Lorin Maazel conducts works by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius at the head of the Valencian Community Orchestra

Valencia (09-03-10).- Lorin Maazel, musical director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, will offer his last concert of the 2009-2010 season this coming Saturday, March 13, at 8:00 p.m. in the Auditori.

The conductor is finalizing rehearsals with the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana for the symphonic evening, in which he will conduct Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 3 and Sibelius's Second Symphony. These are two key works in Maestro Maazel's repertoire, whose recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic are considered essential.

Following this symphonic concert, Maestro Maazel will close the fourth opera season at the Palau de les Arts with the musical direction of the operas La vida breve by Manuel de Falla, Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi.

On March 25, he will conduct Falla's La vida breve for the first time in his long and distinguished career. This "lyric drama in two acts" by Spain's most universal composer is also the third new production at the Valencian arts center this season. Under the stage direction of the prestigious director Giancarlo del Monaco, the Palau de les Arts presents a new version of Spain's quintessential opera.

Chilean soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domâs, one of the most outstanding voices on the current operatic scene, and the rising tenor Jorge de León, head the cast of the opera. La vida breve is presented as a double bill, along with Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, which arrives in a production from the Teatro Real in Madrid, also directed by Giancarlo del Monaco. Cavalleria rusticana features a cast led by Moscow-born soprano Anna Smirnova and Tenerife-born tenor Jorge de León, who will thus accomplish the feat of singing the demanding roles of Paco and Turiddu in the same operatic performance.