February 2019
Repertoire
F. SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8, in B minor, D. 759, “Unfinished”
J. STRAUSS: Die Libelle, op. 204
J. BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2, in D major, op. 73
Performers
Orquestra Simfònica Camera Musicae
Salvador Mas, conductor
Programme notes
Lakes, gardens and the always elegant city of Vienna. The masterful baton of Salvador Mas will take us into the music of three essential composers to understand musical romanticism.
The Unfinished (1822) is one of the most interpreted symphonies of the Viennese Franz Schubert for two reasons: firstly, because of the mystery of not really knowing why he did not finish it or if he really only wanted it to have two movements and therefore in fact did finish it, and secondly because it brings together all the characteristics of his time in a sublime way (drama, hope, sadness…).
Josef Strauss is not as famous as his brother Johann, maybe because his music is less splendorous but his skill in orchestration is perfectly reflected in this Polka-Mazurka, which speaks of the flight of the dragonfly in the Viennese gardens.
The Second Symphony of Johannes Brahms was conceived in the summer of 1877 on Lake Wörth (southern Austria) and premiered three months later in Vienna. Some scholars consider that it could be called ‘pastoral symphony’ because in each of its four movements the music draws rural atmospheres as well as a certain nostalgia for life in communion with nature.
CONCERT DATES
Salvador Mas & OCM
Biography Salvador Mas
Born in Barcelona, Salvador Mas was musically trained at the Escolania de Montserrat and the Conservatori Superior de Música in Barcelona. Having graduated from the Fundación Juan March and the Austrian Ministry of Research and Science, he studied orchestral and choral conducting with Hans Swarowsky and Günther Theuring, respectively, at the Superior School of Music and Dramatic Art in Vienna. He was awarded a scholarship twice that enabled him to study in Salzburg with Bruno Maderna and Franco Ferrara in Siena.
Salvador Mas has been honoured by the Fundación Española de la Vocación, the Austrian Ministry of Research and Science and the II Hans Swarowsky International Conductors Competition.
He began his professional career at the Staatstheater Mainz, and was appointed Chief Director of the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona and its principal guest conductor, and later, Conductor of Orfeó Català.
As well as conducting the main Spanish orchestras, Mas is regularly invited to Austria, Belgium, Canada, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Romania and periodically by the Berlin Radio, Leipzig and Saarbrücken orchestras and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has been Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Würtemberg (Germany), the Limburg Symphony Orchestra, in Maastricht (The Netherlands), the Symphony Orchestra and the Musikverein Choir in Düsseldorf (Germany), the Israel Chamber Orchestra and the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada.