Concerts with the Orquesta Nacional de España to bring the year to a close

On November 28, 29 and 30, David Afkham leads the Orquesta Nacional de España in an emotional program, featuring Mahler’s Blumine, and the Adagio from Symphony No. 10. His first symphony would have had five movements if its composer had not removed the second—Blumine, florid—after 1894. His last symphony, on the other hand, would have had five if his death had not prevented him from finishing it. Among his sketches, only the Adagio was completed. Due to his affinity with Mahler’s style, Alban Berg was one of the composers proposed to complement it with his Three Pieces for Orchestra.

A highlight of the evenings will be the world premiere of Òscar Colomina’:’s VISITACION[e]S, which evokes the retuned image of what was believed lost, coming back to us through dreams. Its title alludes to the experience of receiving a missing loved one in dreams, an idea present in various traditions, such as Chinese and Arabic.

Two weeks later, on December 12, 13 and 14, Afkham conducts Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with pianist Paul Lewis, its somber tone contrasted with the light-hearted character of the Concertino for Harp, featuring harpist Coline-Marie Orliac, with which Germaine Tailleferre—the only woman in the Group of Six—attempted to save her marriage, in a manner as commendable as it was misguided.

Lastly, the audience will be treated to Honegger’s Symphony No. 3. Arthur Honegger —the most ‘Germanic’ of the members of the Group of Six. This piece reflects how the denunciation of the horrors of the Second World War led to one of the few and most notable points of convergence between the artistic sensibilities of the West and Eastern Europe.