was at the 2016 San Sebastian Festival. Thanks to its score, Velázquez won the Goya for best original soundtrack. Regarding the upcoming event, in the words of Velázquez (in Spanish):
The repertoire is rounded off with adaptations of the music composed for another five films: Madness for Love (by Juan de Orduña), Tad the Lost Explorer and the Secret of King Midas (by Enrique Gato and David Alonso), The Chosen (by Antonio Chavarrías), All Men are the Same (by Manuel Gómez Pereira) and Go!azen (by Jabier Elortegi and Aitor Aranguren). Juan Quintero, Zacarías M. de la Riva, Arnau Bataller, Bernardo Bonezzi and Álvaro Carmona, respectively, were the composers of these soundtracks.
For this new concert, the Basque National Orchestra invited the Kup Taldea choir, who will participate in “Zip and Zap”, “Gernika,” “Setback," and more. Singer-songwriter Zahara will also be participated in "Setback," and three singers (Iholdi Beristain, Ainhoa Larrañaga and Aritz Mendiola) from the film Go!Azen.
Just like in years past, the concert will have an extra visual element: the music is enhanced by the projection of a montage of scenes from the film on a 400 m2 screen, specifically created for this concert by Carlos Rodríguez, from Morgancrea. What's more, some of the composers will be attending the concert, taking to the Velodrome stage to introduce their work.
Entry is free, and the invitation must be picked up between 15 and 21 September at the San Sebastian Festival information points at Kursaal and Okendo Plaza, from 9:00 to 20:00, or at the Donostia Tourism Office, Monday through Saturday from 9:00 to 20:00, and Sunday from 10:00 to 19:00. The last tickets are available at the Velodrome ticket booth at 10 AM.
