Sir Mark Elder, James Gaffigan, Javier Perianes and Michele Spotti conduct the Valencian Community Orchestra on its 2025 tour
16.05.2025
Les Arts
- The concert schedule in Spain includes the Úbeda City Festival, the National Auditorium in Madrid, and the San Sebastián Musical Fortnight.
- Gaffigan bids farewell as principal conductor at the prestigious George Enescu Festival (Romania), the OCV's first performance outside of Spain in 11 years
Valencia (16.5.25). Sir Mark Elder, James Gaffigan, Javier Perianes and Michele Spotti will conduct the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana (OCV) in its 2025 concert schedule, which includes some of the main national festivals and auditoriums, as well as its first performance outside of Spain in 11 years.
The Úbeda Festival, tomorrow Saturday, May 17, will be the first event on a calendar that includes the National Auditorium of Madrid, the Musical Fortnight of San Sebastián and the George Enescu Festival in Romania, one of the most prestigious gatherings of major orchestras in the world.
Following his success at Les Arts with Ravel's 'L'heure espagnole' and Puccini's 'Gianni Schicchi', Michele Spotti will conduct the orchestra at the 'Ciudad de Úbeda' International Music and Dance Festival this Saturday, May 17th. The Italian maestro will perform two major works for the orchestra's debut at this musical event, which celebrates its 37th edition this year: Beethoven's 'Eighth' and Tchaikovsky's 'Fifth'.
On June 21, the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana returns to the National Auditorium of Madrid after a 15-year absence to star, with Javier Perianes as director and soloist, in one of the most anticipated events of the European Music Day celebrations of the National Center for Musical Diffusion (CNDM).
Under the name 'Beethoven pianísimo', the pianist from Huelva takes on the enormous challenge of performing, in a single day, all five piano concertos of the German composer with the resident ensemble of Les Arts.
Sir Mark Elder, who will take over as musical director of Les Arts from September, will lead the ensemble during its visit in August to the San Sebastian Musical Fortnight, Spain's oldest classical music festival.
The Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana and its brand new principal conductor will be one of the main attractions of the San Sebastian event, with two consecutive concerts on the 3rd and 4th, each with its own program to demonstrate its excellence in both the symphonic and lyrical aspects.
For the first day, Sir Mark Elder proposes Shostakovich's electrifying 'Fifth' and Tchaikovsky's 'First Piano Concerto' with renowned Argentine pianist Nelson Goerner as soloist.
The resident orchestra of Les Arts and the British conductor will perform one of the cornerstones of the symphonic-choral repertoire on the 4th: Rossini's 'Stabat Mater', featuring Federica Lombardi, Paula Murrihy, Xabier Anduaga, and Will Thomas, along with the Orfeón Donostiarra choir. The concert also includes Beethoven's vibrant 'Second Symphony'.
From August 29 to 31, James Gaffigan takes over from the OCV with three performances at the George Enescu Festival in Romania, with which he bids farewell as musical director of Les Arts.
On its first day, the orchestra, in the pit of the Romanian National Opera, will perform Ravel's 'L'heure espagnole', under the direction of Gaffigan, in a single performance with some of the artists who have already sung this title at Les Arts: Iván Ayón Rivas, Mikeldi Atxalandabaso, Armando Noguera and Manuel Fuentes.
Subsequently, James Gaffigan and the OCV will offer two concerts in Bucharest (30) and Timi?oara (31), with a program that includes the monumental symphonic poem 'Don Juan' by Strauss and a second part dedicated to the French repertoire with the tenor Benjamin Bernheim as soloist in 'Poème de l'amour et de la mer' by Ernest Chausson and 'Les Nuits d'été' by Hector Berlioz.
