The ongoing pandemic, and the resulting capacity restrictions in the main concert venues (Euskalduna, Kursaal, Principal and Baluarte), have forced the Basque National Orchestra to reorganise its season programme to accommodate its audience. The number of concerts has been doubled. Instead of the usual five per programme, there will now be 10: 4 in Donostia, and two each in Bilbao, Vitoria and Pamplona. The programmes and orchestral setup will differ from what was originally planned. General Director of the Basque National Orchestra, Oriol Roch, has this to say:

‘The opening of a concert season is always a time of joy, and this is the case now, despite the uncertain times we face and the consequent difficulties this poses to planning in detail. We are a national orchestra. We tour the country with great enthusiasm to bring our music to our season ticket holders and the public. This is why our season is currently so complex. We are tackling programmes with different characteristics and amid different circumstances, including double sessions in one single day or increasing the number of concerts in each programme. The times are different to those originally planned, and we have implemented a variety of solutions to get us through to March. After that, we will progress in whatever way the pandemic allows us to.’

In this context, after having reorganised the season programmes through to March, and provisionally postponing decisions about how to tackle the second section up to June, Oriol Roch also has this message for the public: ‘we ask our public for understanding, patience and cooperation at this time. We also want you to feel at ease. Our concert halls have gone to great lengths so that we are, and feel, safe during every performance.’

Schubert Festival

The Basque National Orchestra kicks off the season this Friday 25 September in Vitoria, Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th in San Sebastián, Wednesday 30th in Bilbao and Thursday 1 October in Pamplona. The concert season will get off to a unique start with performances of the complete Schubert symphonies in what is effectively a schubertiade or Schubert Festival. His eight symphonies can be heard for the first time in the Basque Country over five days and one hundred kilometres, with double sessions and 10 concerts across the four capitals where the orchestra is based. Vitoria will hear symphonies No. 1, 3, 6 and 9, Donostia will hear all over two days, Bilbao will be treated to No. 2, 4, 5 and 8, and Pamplona will close the festival with No. 1, 3, 6 and 9. This musical marathon is a completely new initiative in the Basque Country and is brought to the public in the spirit of positivity, energy and joy, enabling them to enjoy the healing power of music during these times of the pandemic.

Chief conductor Robert Trevino tells us why this inaugural programme is so intriguing:

‘I would like to invite you to our opening programme for the 20/21 season. We start this year with something very special: the complete Schubert symphonies. This festival, this initiative, is perfect for this orchestra and for the Basque Country right now. Franz Schubert is one of the greatest composers of all time, and his music constitutes much of the core repertoire of a modern orchestra. Many of these symphonies are almost forgotten and rarely performed. Hence, this is a wonderful opportunity to work with a smaller orchestra, bring together our audience and spread the music of Franz Schubert all across the Basque Country.’

Romanticism and much more for the rest of the season

The Schubert festival will be followed by other programmes: Wagner, featuring mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham; Enigmatikoa, with Pablo Ferrández in the two cello concertos by Shostakovich; Aire Nordikoa, with pianist Behzod Abduraimov performing Piano Concerto No. 3 by Bartok and No. 1 by Beethoven; Supervivientes, which will include the first ever performance of Mis monstruos marinos by Mikel Urquiza (the second part of Elkano: Mundubira musika bidelagun), conducted by Ruth Reinhardt; and Los viajes, featuring violinist Vadim Gluzman performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, conducted by Gemma New. This musical journey will be complemented by great symphonies from Schumann, Sibelius and Dvorak, bringing a sense of meaning to a season which focusses on the Romantic period.

After that, the orchestra has a programme in place through to June, but the status of the pandemic will determine how the remaining concerts are organised and held. Throughout this still uncertain portion of the season, we can expect to welcome conductors Hans Graf (conductor of the Basque National Orchestra from 1994 to 1996) and Anja Bihlmaier, as well as pianist Nikolai Lugansky, violinist Birgit Kolar and baritone Manuel Walser. Mahler and Rachmaninoff will be the most heavily featured composers in the repertoire from March onwards.

