Two worlds which, on the face of it, are completely unrelated, have come together to produce Gutizia – a smorgasbord that directly links the txistu, an instrument deeply rooted in Basque culture, with a symphony orchestra. This is what's currently occupying Garikoitz Mendizabal and the Basque National Orchestra in Miramon, as they prepare to record and promote a compendium of works for txistu and orchestra. In the words of Garikoitz Mendizabal, one of the proponents of this instrument, the goal is to ‘broaden its repertoire, so that the txistu can naturally step onto the international stage with orchestras across the world’. 

The record will comprise a total of eight works written or arranged by authors of diverse origins, rendering this collection of music a journey in itself. Most of the works will have their premiere on this record, and each has its own story and motivations behind it: a tribute to Kenya (Karibu Peponi); an expression of the emotions that human beings experience throughout our lives (Legend); a showcase of the txistu as an instrument that holds its own with an orchestra (Symphony-Concerto); or the piece by Lebanese composer Naji Hakim, who took inspiration from Basque melodies and introduced the txistu as a solo instrument in a classical concerto with three movements (Concerto for txistu and orchestra).

Project participants

Jaume Santonja, Associate Conductor with the Basque National Orchestra, will act as Musical Director for Gutizia. Garikoitz Mendizabal, the orchestra and the composers will be joined by the soprano Naroa Intxausti, the children’s choir of the Francisco Escudero Conservatory directed by Eva Ugalde, and Iñaki Tellería and Marc Blanes for production and sound.

The international label Orpheus Classical will record this musical project. It will be available on CD and on Spotify and iTunes, with release scheduled for after summer.

Garikoitz Mendizabal (Zestoa, 1973) is an icon when it comes to performing on the txistu and to promoting and showcasing this instrument. He has undertaken an incredible labour over recent years with contemporary composers to create new repertoires. Gutizia is the fruit of this labour. As he herself says, ‘You can’t deny that with new music comes a broader and enriched repertoire for txistu and orchestra. This has always been my goal throughout all these years: to leave a legacy for generations to come. Not just Basque musicians but foreign composers who have written for an instrument that is so inherently Basque. I'd like the txistularis of the future to have more options and more material that they can play accompanied by a large orchestra. As is the case with other non-standard instruments (accordion, guitar, etc.), on the orchestral scene the txistu will naturally have more opportunities to play alongside a symphony orchestra, both in the Basque Country and abroad. I firmly believe that this instrument will be an invaluable resource to the international expansion of Basque culture. In fact, I’ve heard how excited listeners are when they hear our txistu accompanied by an orchestra. All I am doing is giving you my time, my enthusiasm and my excitement’.

For the Basque National Orchestra, this coupling of two worlds is a continuation of  its calling to promote and disseminate Basque culture, on this occasion via an instrument with deep local roots and a strong tradition behind it. Previous examples of this phenomenon involved the txalaparta (Oreka TX / Kalakan), the bagpipes (Gaiteros de Elciego) and the trikitixa (Kepa Junkera). As has always been the case in this series of projects, the goal is to give the instrument a new lease of life and to create a formal record of the richness of Basque cultural heritage.

Information sheet

Pieces in order of recording:

• Legend......................................................... Eduardo Moreno [17 min]
• Concerto for txistu and orchestra................. Naji Hakim [12 min]
• Hora stacatto................................................ Grigoras Dinicus (Arranged by: Iñaki Urkizu) [2 min]
• Iruten ari nuzu.............................................. Popular (Arranged by: Kepa de Miguel) [4 min]
• Atzo ttun ttun................................................ Popular (Arranged by: Kepa de Miguel) [4 min]
• Karibu Peponi.............................................. Javier Martinez Campos [10 min]
• Symphony-Concerto.................................... David Johnstone [27 min]
• Fandango Zaharra....................................... Unknown composer (Arranged by: Pierre Wekstein) [4 min]

Participants:

• Garikoitz Mendizabal, txistulari.
• Basque National Orchestra.
• Naroa Intxausti, soprano.
• Children’s choir of the Francisco Escudero Conservatory. Director: Eva Ugalde.
• Jaume Santonja, orchestral conductor.
• Iñaki Telleria and Marc Blanes, production and sound.

