The Carnival of the Animals
Sunday Concerts
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Date
- 11:00 / Cancelled 11:00 / Sold out Sunday, 11:00
- 15:00 / Cancelled 15:00 / Sold out Sunday, 15:00
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation- Conductor
- Marta Menezes Piano
- Inês Andrade Piano
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Gulbenkian Orchestra
In 1962, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to establish a permanent orchestral ensemble. Originally with only twelve musicians (strings and continuo) it was named “Orquestra de Câmara Gulbenkian”. This collective was successively enlarged and today the “Orquestra Gulbenkian” (the name it has adopted since 1971) has a permanent body of sixty instrumentalists, a number that can be expanded depending on the repertoire.
This structure allows the Gulbenkian Orchestra to interpret works from the Baroque and Classical periods, a significant part of 19th century orchestral literature and much of the music of the 20th century, including works belonging to the current repertoire of the traditional symphonic orchestras. In each season, the orchestra performs on a regular series of concerts at the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium in Lisbon, where it has had the opportunity of working together with some of leading names of the world of music (conductors and soloists). It has also performed on numerous locations all over Portugal, in an effort to decentralize music and culture.
The orchestra has been constantly expanding its activities in the international level, performing in Europe, Asia Africa, and the Americas. In the recording field, Orquestra Gulbenkian is associated to labels as Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, Teldec, Erato, Adès, Nimbus, Lyrinx, Naïve and Pentatone, among others, and this activity was recognized with several international prizes.
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Miguel Sepúlveda
Conductor
Miguel Sepúlveda begins the 2025/26 season by making his Concertgebouw debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra followed by his subscription debut with the Dresdner Philharmonie. Later in the season he makes his LA Philharmonic debut conducting concerts around Los Angeles county and returns to the Gulbenkian Orchestra for their fifth collaboration.
In June 2025 Miguel was named joint-winner of the Grand Prix at the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam. The jury also awarded Miguel the Opera and Contemporary prizes, while the players of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Orchestra of the 18th Century voted him their preferred candidate in the Symphonic and Classical rounds. He was previously a semi-finalist in the 2024 Malko Conducting Competition.
Born in Lisbon in 1998, Miguel studied under Jean Marc Burfin and finished his Masters at the RNCM. He has since gone on to conduct the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Münchener Kammerorchester and Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto. In September 2024 he was appointed the Dresdner Philharmonie's inaugural Runnicles Fellow and in March 2025 he was named an LA Phil Dudamel Fellow.
Gioachino Rossini
La gazza ladra: Overture
Ralph Vaughan Williams
The Wasps: Overture
Camille Saint-Saëns
Le Carnaval des animaux
Total approximate duration: 60 min. / Concert without intermission
In February 1886, the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns isolated himself for a few days in a small Austrian village. There he finally put down on paper an idea he had been thinking of presenting to his students: the remarkable exercise in imagination, criticism and humour entitled The Carnival of the Animals, consisting of 13 short movements and a finale that give a musical “voice” to characters from the animal kingdom. An ever-delightful piece of work, this time accompanied by other creations inspired by the same universe.
Credits
Staging
Otelo Lapa
Set designer
Ricardo Junceiro
Set construction
Leonel Picareta, Jorge Gonçalves, Marco Carregosa, Vitor Pereira
Lighting design
Marcos Cabaço
Video
Manuel Rodrigues
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation reserves the right to collect and keep records of images, sounds and voice for the diffusion and preservation of the memory of its cultural and artistic activity. For further information, please contact us through the Information Request form.
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