Fernando Sor, Overtures and Symphonies

Posted by Marcel Soleda on November 17, 2008  |  Leave a comment

Fernando Sor (Barcelona, 1778 – Paris, 1839) was undoubtedly one of the most internationally renowned Spanish composers. Known mainly for his guitar music, Sor’s orchestral works have often been ignored. In recent years, studies by several musicologists have re-established his reputation as a composer of orchestral, ballet and other works, and as one of the leading composers in Spanish Classicism and pre-Romanticism.

Tritó has spent years restoring some of these scores and the Cadaqués Orchestra, under the direction of Sir Neville Marriner, has now recorded a selection. This is the first CD devoted entirely to Sor’s orchestral works, as well as the first recording of some of the works included.

The CD, which we hope will give Sor the respect he deserves as a composer of orchestral works, features the following: the overtures to the ballets Hercule et Omphale, Alphonse et Leonora and Cendrillon, and the melodrama La Elvira portuguesa, and his Symphonies No. 1 in C major, No. 2 in E flat major and No. 3 in F major.

“El Puerto” by Albéniz orchestrated by Jesús Rueda

Posted by Cristina Martí on July 30, 2008  |  Leave a comment

This year’s Peralada Festival provides the setting for the Cadaqués Orchestra’s premiere of the fourth orchestration, done by the Madrid composer Jesús Rueda, of Albéniz’s Suite Iberia.
Suite Iberia is one of the best-known works by Isaac Albéniz. Originally written for piano, its scenes of Hispanic references have been orchestrated several times, but this is the first adaptation for classical orchestra. Rueda’s profound feeling for the music of Albéniz has produced orchestrations of Triana, Evocación, Lavapiés and now El Puerto that demonstrate tonal and musical richness.
In addition to El Puerto, the Peralada Festival concert, this 5 August, also features Evocación, under the direction of maestro Neville Marriner, principal guest conductor of the Cadaqués Orchestra.

Release of Herminie by Arriaga

Posted by Redacción on February 19, 2008  |  Leave a comment

Herminie, cantata by the composer Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, is the latest release from the Tritó score division. The work, composed in 1825, when the composer was 19 years old, has been revised by Jorge Sancho and this is the first time it has been done in an urtext edition, intended to reproduce the original intention of the composer as exactly as possible, without any added or changed material. The text of the cantata is taken from “Gerusalemme Liberata” by Tasso in the French version by J. A. Vinaty (1790 1830). In the arias and especially in the recitatives we find moments of great dramatic intensity, revealing a composer who employed skilfully the expressive resources of romantic drama, while the orchestra, despite the lack of trumpets or kettledrums, underscores and highlights effectively the expressivity of the singing, which demands a soprano who has both an aptitude for coloratura and great power. This work forms part of the obligatory repertoire for the 9th Cadaqués Orchestra International Conducting Competitionand is available on CD with the soprano Ainhoa Arteta and The Cadaqués Orchestra conducted by Neville Marriner.

Ainhoa Arteta and Sir Neville Marriner perform Arriaga

Posted by Redacción on January 28, 2008  |  2 Comments

The figure of Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga (1806-1826) has gained renewed recognition in recent years thanks to the celebration of the bicentennial of his birth. This new recording from Tritó catalogue, provides a view of different stages of his brief but very prolific and interesting career as a composer, including pieces never before recorded. Among them we find Arriaga’s first and last symphonic works, both in the characteristic overture form of the period: Overture in F major, “Nonetto”, op. 1 and Overture in D major, op. 20. The CD also includes one of the best known works by Arriaga, Symphony in D minor, composed when he was fourteen years old and already residing in Paris, and a piece that did much to establish the composer’s reputation.

Rounding out the CD is Herminie Cantata for soprano and orchestra, which despite the title is a one-person dramatic scene, with lyrics taken from Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata. The enthralling Ainhoa Arteta provides the voice.

The union of two great names in classical music – the conductor Sir Neville Marriner and Ainhoa Arteta, one of the most celebrated sopranos of our day – with the Cadaqués Orchestra, recorded live at the Kursaal Auditorium in San Sebastián during the 2006 Quincena Musical Donostiarra, make this CD essential listening for anyone interested in (discovering) Arriaga.

The Cadaqués Orchestra takes the music of the Pla brothers on tour

Posted by Marcel Soleda on March 1, 2006  |  Leave a comment

The Cadaqués Orchestra embarks this Saturday on a concert tour bringing the music of the Pla brothers to Zaragoza, Barcelona and Madrid. The programme features Concert for Two Flutes and Orchestra in D Major by Joan and Josep Pla and Concert for Flute, Strings and Continuo in B flat Major by Manuel Pla, plus Mozart’s Requiem.

The dates are the 4th and 5th March at the Zaragoza Auditorium, the 6th at Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona and 8th the Iglesia de Los Jerónimos in Madrid. Sir Neville Marriner conducts and Jaime Martín and Júlia Gállego are the solo flautists.