Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Madrid Comes to Lincoln Center This Month

Following the success of its first visit to New York last September, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Madrid, conducted by Juanjo Mena, will give a concert at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall on October 16 at 8 pm.

The program will be composed of Manuel de Falla's El amor brujo, Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concerto, and two works that reflect Falla's influence on 20th century musical creation: Maurice Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé suites, and the Panambí Suite by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera.

Two great Spanish artists will participate in the concert. Cantaora Esperanza Fernández - Latin Grammy nominated in 2008 for her album Recuerdos - will tackle one of Falla's most important scores, which requires dramatic intensity, heartbreak and authenticity to reflect the haunting and gypsy roots of the work. Meanwhile Pablo Ferrández - the first Spaniard to win a prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition - will be the soloist in Dvořák's iconic and beautiful concerto which, although written in the United States, exudes the nostalgia of bohemian melodies, landscapes and perfumes.

The program is completed by three suites created by their composers from a ballet: Alberto Ginastera's Panambí Suite evokes the world of the Guarani Indians through four numbers of contrasting atmospheres, articulating European musical impressionism and indigenous musical heritage; and the two popular suites from Maurice Ravel's ballet Daphnis et Chloé will close the concert with their rich timbre and harmonic palette, allowing the Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Madrid  to show off both the beauty of its sound and its malleability, under the baton of Juanjo Mena, who has been conducting regularly in the United States since 2004.

This Teatro Real gala at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall, like last year's at Carnegie Hall, aims to deepen the Teatro Real's international vocation and strengthen the twinning between Madrid and New York through artistic and cultural ties.

On October 17 at 7 pm the String Quartet of the Teatro Real, composed by the soloists of its Orchestra - Gergana Gergova (violin I), Sonia Klikiewicz (Violin II), Wenting Kang (viola) and Dragos Balan (cello) - will offer a concert with Spanish works from the 19th and 20th centuries: Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga's (1806-1826) String Quartet No. 1 in D minor; Joaquín Turina's (1882-1949) La oración del torero (Bullfighter's prayer); and Eduard Toldrá's (1895-1962) Vistas al mar (See view).

The composers, from different periods and origins -Arriaga, from the Basque Country; Joaquín Turina, from Andalusia; and Eduard Toldrá, from Catalonia- have in common the articulation of the European musical tradition of their time with the richness and diversity of the Spanish artistic heritage.

Access to the Teatro Real String Quartet Concert, which makes its New York debut, is free of charge, by registering in advance at this link. The performance will be broadcasted on the society's Facebook profile. 

The quality of the Teatro Real's artistic programming and the independence and autonomy of its management model are frequently highlighted in the European music press. This second trip to New York will bring the institution closer to a wider and more diversified audience, as part of a global strategy of international projection which the Teatro Real has been developing in recent years.

The Teatro Real's commitment to the dissemination of music, opera and, recently, also flamenco throughout the world has led it to co-produce operas with the most important European opera houses, to build very special bridges with Latin American countries and to create collaborative ties with countries in Asia, from China to the United Arab Emirates. This trip to the United States will undoubtedly allow it to strengthen its ties with the American public, companies and institutions.

The Teatro Real's audiovisual platform, MyOperaPlayer, with a wide range of opera, concert, dance and flamenco productions from nearly fifty European, American and Asian theaters, is a privileged means of musical diffusion, with the highest standards of quality, frequent live broadcasts and a permanent updating of its catalogue. The trip to New York will also serve to publicize this international audio-visual platform, strengthening its great potential to bring the Teatro Real's programming closer to Americans in these turbulent times in which art and music are more necessary than ever.

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