● The magnificence of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 will bring together 400 musicians on stage at the Kursaal.
● A semi-staged interpretation of Stravinsky's oratorio "Oedipus Rex", directed and created by the puppet company Per Poc, alongside French actress Irène Jacob, produced especially for the festival.
● In the tradition of the great soloists, Pablo Ferrández, Mitsuko Uchida, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Grigory Sokolov and Hilary Hahn.
● Dance returns to the Auditorium, with an avant garde version of "Swan Lake", by Angelin Preljocaj.
● At the Teatro Victoria Eugenia, Euskal Barrokensemble presents a show that mixes ancient and popular music around "El amor brujo", by Falla.
● Friends of the Quincena, who have new member’s benefits and discounts for this year’s festival, have until April 26th to reserve season passes and tickets.
The festival, which starts Thursday August 3rd and ends on Friday September 1st, includes more than 70 concerts spread out over the usual cycles, including chamber, early music, contemporary, Tabakalera Dantzan, etc., in addition to the 39th edition of the International Romantic Organ Course. Throughout August, the Quincena will bring music and dance to the cultural spaces in the city, and thanks to the "Quincena Andante" series, to Gipuzkoa, Araba, Navarra, and Lapurdi. The Quincena makes the month of August an ideal time to celebrate live music, with various events involving local and international artists.
This year, the Quincena has updated its policy of member’s benefits and discounts for the Friends of the Quincena, who can get a discount of up to 25% on tickets.
The series of concerts at the Kursaal Auditorium kicks off with the Festival debut of cellist Pablo Ferrández (August 3rd), who will perform with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, under the guidance of their new conductor, Lahav Shani. A former student of Asier Polo and mentored by Anne-Sophie Mutter, Pablo Ferrández is one of the most prominent Spanish soloists, performing in major concert halls around the world.
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra will return to Kursaal on August 4th to perform Beethoven's 9th Symphony, “Coral”. This score is one of the most popular pieces in the classical repertoire thanks to its famous final movement, "Ode to Joy”. It is also the most often-performed symphonic-choral piece at the festival since it was first performed in 1940. The conductor Lahav Shani replaced Zubin Mehta as music director of the Israel Philharmonic in 2020, and who has been announced as the next musical director of the Munich Philharmonic, replacing Valery Gergiev.
On August 7th, the Preljocaj Ballet will perform “Swan Lake”, as arranged by Angelin Preljocaj. Since he founded his company in 1985, the career of this French choreographer has been characterised by innovation and international recognition. With Swan Lake (2020), Preljocaj returns to narrative ballet, and offers a most personal vision of the myth of the swan princess.
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe presents a classical concert in the Quincena, with a program that plays with the contrasts between Beethoven and Sibelius (8th August). Founded in 1981 with the encouragement of Claudio Abbado, the orchestra is made up of 60 musicians and has no principal conductor. It is known for its collaborations with conductors and soloists. This time, it comes under the direction of Daniel Harding, artistic and musical director of the Swedish Radio Orchestra, resident conductor of the Orchester de la Suisse Romande, and laureate conductor of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
On August 16th, pianist Grigory Sokolov will offer a recital with works by Purcell, a Baroque composer rarely played on a modern piano, and Mozart, one of the great Russian performer's favourite composers. Sokolov is, without a doubt, currently the most acclaimed and in-demand pianist in the world.
Mahler's 8th Symphony will mark the second great symphonic-choral event of this edition (August 18th), with 400 musicians interpreting one of the most emblematic pieces of post-romanticism which, given its enormous size, is rarely included in the programmes of festivals. For its performance, the Quincena has brought together the Euskadiko Orkestra, the Navarra Symphony Orchestra, the Orfeón Donostiarra, the Orfeón Pamplonés, Easo Eskolania and Easo Gazte Abesbatza; and a cast of solo voices including sopranos Sarah Wegener, Mojca Erdmann and Miren Urbieta-Vega (from San Sebastián); mezzo-soprano Justina Gringyte, contralto Claudia Huckle, tenor AJ Glueckert, baritone José Antonio López, and bass Mikhail Petrenko.
On August 20th, pianist Mitsuko Uchida returns to the Quincena with a monographic program of Schubert for four hands to be performed with Jonathan Biss. This recital, unique in Spain, will be offered three days later at the Salzburg Festival. This concert is part of the cultural program of the Euskadi-Japan 2023 initiative, promoted by the Basque Government to foster relations between the Basque Country and Japan.
The Quincena continues to produce pieces, and this year will be the world premiere of a version of the semi-staged oratorio "Oedipus Rex" (August 24th), created and directed by the Catalan company of puppets Per Poc. For the opera-oratorio “Oedipus Rex”, based on the homonymous tragedy by Sophocles, Stravinsky dressed Jean Cocteau's adaptation of the text of the Greek tragedian with music. Per Poc presents a version based on a static, almost “statuary” theatre located in an archaeological museum. In this artistic proposal. Under the direction of Erik Nielsen, the oratorio will be performed by the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa and Easo Abesbatza, with a cast of solo voices headed by tenor Peter Marsh in the role of Oedipus. French actress and singer Irène Jacob takes on the role of narrator.
In the final stretch of the festival, Anne-Sophie Mutter returns to Kursaal with her chamber group, Mutter's Virtuosi (August 26th), as part of the international tour with which she celebrates her 60th birthday. Over her 47 year career, Anne-Sophie Mutter has paid a visit to most of the important auditoriums in the world, and her impact on the classical music scene is evident not only as a performer, but as a mentor to young musicians and promoter of new projects. Along with fourteen string musicians, she will perform works by Vivaldi, Bach, Bologne and Nonet, and a score by André Previn.
The cycle of concerts at Kursaal Auditorium closes with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, who come to San Sebastian with conductor of Omer Meir Wellber, musical director of the Volksoper Wien and the Teatro Massimo Palermo, artistic director of the Toscanini Festival, and next musical director of the orchestra and the opera of Hamburg. In the first of the concerts (August 29th) violinist Hilary Hahn will be guest soloist. The second concert of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (September 1st) revolves around “Missa Nelson”, considered the masterpiece of Haydn's extensive catalogue, which she will perform together with Andra Mari Abesbatza and a cast of international soloists.
The Victoria Eugenia Theater will host a single show in this edition: Euskal Barrokensemble, a group led by Enrike Solinís which specialises in the recovery of the baroque repertoire, performing “El amor brujo: esencias de la música de Manuel de Falla”. Around a chamber music version of “El amor brujo”, Euskal Barrokensemble have spun together fragments of works by different composers, such as Rodrigo's “Concierto de Aranjuez”, accompanied by a cantaora and a bailaora.