Notes on some of the pieces comprising Gutizia

Legend (Eduardo Moreno)

This score is undoubtedly an attempt to express the emotions that human beings experience throughout our lives. The voice that transmits them is none other than a small being like any one of us, or better said, a humble instrument: the txistu.

We steal its language and its form of expression, we rob it of its personality by taking it out of its context, and we give it the opportunity to show us the emotions that everyone feels: joy, love, pain, the fight, and of course, desperation.

Legend tells a story, but it also strips the txistu of all the artifice created by tradition, leaving it free to express, through its sound, the deepest experiences humans have gone through for centuries.

Concerto for txistu and orchestra (Naji Hakim)

A concerto with a classical three-movement format. Lebanese composer Naji Hakim took inspiration from Basque genres and melodies. The first movement comprises a mazurka and a danceable minuet, while the second alludes to the funeral march titled Gernika, by Pablo Sorozábal. The third and final movement is about dance.

Hora Staccato (Grigoras Dinicus, arranged by Iñaki Urkizu)

A much-loved virtuoso piece, now presented for the first time for txistu and orchestra.

Iruten ari nuzu / Atzo Ttun ttun (Popular, arranged by Kepa de Miguel)

Well-known Basque songs by an unknown composer, now arranged by Kepa de Miguel Garbizu. For Garikoitz Mendizabal, this return to his student days in the conservatory 25 years ago evokes nostalgia and memories. Hence, he entrusted his beloved professor with the orchestration. Amaia Zipitria (his piano accompaniment) and the soprano Naroa Intxausti will perform in a piece that Mendizabal sees as ‘an emotional end to a cycle’.

Karibu Peponi (Javier Martínez Campos)

Karibu Peponi was composed in 2021 for solo txistu and symphony orchestra. The piece was commissioned by Garikoitz Mendizabal and is dedicated to him on account of the friendship and diverse professional experiences and collaborations that bond the composer and the txistulari together.

The piece is a small tribute to Kenya, its people and its flora and fauna. Hence the Swahili title ‘Karibu Peponi’, which translates as ‘Welcome to paradise’. When Martínez Campos was there in 2019, he met a warrior from the Samburu people who would improvise on a three-holed flute. The instrument inevitably reminded him of the txistu, and it seemed appropriate that it play the leading role in this tribute.

The work uses the African Makru rhythm and is structured around two themes which are developed via rhythmic, harmonic and melodic variations and a constant dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra. The result is a technically demanding and expressive composition for the soloist, in terms of the score itself and the pace, as well as the phrasing and musicality. For the orchestra, the piece is colourful, evocative and grandiose.

Symphony – Concerto (David Johnstone)

The composer’s primary aim was to create an important addition to the txistu soloist’s repertoire, in terms of both the difficulty of the piece and the symphonic structure. In this piece, the soloist is the equal of the orchestra in a musical creation that presents a symphonic transformation and an organic structure. Hence the title. The work is undeniably spiritual, but by no means decidedly religious, at least not in a traditional sense.

The first movement opens with a prayer, reminiscent of a romantic film, with a solo part that at times you could sing along to and at others is oratorical. However, the orchestra accompaniment gradually increases the tension that turns the solo part, desperate and crestfallen, on its head.

In the second movement, the orchestra abandons the soloist completely, the latter having to find their own way in the form of a long cadenza. Johnstone relentlessly launches into the third fast movement. Titled ‘Freedom’, the string part in this allegro is fairly aggressive. Later, the soloist largely dominates the development section. There are fast-paced moments, a huge mix of tension and rest, a subtle but energetic cadenza by the soloist and the string soloists, and a glorious and triumphant coda, to bring the work to an exhilarating and brilliant close.