Concert safety measures

In addition to measures put in place by the venues to ensure audience safety, the concert programmes will be shorter and will not include an intermission to avoid the movement of people as much as possible.

We have also grouped season ticket holders to reorganise venue capacity in each city and provide our supporters with clear information on which concerts they will attend. 

Concert tickets will be sold subject to availability (depending on capacity restrictions determined by COVID-19) and will be advertised on an ongoing basis. Those interested should check the orchestra website, euskadikoorkestra.eus, for the most up to date information.

Lastly, before kicking off a season which is hugely challenging logistically, and musically very ambitious, the orchestra wishes to convey an optimistic and healing message to its audience and to Basque society at this difficult time. Robert Trevino sums it up thus:

‘I would like to welcome you to the 20/21 season of the Basque National Orchestra. We have been thinking a lot, lately, about what home means. Perhaps, we have realised that home is not a place, but people. Orchestral music is a chance to come together as a community, for people to get together and share everything that makes us human: love, life, joy, happiness, excitement, imagination, childhood, old age and much more. This is what we are trying to do in the Basque National Orchestra. We want to join together with you to create a community and a home that revolves around music, because we need it more than ever. Come and be a part of your orchestra. We look forward to seeing you at our concerts.’

More information

A few weeks ago, the Basque National Orchestra announced the opening of several selection processes for instrumentalists to complete their staff of musicians. After some calendar reshuffling, the dates have been modified and these auditions will now take place during August. The new dates are as follows:

Audition for double-bass tutti and soloist extra musicians
-Audition date: August 21st
-Application date: August 14th

Audition for 1 flute tutti playing piccolo
-Audition date: August 26th/27th
-Application date: August 17th
-Permanent contract with a 6-month trial period

Audition for 2 viola tutti
-Audition date: August 28th/29th
-Application date: August 17th
-Permanent contract with a 6-month trial period

The harp soloist audition date remains unchanged:

Audition for 1 harp soloist
-Audition date: October 2nd/3rd
-Application date: September 18th
-Permanent contract with a 6-month trial period

The orchestra has announced a further audition for bass trombone extra musicians.

Audition for bass trombone extra musicians
-Audition date: August 14th
-Application date: August 6th

Details of these auditions can be found here.

More information

As our main conductor, Robert Trevino, points out, we have learned something important in these recent times of the pandemic: “home is not where the house is but where the people are. The recent trauma has been quite deep; we have seen the separation between us as a type of loss, and now we must work to close all those wounds. We regard the orchestra as a way to experience culture, passion, art... and as a way of affirming that ALL of that represents humanity.” That is why we would like to think of the Basque National Orchestra as that common place where we can all meet up again and repair our lives. We invite you to familiarise yourself with our programming and begin to enjoy it – but not without telling you first about what things will be like from now on and how we're going to go about our activities over the next few months.

Our new brand – Basque National Orchestra: The emotion that unites us

The Basque National Orchestra is launching its new identity – the result of long reflection and dialogue; an identity which continues to aspire towards increasingly more recognition.  We have strengthened our sole name: Basque National Orchestra, which from now on will take the place of all our other names and acronyms (EO, OSE, EOS, etc.) which were used until now without helping to make our brand easier to recognise.

Organisational Planning

We have done initial organisational planning based on the premise of a possible 50% restriction to our capacity and that of complying with other safety measures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. What's more, we have changed the programming that had been designed initially and we have adapted our organisational approach. The first two subscription programmes will be held in the following way: for the first one (“SCHUBERT”), we will offer a double session in the afternoon (6:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.) to allow for half of our audience to be in each session. For the second one (“WAGNER”), we will work differently depending on the city, mainly by extending the programming by one extra day.  For both cases, we will let our subscribers know about the day and time they will be able to enjoy their concert. By the end of August, we hope to be more certain of the measures that are to be applied in concert halls and, thus, we will wait until that time to confirm if these are the appropriate measures. We thank our audiences for their patience, understanding, and commitment and, especially, we thank them for their unconditional support. If it were any other way, we would never be able to manage these uncertain times successfully, especially considering that we have an extraordinary community of 7,000 subscribers.

