‘La Paz’ of San Juan and ‘La Aurora’ of Albatera pay tribute to Wagner at ‘Bandes a Les Arts’

The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía welcomes the 'La Paz' Musical Society of San Juan de Alicante (10:00 a.m.) and the 'La Aurora' Musical Union of Albatera (12:30 p.m.) to the Auditori on Sunday, April 15, for the second session of the 'Bandes a Les Arts 2018' cycle, with the work of Richard Wagner as the common thread.

The theme of this session is linked to the upcoming concert by the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, conducted by Henrik Nánási, on Friday, April 20, also at the Auditori, featuring works by the German composer. Les Arts' resident orchestra has garnered the highest international acclaim for its performances of Richard Wagner's music.

The SM 'La Paz' begins the morning session with its 'Wagner Now' project, a tribute to the German genius, in which the influence of his work on the cinematic genre is reviewed with 'Apocalypse Now' and the famous 'Ride of the Valkyries' as a reference.

The ensemble, under the direction of Joan Espinosa, completes the program with other classical composers, whose music has become linked to the recent history of the Seventh Art.

In this way, works such as 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' by Richard Strauss, immortalized by Stanley Kubrick in '2001: A Space Odyssey', will be heard in the Auditori; 'Swan Lake' by Tchaikovsky, around which Darren Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' revolves; or 'Barcarolle' by Offenbach, essential in Roberto Benigni's 'Life Is Beautiful'.

The performances will be accompanied by screenings of excerpts from the feature films, which will be preceded by the comments and observations of a narrator.

At 12:30 pm, the Unión Musical 'La Aurora' presents at Les Arts the project 'Around Richard Wagner. Romanticism and wind music (and a premiere)', in which the musical society, under the direction of Santiago Quinto Serna, takes a journey through some of the most influential composers of this movement.

Pages from Richard Wagner, Carl Maria von Weber and Franz Schubert make up the first part of the program: Weber's 'Preciosa' Overture, Wagner's 'Trauermusik' and 'Festmusik' along with Schubert's 'The Shepherd on the Rock', in the arrangement by Quinto Serna, with soprano Ruth de los Reyes and clarinetist Rocío Rubio as soloists.

Before the break, Santiago Quinto Serna premieres his work 'Poemas del Siglo de Oro' at Les Arts, based on texts by Saint Teresa, Lope de Vega, Francisco de Terrazas and Gabriel de Peralta, in a "fully romantic style", as the composer himself points out, and which will feature the voice of Ruth de los Reyes.

As a grand finale to his visit to the Auditori 'La Aurora', he has chosen one of Hector Berlioz's works that most impressed Richard Wagner: 'Grand Funeral and Triumphal Symphony', originally written for a large band, which, according to the German composer, "contains passages so magnificent and sublime that they can never be surpassed."

Les Arts reminds everyone that the concerts in the 'Bandes a Les Arts 2018' series are free of charge by invitation, which can be collected at the entrances to the Auditori on the day of each concert at the time the hall opens.

On June 3rd, La Primitiva de Llíria and the SM 'Música jove' de Benimaclet will be in charge of closing this cycle.