The work is dedicated to Félix Palomero ‘for believing in me’, to quote the composer.

More information

Since the concert season got under way in September, the Basque National Orchestra has had to accommodate the strict measures dictated by the authorities to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Among said measures, occupancy of its concert halls is currently limited to 400 people. The Basque National Orchestra has decided – with great effort involved – to increase the number of concert sessions from 5 to 12 so that its season ticket holders and followers can attend. It has also had to redesign some of its programmes. This has of course affected season ticket holders — with each new restriction on occupancy, times or movement between municipalities, they have had to reorganise themselves.

In the words of the orchestra's General Manager, Oriol Roch, “The result of this complex organisational labour is a highly ambitious path embarked upon by the Basque National Orchestra, rooted in its overarching commitment to the audience. Coupled to this is the orchestra’s conviction that it constitutes a great cultural asset and a driver of the society to which it owes its existence. The orchestra will, of course, continue its efforts. It’s worth it”.

Likewise, Robert Trevino says “Like any member of society, our shared purpose is to support and care for one another. The Basque National Orchestra has drawn on this concept of support to continue navigating the pandemic at the service of our society. Our goal is to stretch our bodies, our emotions and the very institution itself beyond limits bring music to people’s hearts and offer us a shared community experience. We have taken all manner of actions to make this possible – repeating programmes, rebroadcasting all our concerts on EITB, uploading these videos to YouTube, etc. – all so that every individual can experience the orchestra however they can”.

The programme for the coming months through to June sticks to some of the original plans while others have been modified. Among those plans going ahead are the debuts of three orchestral conductors (Ruth Reinhardt, Gemma New and Anja Bihlmaier), the premiere of the second work in the Elkano: Mundubira musika bidelagun project, titled My Marine Monsters, by Mikel Urquiza (Bilbao), and appearances by important soloists such as Vadim Gluzman on violin and Nikolai Lugansky on piano. The programme modifications include the unfortunate withdrawal of two choirs (Easo Abesbatza and Orfeón Pamplonés) from two programmes and of a selection of symphonies requiring a large ensemble. These measures have been taken to ensure that the safety distances currently required by law are maintained on the stage. Among the most exciting news is that the orchestra will be joined by a new soloist, Augustin Hadelich (scheduled for last season’s programme), and by pianist Judith Jáuregui and conductor Semyon Bychkov. Augustin Hadelich will not perform in Pamplona due to scheduling conflicts, while Judith Jáuregui and Semyon Bychkov will perform solely in the Navarran capital to make up for concerts cancelled in the city in Autumn. The biggest change in the concert pieces concerns the programme dedicated to Mahler, whose Symphony No.7, ‘Song of the Night’ will be substituted by symphonies 5 and 6 by Bruckner. By removing some works from the programme, we can accommodate others requiring smaller ensembles or which are of shorter duration, to ensure we comply with the restrictions.

The orchestra is striving to bring a quality programme to as many people as possible under the current circumstances. The Basque National Orchestra asks its audience for patience and understanding in the midst of the ongoing changes mandated by the restrictions in force at any given time, and which directly impact its concerts.

Current concert times:

• Donostia-San Sebastián and Vitoria: 17:30 and 19:30.
• Bilbao: 17:00 and 19:30.
• Pamplona: 18:00 and 20:15.

Concert season programme through to June

SURVIVORS:

Each city will enjoy a different combination of pieces. Back on the programme is Elkano: Mundubira musika bidelagun and the premiere of My Marine Monsters by Mikel Urquiza from Bilbao. Grammy winner Augustin Hadelich makes his debut with the orchestra (San Sebastián, Bilbao and Vitoria) with the well-known and beautiful Violin Concerto by Sibelius. Pamplona will hear pieces by Smetana and Brahms in lieu of the Sibelius concerto. All the performances will close with Dvořák's Symphony No. 5. The orchestra will be led for the first time by the young German conductor Ruth Reinhardt.

