Next week he will play this organ, unique in the world, playing works by César Franck and Charles Marie Widor.

 

Auditorio de Tenerife is a cultural space linked to the Department of Culture of Tenerife Island Councilt that is managed by the councillor of Culture Enrique Arriaga. Next week the Basque musician Esteban Landart will offer at the Auditorium the organ concert Mirada a un programa histórico (A Look at a Historical Programme). The programme includes works by César Franck and Charles Marie Widor. This Sunday [21] from 12:00 noon onwards, the organist will play the colossal and unique instrument housed in Auditorio de Tenerife.

The repertoire is carried out in collaboration with the Royal Canarian Academy of Fine Arts San Miguel Arcángel. The title of this repertoire alludes to a real event that inspired this concert: on 1 October 1878, one of the great organs by the famous builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was inaugurated at the Concert Hall of the Trocadéro Palace in Paris, built for the World's Fair of that year. For that solemn occasion, works were commissioned to Caesar Franck, the organist of the Sainte Clotilde Church, and Charles Marie Widor, organist at the Temple of Saint Sulpice.

Musicologist Rosario Álvarez explains that "both musicians performed their own compositions that evening: the so-called 'Three Pieces' ('Fantasy', 'Cantabile', and 'Heroic Piece') of the former and the 'Symphony for Organ No. 6' of the latter, who was a composer and organist noted for having transferred the orchestral genre of the Symphony to the organ”. “The organ of our Auditorium, with its four keyboards and rich registration, among which is the human voice required by Franck for his 'Fantasy', lends itself like no other to the interpretation of this suggestive romantic repertoire."

This second organ concert offered by the Auditorium will be played by Esteban Landart, who is also organ teacher at the Conservatory Maurice Ravel of Bayonne (France) and at the School of Music Musikene, Basque country. He has published several studies and articles in many French and Spanish publications on subjects related to pedagogy, organ building, organ performance and musical analysis.

Landart combines teaching with his active career as organist in Europe and the United States, where he performs at major music festivals. He currently works as coordinator of the Technical Commission for the Conservation and Restoration of Organs and Harmoniums of the Diocese of San Sebastian (Spain).

The Auditorium's organ was built by prestigious organ builder Albert Blancafort and his team. It is a 21stcentury instrument that is unique not only because of its design, but also its sound and registration. The sounds come from 3,835 pipes that are housed in the walls of the emblematic Symphony Hall, which are controlled by the organist from on-stage through the console and the four keyboards that he can play. In addition, external keyboards can be added such as the positive organ designed by Blancafort.

Tickets can be purchased on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com until two hours before the concert starts. You can also purchase your tickets by phone dialling 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They can also be obtained by going to the box office or by appointment.  Appointments can be requested on www.auditoriodetenerife.com/contact-us  or by dialling 922 568 625. Those lines are also open from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 17:00 p.m. to answer questions.

The audience is requested to arrive at the venue well in advance to enter the auditorium in staggered "waves". By purchasing tickets, you accept the measures implemented by the cultural centre to combat COVID-19, such as the correct use of  masks and attendance to the event only with people you are living with. All of the measures, as well as the contingency plan certified by AENOR, can be consulted on our website.