Auditorio Adán Martín is hosting the 34th Canaries Music Festival 2018 which opens in Tenerife on Saturday, 13 January at 8.00 pm. On stage, we have the chance to see actor José Coronado, who in the role of Tsar Ivan ‘The Terrible’ himself, will narrate the story by Sergey Prokofiev along with the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Choir of Spain and one of the most outstanding present conductors, César Álvarez. They are joined by mezzo-soprano Polina Shamaeva and baritone Sergei Plyusnin, plus some 200 performers in a production steered by prestigious stage director José Carlos Plaza.

The 34th FIMC, one of the major cultural events of the Canary Islands Government, is offering a total of 31 concerts on all the islands between 11 January and 17 February. In Tenerife, all 5 concerts will take place at the Auditorio at 8.00 pm. Tickets are available on the Auditorio website and on www.festivaldecanarias.com

Performances

‘Ivan the Terrible” will be performed in Tenerife on Saturday 13, two days after its premiere at Palacio de Formación y Congresos in Fuerteventura. After the Canaries, it is touring different cities in mainland Spain. Ivan the Terrible is based on the life of Ivan Vasilevich, the mysterious Tsar Ivan IV, who ruled between 1533 and 1584, one of the longest reigns in the history of Russia. Remembered for his ferocity, he inspired both reverence and terror. The idea comes from a film project by Sergei Eisenstein, who asked Sergei Prokofiev to compose the music. The filmmaker had Stalin’s approval -admirer of Ivan IV- so the project had strong political shades. After shooting two of the three projected films, Stalinist censorship refused to allow the shooting of the third one. In fact, only the first film was screened in Eisenstein’s and Prokofiev’s time. The composer never actually listened to his work as it is performed today.

It will be performed by Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the best-known orchestras in the last decades. It has actually become a cultural asset, not just in Siberia but in Russia as a whole. According to the opinion of many Russian and foreign critics, spectators and musicians worldwide, the quality of the orchestra is comparable to the best orchestras in Moscow and St. Petersburg. They will play under the baton of César Álvarez (Asturias, 1973), a highly regarded conductor by international critics.

Canaries Orchestras

The two major Canaries orchestras are back at the Festival. The first one to perform is Tenerife Symphony Orchestra (OST), conducted by Guillermo García Calvo, on Thursday 18 January featuring the great Russian pianist Alexei Volodin as soloist. He is back at the Festival to perform Rachmaninov’s Concerto for piano and orchestra nº 2. The programme is rounded off with Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila Overture, and Fanfare for the Common Man by Copland, plus Symphonic Dances from West Side Story by Bernstein, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra (OFGC) will be in Tenerife on Thursday 25 January with the first performance of their new artistic director, Karel Mark Chichon. They are in charge of premiering the work commissioned by the Festival on its 34th year, ‘Campos del Sur’ by Canaries composer Víctor Landeira that will open the concert. They will go on to play Concerto for violin and orchestra in D Major Op. 61, by Beethoven, with prestigious violinist Pinchas Zukerman as soloist. The OFGC will also offer ‘Don Juan’ by R. Strauss, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol Op 34.

Vienna Chamber Orchestra and Munich Philharmonic

This year we also have the chance to listen to one of the most prestigious ensembles in Austria, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, to perform in Tenerife on 25 January with Dalibor Karvay as conductor and soloist. Bach is included in the programme with his Violin Sonata Nº1 and Piano Concerto Nº1, played by Iván Martín, one of the best Canaries pianists. They will also play Nielsen’s Little Suite for Strings and Baltic Composer P. Vasks’s ‘Distant Light’, a concerto for violin.

The closing concert will take place on 17 February in Tenerife featuring one of the best orchestras in the world, the Munich Philharmonic, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado, one of the most international Spanish conductors today. As solo pianist, Javier Perianes will play Concerto for piano and orchestra Nº 3 by Bartok. The German group is also offering Symphony nº 50 by Haydn and Dvorak’s Seventh.