ENIGMATIKOA (Pamplona only):

Judith Jáuregui, pianist from Donostia-San Sebastián, and Jaume Santonja, Associate Conductor of the Basque National Orchestra, have put together a new programme to substitute one of the concerts cancelled in Pamplona. The pianist will perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.1, while the second part of the concert will be dedicated to Schumann's Symphony No.2.

MAHLER (Pamplona only):

Semyon Bychkov will conduct Mahler’s Symphony No.4 in Pamplona on 5th March. The conductor made his debut with the orchestra in the last edition of Musical Fortnight and now returns to Miramón. The work he is preparing with the orchestra will also be performed on 6th March at the Musika-Música festival in the Euskalduna Palace, Bilbao. Serena Saenz will perform soprano.

JOURNEYS:

Gemma New picks up the baton in this programme. The great Vadim Gluzman will perform solo violin in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 before the orchestra tackles Schumann's Symphony No.3, ‘Rhenish’.

WAGNER (Pamplona only):

This programme was performed in November in Vitoria, San Sebastián and Bilbao and now comes to Pamplona, this time conducted by Jaume Santonja, Associate Conductor of the Basque National Orchestra. The orchestra will once again be joined by the mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham.

BRUCKNER:

Robert Trevino returns to the podium to lead symphonies 5 and 6 by Bruckner.

YOUNG PEOPLE:

This programme features veteran conductor Hans Graf and Birgit Kolar, guest first violinist who makes her soloist debut with a performance of Bartok's Violin Concerto No.1.

WAYFARER:

Anja Bihlmaier is the third conductor to debut with the orchestra this season. She is joined by Manuel Walser, who will sing Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer. Walser has been one of Vienna State Opera’s brightest stars in recent years.

NEW YORK:

The final programme of the season will feature Rachmaninoff and his Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini. The score requires an extraordinarily gifted pianist. Trevino has invited the great Russian virtuoso Nikolai Lugansky to take on the challenge, given his depth of knowledge of Rachmaninoff's music.

Other orchestral activities

The Miramón Matinees cycle is going ahead with the 16 scheduled chamber music performances. Seats will be available to season ticket holders only and no further tickets will be sold while the occupancy restrictions remain in place.

The orchestra has made various commitments for the coming months with other cultural institutions. It will feature at Musika/Música in Bilbao (planned for early March), conducted by Semyon Bychkov, and at the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards in mid-June. The two ABAO Bilbao Opera programmes in which the orchestra was due to participate have been cancelled, as has the Musikaste festival in Errenteria.

More information

The Basque National Orchestra is present on the new art streaming service Stage Access, a recently-launched digital subscription platform that includes concerts, opera, dance and theatre. As can be seen in the screenshot of the home page accompanying this article, the Basque National Orchestra will be sharing a space with highly relevant performers and ensembles such as Katia Buniatishvili, Lang Lang, the Berlin Philharmonic or the Vienna Philharmonic. 

The platform has already made available to its subscribers the concerts that were part of 'Euskadiko Orkestra Martxan!', an initiative that saw the return of the Basque National Orchestra to the stage after the first wave and confinement of the covid-19 pandemic. The Basque National Orchestra was the first orchestra in Spain and one of the few in Europe to get started and reunite on the stage again, which raised the interest of Stage Access in the Basque ensemble. On that occasion, a reduced orchestra format was considered (maximum of 50 musicians), which met behind closed doors to create a mini-season of 8 concerts, first broadcast on ETB2 and later on the orchestra’s YouTube channel, where they received more than 10,000 views.

Now this mini-season which includes works by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Brahms among others, and which was directed in its entirety by Robert Treviño, is also available on Stage Access (only available for now for residents in North America). This partnership will bring the Basque National Orchestra to the North American market.