Concert Times

After analysing the results of a survey carried out this season about the time for concerts to start and other matters of interest, with the participation of all the Basque National Orchestra subscribers, we have decided to move up the concerts of Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Pamplona to 7:30 p.m. (except for the two first programmes, affected by the COVID-19 circumstances). 62% of the survey responses in said three cities were in favour of moving up the start time; therefore, this measure has been adopted in the interests of improving attendance and organisation for all. Having said that, the traditional time of 8:00 p.m. was decided to be kept in Vitoria, as only 39% of the subscribers asked for the start time to be moved up.

Season programming

The 2020/2021 Basque National Orchestra Subscription Season will begin on 25 September in Vitoria, and it will wrap up on 17 June 2021 in the same city.

The season's main theme: Romanticism

This season features something that the orchestra hadn't featured for a while: a focus on the Romantic era. This will be seen through the inclusion of all of Schubert's symphonies, which will open the season as if it were a festival. Also prominently present will be Schumann. This season, we will showcase part of that Romantic era, but we will also see how Wagner will resoundingly break with said cultural idea and movement.

The season's unique project: a Schubert marathon

During the inauguration of the prior season, a unique project called 'Expectation' caught the attention of our audience – a project in which what the orchestra was going to play was not known. This new season aims to start off with another unique proposal: the marathon of symphonies by Schubert, divided between the four cities of the season.  All the cities combined will represent the full marathon. Why are we starting off the season with a project like this one? Because, in the midst of so much uncertainty, we wanted to convey to our audience a certain ‘festival’ feel, involving a lively, fun, energetic spirit – something quite necessary in the current times. The preparation and interpretation of an entire series of symphonies in just one week is a demanding task that represents a new challenge for the orchestra.

Long-term lines of development

There are some long-term lines of development (many of which are clearly linked to the fact that Robert Trevino is our main conductor) which will continue to be touched upon throughout this new season.

• Mahler's prominence will continue – something which is bringing Trevino great international acclaim. As a sign of the importance that said bohemian composer still has, the orchestra will interpret his Symphonies 5 and 7 and a piece for voice: Songs of a Wayfarer.
• Since last season, Bartok has also been making his way into the orchestra's repertoire. He will be present in the Youth programme with Violin Concerto No.1, which will be interpreted by the orchestra's permanent guest concertmaster, Birgit Kolar.
• The case of Rachmaninoff is similar. We are including his Symphony No.1, which completes his three-symphony cycle after having offered the chance to hear his Symphony No. 2 and Symphony No. 3 in prior seasons.
• The Elkano: Mundubira musika bidelagun Project is another long-standing initiative that is continuing along this season. Mikel Chamizo was the one who first set off on this musical journey. Mikel Urquiza –whose piece Mis monstruos marinos (My sea monsters) could not be debuted in May and will be picked back up this season– will take up the baton where he left off.
• Exchange of musical pieces. Another important milestone this season will be the debut in Spain of Ghost Songs by Gary Carpenter of Britain. This is a piece that was jointly commissioned by four orchestras: Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the Basque National Orchestra. This piece's commissioning arose out of the close relationship that our orchestra has with the musicians of Liverpool; and this proposal will also be inversely beneficial as it has been agreed for the songs from the Elkano: Mundubira musika bidelagun project, as well as songs by other Basque composers, to be performed by their orchestras and introduced to British audiences.
• New additions to our repertoire:  new pieces like those of the Elkano: Mundubira musika bidelagun project and the commissioned piece by Carpenter coexist with pieces that already existed but which the orchestra is adding to its repertoire for the first time.

Conductors, soloists, and choirs

The orchestra will once again receive a good handful of artists throughout its programming, although it is also worth noting that it will tackle three programmes alone, without guest soloists, allowing it to retain a leading performing role.

• SOLOISTS: We will once again welcome the great Pablo Ferrández (cello), Vadim Gluzman (violin), and Nikolai Lugansky (piano). And we will have Behzod Abduraimov (piano) and the baritone Manuel Walser for the first time. Birgit Kolar, the orchestra's permanent guest concertmaster, will debut as a soloist with the Basque orchestra.
• CONDUCTORS: Robert Trevino will continue to have great presence with five programmes, and the podium will likewise be shared by the experienced Hans Graf and Michel Tabachnik and three young female conductors: Ruth Reinhardt, Gemma New, Anja Bihlmaier.
• CHOIRS: The youth of Easo Abesbatza, the Easo Youth Choir, will be featured in the commissioned Carpenter piece, Ghost Songs, and the Orfeón Pamplonés Choir will be in charge of Salve Regina by Lorenzo Ondarra and Tristia by Berlioz.

Other activities

New international tour

Over the last three years, the orchestra has visited Austria (Linz and Bregenz) , Germany (Munich), France (Paris), and Turkey (Istanbul). Now it has planned a new international tour that will take it to Italy, playing for the first time in the cities of Udine, Bergamo, and Brescia, as well as to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. This tour is confirmed and it is hoped to be undertaken in April of 2021, once again with our main conductor Robert Trevino.

Recordings

KALAKAN. First was a concert programme during the last season to perform Zuhaitz by Gabriel Erkoreka. Then came the desire to launch a project together, and now there is a recording that revolves around the figure of the bertsolari Xalbador, whose granddaughters (Aire Ahizpak) and Amets Arzallus will also participate. The recording will be directed by Unai Urretxo. A series of concerts is hoped to be held during the 2021/2022 season. This union will be a continuation of all the projects that the orchestra is sharing with Basque artists like Izaro, Zea Mays, Dr. Deseo, and Ken Zazpi – including the first artist of this crossover series, Benito Lertxundi.

Cooperation and synergies with other institutions

The orchestra will continue its commitment to the ABAO Bilbao Opera Season. Musika-Music of Bilbao and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards Gala Concert. The orchestra's commitment cannot be undertaken in the context of the San Sebastian Film Festival with the traditional film soundtrack concert in the Velodrome, but the orchestra will play a special role in the San Sebastian Musical Fortnight and once again in Musikaste.

The Miramon Matinées and the Music Room cycles will be held once again this year and they will be presented in the future.

The new Season's image

The agency ACC Comunicación was the creator of the 2020/2021 season's image. They proposed that the season's main image be a collage of collages; an image made up of elements chosen from the rest of the programmes in order to create a composition that would be representative of the whole. The set of 10 images was obtained after extensive research work on the philosophy and background of the composers and programmes to be performed so as to find images and compositions with a symbolic and aesthetic value. All of this was done with a visual dimension that makes up a whole and a deep look into Romanticism as a main theme for the programming.

Special thanks

Lastly, the orchestra would like to thank all who have participated in its different activities for their cooperation and support: 7,000 subscribers and the general public, sponsors and partners, cultural actors, the media, etc. You make the Basque National Orchestra's activities possible.

The Basque National Orchestra is not just music; it is the celebration of life, of our community. That is why we welcome you here, to our home. We hope that you enjoy the new season and that now more than ever you will be our most staunch follower, continuing to accompany us at all our concerts.

Basque National Orchestra: the emotion that unites us

Information on subscription and ticket sales

Because of the current circumstances, we cannot yet guarantee that we will be able to accept new subscribers nor can we guarantee that we will be able to sell individual tickets for the concerts of the entire season. We will provide more information as it becomes available. In any event, you can continue to make requests via the orchestra's website (euskadikoorkestra.eus) and by telephone (943 01 32 32).

More information

The Basque National Orchestra was established in 1982 with the purpose of promoting and developing music as a universal asset and cultural heritage. In these 38 years, Basque society has undergone enormous transformations: what people understand by culture has changed, and the same is true of how they consume and relate to music and how brands communicate with their audiences. Today, just like Basque society as a whole, the Basque National Orchestra remains committed to this mission and they evolve together.

For this reason, the orchestra has carried out an exercise of reflection and dialogue that has enjoyed the collaboration and valuable contribution of musicians in the orchestra and external collaborators and friends of the Basque ensemble. This whole process has been carried out with the aim of assessing how to connect more with people and how to generate a greater impact in its role as a social and cultural agent.

Today, in this new context, the Basque National Orchestra is launching a new image which reflects its identity, its strong territorial links, its sensitivity to social transformation and, above all, its vision of a more cohesive and prosperous society through the universal and extraordinary power of its music.

This reflection has also included consideration of the way in which the orchestra presents itself to its different audiences and how it relates to them in the post-digital era. It will do so using two names:

-Euskadiko Orkestra, the main name to be used in the orchestra’s own territory and which from now on will take the place of all our other names and acronyms (EO, OSE, EOS, etc.) which up to now have been used inconsistently and have not contributed to strengthening recognition of our brand.

-At the same time, with the aim of continuing to increase our international impact, the name Basque National Orchestra has also been confirmed for the international scene.

The emotion that unites us

The new Basque National Orchestra brand is also accompanied by a new motto, ‘The emotion that unites us’. This captures the feeling that the music of the orchestra awakens: the passion that our own art and culture provokes, the feeling and the affection generated by the links with the orchestra’s own territory, culture, tradition and way of life.

It involves a way of feeling, understanding and experiencing that is encapsulated in a common emotion: the emotion that unites us.

More information

Following its most recent concert on March 9th in Istanbul, which was a huge success but not without setbacks, members of the Basque National Orchestra were forced to isolate at home like everyone else. After two months without being able to work together and the cancellation of their most recent scheduled performances of the 19/20 season, the orchestra has adapted to the current circumstances to bring us an initial offering from its base in Miramon: a short season of eight concerts broadcast by the Basque public television service ETB. It is the first orchestra in Spain – and one of the few in Europe – to return to the stage.

Euskadiko Orkestra martxan!

This is the title of the short eight-concert season brought to you by a smaller ensemble of some fifty musicians. The orchestra is already rehearsing in its main headquarters in Miramon. Stage-layout tests have been completed, and there has been confirmation that the safety protocols in place are effective. This is still a large ensemble in which the musicians need to be physically close when performing the programmes, but under the current situation they must maintain a safety distance of two metres. Consequently, the musicians must learn to perform and to listen to each other in new and different ways so that the music flows. Here to bring the orchestra together is its chief conductor, Robert Trevino, who is at the helm of this eight-concert series. Each concert be a maximum of one hour long and will be recorded for subsequent broadcasting on Saturday mornings (11.00am) from May 30th on ETB2.

In addition to the Basque composers Ramon Lazkano and Mikel Urquiza, this short season will include works by Mendelssohn, Haydn, Mozart, Richard Strauss and Brahms, whose pieces are scored for a smaller orchestra with a maximum of 50 musicians. The orchestra will therefore strike up in a new way to bring music to its audience through the medium of television and streaming on its digital channels.

The first two programmes are as follows:

First programme: May 30th. ETB2, morning.
Agur Jaunak eta Andreak.
F. Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3, “Scottish”
Orchestral ensemble: 50 musicians – 35 strings, 14 wind and 1 kettledrum.
Conductor: Robert Trevino.

Second programme: June 6th. ETB2, morning.
J. Haydn: Symphony No. 49, “La passione”
Orchestral ensemble: 40 musicians – 35 strings, 5 wind.
F. Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1
Orchestral ensemble: 48 musicians – 35 strings, 12 wind and 1 kettledrum.
Conductor: Robert Trevino.

Subsequent programmes will be announced online and through the Basque National Orchestra's social networks.

Safety measures

The current circumstances require strict compliance with all preventive measures set out in safety protocols. Our priority is to ensure that all musicians and administrative staff are safe. All personnel have their temperature taken when entering the building and are notified that wearing a mask is compulsory until they go on stage. Inside the building, transit areas to the auditorium have been laid out in a circular floor plan so that everyone moves in the same direction and personnel do not have to pass one another. Shared dressing rooms are out of use, and instrument cases must be left in the seating area in an orderly manner. Once on stage, all musicians continue to maintain a safety distance from one another of two metres. The wind and percussion section is surrounded by protective screens.

Cancellations and the new reality

The orchestra was unable to complete the concert season scheduled through to early June in its headquarters in Vitoria, Bilbao, San Sebastián and Pamplona. More than 30 concerts were cancelled as a result. However, the orchestra has remained active during lockdown via its digital channels. Its activities have included a joint home-based performance of Agur Jaunak eta Andreak in tribute to society, the #EuskadikoOrkestraEtxean initiative promoting several musicians as they perform various pieces, and videoclips with the singer Izaro. The orchestra has been viewed thousands of times online thanks to this work. In parallel, work has been under way to bring the orchestra back together in what is a clear commitment to remaining a cultural standard bearer and an active part of society. So long as the orchestra is unable to perform directly to its audience, it will reach them with the help of Basque public television (ETB) and its digital channels.

International broadcast of this mini season

This series of concerts by the Basque National Orchestra will also be available on Stage Access – a soon-to-be-launched digital subscription platform with concerts, opera, dance and theatre – in an alliance that will bring the Basque National Orchestra to the North American market.

Performances: by order of rehearsal and recording

Anonymous (arr. J. Olaizola): Agur Jaunak eta Andreak
F. Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3, “Scottish”
J. Haydn: Symphony No. 49, “La passione”
F. Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1
W. A. Mozart: Symphony No. 31, “Paris”
F. Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, “Italian”
R. Strauss: Metamorphosen, study for 23 solo strings
W. A. Mozart: Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter”
W. A. Mozart: Serenade No. 10, “Gran partita”
Mikel Urquiza: Erio
L. V. Beethoven: Prometheus
Ramon Lazkano: Ttakun
J. Brahms: Serenade No. 2
M. Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
M. Ravel: Ma mère l’Oye

More information

The Basque National Orchestra continues on its chosen path and rejoins the international circuit, spurred on first by its clear dedication to the role of cultural ambassador and second by its musical quality. This allows the orchestra to return to European stages such as those of Austria and Germany just a year later, and also to open the doors to new ones: the legendary Parisian theatre in January and this renowned musical venue on the banks of the Bosphorus and on the border between Europe and Asia. Istanbul is a city buzzing with cultural activity and with a prestigious agenda that draws renowned ensembles from around the world.

Announced in the programming as ‘Bask Ulusal Orkestrası’, the orchestra will follow the pattern of recent outings when it presents itself in the city by performing a major work by a world famous composer, allowing the orchestra to express its musical sureness, exhibit the current quality of its playing and its excellent preparation. This is what the orchestra did in Paris with The song of the earth by Gustav Mahler and it will do the same in its premiere in Istanbul on Monday 9 March with the Ninth symphony of Anton Bruckner. This work is considered the masterpiece of the Austrian composer. As Robert Trevino noted when he announced the concert in Istanbul, “The Basque National Orchestra should become known for its great interpretive ability and skill, and we can do that with these demanding pieces”.

The date requested by Istanbul prevents Robert Trevino from conducting this concert, and in his absence it will be Hans Graf who will take up the baton. The Austrian was music director of the Basque National Orchestra in the middle of the 1990s and has returned on several occasions as guest conductor. He is a conductor who is known throughout the world and very Brucknerian, which means that he has the full trust of Trevino to lead this début in Istanbul. Bruckner will be preceded by the Violin Concerto No. 1 by Max Bruch and will have Alena Baeva as guest soloist. Despite her youth, Baeva has forged an impressive international career and shares the stage with great artists and musical ensembles. Alena Baeva has already performed in the CRR hall in Istanbul, although this will be the first time she performs with the Basque National Orchestra.

Cemal Reşit Rey (CRR) Concert Hall:

The Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall is one of the country’s main concert halls and the first to be designed for classical music. It owes its name to Turkish composer Cemal Reşit Rey, also an orchestra conductor and founder of the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra. It was inaugurated in March 1989. During the last 30 years it has hosted companies from around the world, and hosts the city’s classical, jazz and dance programme which includes performances by the CRR Symphony Orchestra, the CRR Turkish Music Ensemble and the CRR Jazz Orchestra. This year’s performers have included or will include the English Chamber Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, The Tallis Scholars, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Maxim Vengerov and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.

Istanbul, CRR, 9 March

20:00 Concert presentation
20:30 Concert

Alena Baeva, violin
Basque National Orchestra
Hans Graf, conductor

Max Bruch: Violin and orchestra Concerto No. 1 [24’]
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 [63’]

More information

All international tours have their own quirks, and this trip to Istanbul was no exception. Initially, the Orchestra's presence in the Turkish city on the shore of the Bosphorus, on the border between Europe and Asia, aimed to break into a new music circuit eager to receive large ensembles from all over the world. But what the Orchestra found yesterday was an exceptional stage, an exceptional concert and also exceptional conditions. In these circumstances, the Orchestra shone for many reasons.

Firstly, it has been said on several occasions that the Basque ensemble is going through a great moment musically and that it is in a position to perform internationally with great works from the universal repertoire. Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 is one of the composer's masterpieces, complex and demanding, which all the musicians in the Orchestra led by Hans Graf performed masterfully and confidently. It is the piece that was the focal point of the concert and its performance had raised high expectations. With good reason, before the concert Cem Mansur, director of the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, gave a talk about the interest of including in their programme a European orchestra such as the Bask Ulusal Orkestrası (as the Basque National Orchestra was presented in Istanbul) to perform the Austrian composer's great work. Before Bruckner, the first part featured the Concerto No. 1 in for Violin and Orchestra by Max Bruch. The solo performance by Alena Baeva was energetic and outstanding. It was clear from the start that the audience of the capacity-filled hall was going to be very receptive throughout the night. The first treat was delivered by the soloist, who tackled Paganini's Caprice No. 1. After Bruckner’s impressive piece which was the main feature of this singular concert's second part, the night ended with an impressive ovation and the always well-received “Amorosa” by Guridi, played on the shore of the Bosphorus.

Secondly, the fact that the concert was held in exceptional conditions is related to the difficulties that had to be overcome throughout the day in order for the Orchestra's instruments to be brought to the concert hall. All the musicians and staff travelled to Istanbul on Sunday, but not their instruments. The 1000-kg load that had been prepared to ship from Madrid during the weekend suffered many delays and was not dispatched until Monday. The understandable concern over their timely delivery led to frantic efforts to secure instruments that could replace their own to perform the concert. In a fantastic gesture of generosity and collaboration by the Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra and by another youth orchestra from the city, they managed to gather enough instruments to guarantee the performance of the first part with Bruch's Concerto and planned for the performance of a less demanding orchestral piece than that initially scheduled for the second part. Their own instruments were brought to the theatre when the concert had already started and the musicians displayed the quick-wittedness and skill that is demanded in these situations to perform a complicated piece such as Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 without the chance to rehearse with them during the sound check. Only the exceptional response by the city’s musicians made it possible for the Basque National Orchestra to perform the scheduled programme, the first part with Turkish instruments and the second with their own. The city of Istanbul, a bridge between two continents, was the perfect metaphor that managed to find, through music, a meeting point between cultures and civilisations that for a long time have turned their backs on each other.

Thirdly, the fact that the concert was exceptional is also related to the audience’s response and the desire to develop a more pro-European perspective. As highlighted by the director-general of the Orchestra, Oriol Roch, “It was a concert where the Orchestra was looking towards the West, towards a desire for a Turkish society that wants to schedule top-level European orchestras, to look in a mirror that represents them. And that feeling, with a diverse, young audience with many cultural differences and a huge passion has taught us all a lesson”. 

Another sign of the concert's success was the presence of many institutional and business representatives, among whom were the Consul General of Spain in Istanbul, Álvaro de la Riva Guzmán, from San Sebastian; the Director of the Cervantes Institute in Istanbul, Gonzalo Manglano; the Honorary Consul of Turkey in Bilbao, Carmen Uriarte; the representative from BBVA, Javier Bernal; the representative from Banco Sabadell, Vicente Balbín; the representative from Caixabank, Marta García; the EFE correspondent in Istanbul, Ilya Topper; the La Vanguardia correspondent in Istanbul, Jordi Joan; and the El País correspondent in Istanbul, Andrés Mourenza.

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The Basque National Orchestra has been given the responsibility of recording the original score, created by the composer Fernando Velázquez (from Getxo), for the series ‘Patria’, which will be released in May. The series is based on the bestselling novel by Fernando Aramburu.

The Basque National Orchestra has extensive experience in the field of recording soundtracks for films. Always under the direction of Fernando Velázquez, it has recorded a number of extremely successful soundtracks, outstanding among which is A Monster Calls, directed by J.A. Bayona, thanks to which Velázquez won the Goya for the best original music. In 2017 the orchestra recorded the music written by Fernando Velázquez for Submergence, a feature film by Wim Wenders, and this prolific collaboration of the orchestra and the composer also includes the live premiere of the soundtrack of The Impossible (J.A. Bayona) in 2012, coinciding with its presentation in the Official Section of the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

Fernando Velázquez (@FVelazquezMusic) firma la partitura original de #PatriaHBO. Estreno en mayo 2020. pic.twitter.com/6w5bSlZkPv

— HBO España (@HBO_ES) February 11, 2020

About Fernando Velázquez

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.

He studied music at the conservatories of Getxo, Bilbao and Vitoria, where he won the extraordinary prize at the end of his studies, following this with further classes in Paris. He studied composition at the Madrid Royal Conservatory and has a degree in Contemporary History from the University of Deusto. As a cellist, he has collaborated with the Santa Cecilia Chamber Orchestra, the Edinburgh University Music Society Symphonic Orchestra, the Young Orchestra of the Basque Country, the Basque National Orchestra and the Madrid Symphony Orchestra.

He has worked for renowned Spanish and international directors such as J.A.Bayona, Patricia Ferreira, Mateo Gil, Emilio Martínez Lázaro, Guillermo del Toro, Nacho Vigalondo and Wim Wenders. His unmistakable style, following in the tradition of post-romantic symphonism and the great Hollywood composers, is characterised by a grand sense of melody, an exhaustive knowledge of the orchestra and a dynamic control of the tempos that make each soundtrack a work of art in itself.

His relationship with J.A.Bayona, for whom he created soundtracks for The Orphanage (2007), The Impossible (2012) and A Monster Calls (2017), has been very significant within his career, and he has won numerous awards for these soundtracks. Outside Spain, he has been responsible for Savage Grace (Tom Kalin, 2007), BabyCall (Pål Sletaune, 2011), Mama (Andrés Muschietti, 2013), Crimson Peak (Guillermo del Toro, 2015) and Pride + Prejudice + Zombies (Burr Steers, 2016).

Orchestras he has conducted include the Basque National Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Bilbao, Extremadura, Galicia, the Community of Madrid, Malaga, Navarre, the Principality of Asturias and Seville, the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the London Metropolitan and the Czech National Orchestra.

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