Mozart: Don Giovanni Overture
Gulbenkian Orchestra / Álvaro Albiach
Performers
- Conductor
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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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Álvaro Albiach
Conductor
Álvaro Albiach’s musical career started when he won the Grand Prize of the Jury and the audience award of Besançon’s International Contest in 1999. From there on he took on an intense activity with invitations from orchestras such as the Wiener Kamme- rorchester, NDR Radio Philharmonie de Hannover, Würtembergische Philharmonie, Staatskapelle Halle, Trondheim Symphony, Orchestre d’Auvergne, Nacional de Lyon, or the Philharmonic of Bogotá, as well as the main Spanish orchestras (ONE, ORTVE, the symphonic orchestras from Galicia, Barcelona, Comunidad Valenciana, the Orquesta de València, JONDE, etc.).
From 2012 to 2021 he has been the titular and artistic conductor of the orchestra of Extremadura. There he has engaged in an intense concert activity and of projection of the group, recognized by the public and the press, some highlights of which are the opera performances in the Merida Festival, the concerts in the Auditorio Nacional de Música, as well of the orchestra’s first recording for SONNY Classical of the work of José Zárate.
He combines the concert [esto no tiene mucho sentido] with an important presence in operas. He has worked with theaters such as the Real of Madrid, the Gran Teatre of Barcelona’s Liceu, Pesaro’s Festival Rossini, Bologna’s Teatro Comunale, Schleswig Holstein Festival, Granada’s and Peralada’s festivals, Oviedo’s Teatro Campoamor or Zarzuela’s, as well as many others. He has also collaborated with Spain’s National Ballet in Madrid and in Les Arts.
Programme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Overture from Don Giovanni