More information

As we announced a few weeks ago, as a formula to overcome the current difficulty to perform before live audiences, the Basque National Orchestra has teamed up with EiTB to record and broadcast its Seasonal concerts, all of them recorded at the Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall in Bilbao. Since 28 November ETB2 has been broadcasting these concerts every Saturday at 11:00, and will continue to do so until July 2021, until the sequence has been completed.

After these broadcasts, the Basque National Orchestra will make available to the public the performance of these concerts on its YouTube channel, and will start to do so today with the publication of Franz Schubert's 'Symphony No. 2', the first of this renowned composer's four symphonies which the orchestra will make public over the coming weeks.

The Basque National Orchestra will gradually announce the uploading of new YouTube videos via its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Since the beginning of the lockdown in March, the orchestra has made great strides in producing and distributing quality audiovisual content in the digital space, and now has 7,000 subscribers to its YouTube channel.

More information

As a way of overcoming the current difficulty of reaching in-person audiences, the Basque National Orchestra is once again joining forces with EiTB, this time to record and broadcast this Season’s concerts. Starting this Saturday, 28 November at 11:00, and on the following Saturdays through July 2021, ETB2 will broadcast all of the concerts that the Basque National Orchestra will present this Season at Euskalduna Bilbao.

This new series of broadcasts will add to the list of those that the Basque National Orchestra and EiTB already presented between May and July of this year under the title ‘Euskadiko Orkestra Martxan!’. This initiative constituted the Basque National Orchestra’s return to the stage after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown (it was the first State orchestra, and one of the few in Europe to regroup and return to the stage). On that occasion, a reduced orchestra format was considered (maximum of 50 musicians), which met behind closed doors to create a mini-season of 8 concerts, first broadcast on ETB2 and later on the orchestra’s YouTube channel, where they received more than 10,000 views.

Now the Season’s own concerts are able to be presented in most auditoriums with a reduced audience due to current restrictions, while they will be recorded for broadcast on ETB2 and YouTube.

Calendar of ETB2 broadcasts

Thirteen concerts are planned for broadcast, all of which recorded at Euskalduna Bilbao. ETB2 will broadcast the performances every Saturday at 11:00 starting 28 November through July 2021, with the sole exception of the Christmas Concert, which will air on Friday, 25 December:

These dates may change, and in particular those furthest off in the future. As the dates approach, they will be confirmed on the euskadikoorkestra.eus website and the Basque National Orchestra’s social media accounts.

Pieces available on YouTube

As the television performances are broadcast, the Basque National Orchestra will upload the concerts piece by piece to their YouTube channel.

Since the beginning of the lockdown in March, the orchestra has made great strides in producing and distributing quality audiovisual content in the digital space, and now has some 7,000 subscribers to its YouTube channel. This Season will take another step forward with the vast majority of its pieces performed being uploaded.

More information

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.

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The Kursaal Auditorium has become a recording studio for this project in order to capture the most universally popular and symphonic Ravel with a fully deployed Basque National Orchestra. This recently launched recording partnership with the Ondine label began in mid-September with the recording of a series of works by little-known American composers and starts again this week with the great composer from Ziburu, Maurice Ravel.

Maurice Ravel is a composer that the Basque National Orchestra regards as its own, and after achieving prominence conducting his work in numerous performances in the concert season and also at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris last January, Trevino wanted to immerse himself once again in Ravel’s music. This is the first time that the American has recorded Ravel, but it is not the first time for the orchestra, given that its extensive music library includes another recording devoted entirely to Ravel made in the year 2000 with the principal conductor at that time Gilbert Varga and Joaquín Achúcarro. That recording included the two piano concertos by the Bilbao-born pianist and Alborada del gracioso, which is now being recovered together with La Valse, Bolero, Rapsodie Espagnole, Pavane pour une infante défunte and Une barque sur l´océan.  It is an important recording for both the orchestra and the chief conductor and which they hope will occupy a prominent place in the record market. The recording is currently taking place in the Kursaal Auditorium, and an extra platform has been added to its large stage so that the ninety or so musicians tackling the grand symphonic work of Ravel maintain the safe distances required today.

This recording, which will be available both as a CD and online, will be released on the prestigious Finnish label Ondine. Trevino has secured an annual recording commitment from this record company that began successfully a few months ago with the recording of the entire Beethoven symphonies with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, of which he is also the chief conductor. And now he is beginning his recording adventure with the Basque National Orchestra with this twin recording of Ravel at his most symphonic and lesser-known American composers. Both recordings will be released during the year 2021 and will be the first made by the Basque National Orchestra under chief conductor Robert Trevino:

“I am very excited to announce that the Basque National Orchestra, Ondine and I have joined together to begin an adventure with several new projects. I have worked with Ondine exclusively for some time while also working with the orchestra, but it is now that we join forces to record together for the first time. For the occasion, we have chosen to make a purely American record focusing on composers who are not at all well known, even in the USA. During this time working with the Basque National Orchestra I have brought a lot of American music with me and it makes sense that we explore this repertoire that is unique to our orchestras. At the same time, we have a special interest in focusing on the music of Basque composers. In these four years here we have spent a lot of time exploring the music of Maurice Ravel, surely the most famous of the Basque composers. That is why we want to share what this orchestra knows about Maurice Ravel and how it understands his language with the world. Ondine will accompany us on this journey. We are very excited about what we are creating and what we are going to do in the future. I hope you join us. Thank you.”

‘American Composers’

This is the provisional title of the compilation of four works composed by a number of the most important American composers from the last century who even today do not receive the recognition they deserve. These are relatively little-known works, a repertoire that moves away from the music of the “big circuit” and that the Basque National Orchestra has recorded under the direction of its American chief conductor Robert Trevino.

The selected composers include Howard Hanson and his work Before the Dawn, whose recording represents a world premiere, and Charles Martin Loeffler, in which the orchestra’s viola soloist, Delphine Dupuy, has employed the viola d’amore to give voice to La Mort de Tintagiles. This American-flavoured recording is completed with Henry Cowell’s Variations for orchestra and Evocations by Carl Ruggles.

Ondine

Ondine, part of the Naxos group, is one of the most prestigious independent record labels in the world and has made numerous recordings with other important conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Hannu Lintu. “Ondine chooses artists with whom we can work in a meticulous way,” stresses the founding director of the label, Reijo Kiilunen. “We try to work with only a few outstanding artists, those who offer visionary and imaginative interpretations of the typical repertoire, and who have an adventurous mind that leads to us presenting fascinating lesser-known musical discoveries to audiences. Robert Trevino perfectly meets those requirements, in that he is a director of great musical power with an original and inquisitive mind.”

Reijo Kiilunen continues, “We were more than delighted with the Beethoven symphonies that Robert has just recorded with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and we always knew that we also wanted to record his orchestra, the Basque National Orchestra. They have a very characteristic and distinctive approach and a fabulous sound, and I thought this idea of the American conductor leading them in the music of a Basque genius, and then the Basque orchestra playing American music was a great one. I think we are going to have two fantastic new albums by Robert and the Basque National Orchestra.”

More information

This week young maestro Jaume Santonja will start his journey as Associate Conductor of the Basque National Orchestra, a position he will hold throughout the current Season. This beginning will feature his participation in the first educational activity of its own carried out by Musikene and the Basque National Orchestra, where pupils from the Master's Degree in Orchestral Studies at the higher school of music carry out practical orchestral work with other musicians from the professional orchestra.

Jaume Santonja is ‘very happy’ to start his collaboration with the Basque National Orchestra with a project linked to training musicians. For him, being part of the orchestra ‘is an honour and a pleasure, and my goal is to help wherever I can. In a way, it will also be a Master's degree for me to be able to participate in this project’.

Santonja will provide assistance and support to the orchestra during what is already considered to be the most difficult season from an organisational point of view, though also ambitious musically speaking. 

In addition to hie recent appointment as Associate Conductor of the Basque National Orchestra, Jaume Santonja will be starting his second season as Assistant Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO).  Santonja has had successful débuts at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW), the RTVE Orchestra (OCRTVE) of Madrid, the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana (OCV) as well as in his first subscription concert with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (during the celebration of its 100th anniversary).

More information at: www.jaumesantonja.com

More information

The 2020/2021 Season of the Miramon Matinées will kick off at the Basque National Orchestra’s headquarters on Saturday 10 October. The orchestra’s chamber music season, which since its creation has been supported by Kutxa Fundazioa, has been a classic in weekend events for decades. The 16 events in this season cover a wide variety of music written for trios, quartets and quintets. There will be a lot of Beethoven; Bach, with three of his Brandenburg concertos; and also choral music and tango in the figure of Piazzola.

The Basque National Orchestra has put together a rich and varied schedule for the coming season, which will get under way by resurrecting several programmes that had to be cancelled between March and June 2020 as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

From the fifth session, we will be treated – as we have come to except – to some surprises from various chamber groups comprising musicians from the Basque National Orchestra, such as Cuarteto Mefisto, Cuarteto Attacca, Bach Camerata Miramon or Trío Alma y Cía, and also from guest ensembles including two important choirs from our region: Kup Taldea and Suhar Korua. Differing from the standard small and intimate format of the Miramon Matinees is the open rehearsal of the full orchestra in mid-April, including works by Ravel: La valse, Alborada del gracioso and Bolero.

Beethoven and Schubert in this Saturday's first Matinée

With a concert titled ‘Classics?’, next Saturday at 11:00 the Belharra ensemble, comprised by Anne-Marie Harmat (violin), Mikel Ibañez (violin), Natacha Dupuy-Scordamaglia (viola) and Pascale Michaud (cello), members of the Basque National Orchestra, will perform two string quartets by renowned composers Franz Schubert and Ludwig Van Beethoven.

The concert will begin with the ‘Rosamunde’ quartet by Schubert, dedicated to Ignaz Schuppanzigh, first violin of Count Razumovsky’s quartet. The piece, composed in 1824, begins with an insistent accompaniment that symbolises destiny and the composer's ambivalence between his joy of life and anxiety about the illness consuming him.

The second and last piece will be Quartet No. 9, composed by Beethoven in 1806, when he was almost completely deaf. It is the third of the quartets the composer dedicated to ‘His Excellency Count Razumovsky’, who was one of his first patrons. This quartet is the most powerful and cheerful of the three. 

An uncertain but safe edition

The season faces what is possibly its most uncertain edition after a 29-year uninterrupted history. Uncertain, because how it goes ahead hinges on the development of the Covid-19 pandemic and its prevalence in our region. However, this edition of the season will be run safely in strict accordance with the safety measures in place at all times.

The Miramon Auditorium will adopt the safety measures required by the current situation: the use of masks will be compulsory, the safety distance and indications of the venue's staff will be observed at the entrance and exit, and hand-washing with hydroalcoholic gel at the entrance will be obligatory. We recommend that you arrive at the venue ahead of time. The programme will not be handed out in physical format, but will be available via mobile devices using the QR codes that will be on display at the entrances to the auditorium.

No sales of tickets and season tickets until further notice

Due to the current capacity restrictions, there will be no sales of tickets or season tickets until further notice, as the venue’s full capacity is reached with current season ticket holders. If throughout the Season this circumstance changes, the tickets that become available for sale will continue to cost the single price of 7 euros and can be purchased on euskadikoorkestra.eus, at the ticket booth of the Kursaal Auditorium, and on the same day of the concert (starting at 10:30) if there is free capacity and the health situation allows it, at the ticket booth of the orchestra's headquarters in Miramon.

Bus service

The concerts will be held at 11:00 am, at the 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.

More information