Víctor Pablo Pérez conducts a group in two events at the Cathedral of La Laguna and at the Auditorio de Tenerife

 

Sinfónica de Tenerife (Tenerife Symphony Orchestra) is a project of the Island Council’s Department of Culture which is directed by Enrique Arriaga. It tackles a double programme ahead of the Holy Week with sacred music that includes Biblical Songs, by Antonin Dvořák, and The Seven Words of Christ on the Cross, by Cesar Franck. 

The first of the concerts will be on Thursday [7th], at 8:00 p.m., in the Cathedral of La Laguna and the second will be on Friday [8th], at 7:30 p.m., in the Auditorio de Tenerife, which also includes the work Adagio for strings, by Samuel Barber. The programmes will be performed under the direction of Víctor Pablo Pérez and will involve the participation as soloists of the soprano Raquel Lojendio, the tenor Airam Hernández, the baritone Josep-Ramon Olivé and the Reyes Bartlet choir group, led by José Híjar Polo.  

The programme begins with Adagio for strings by the American Samuel Barber, created in 1938 using the second movement from his string quartet. Recurring work in cinema (Platoon, Oliver Stone) and in some of the most solemn tributes in our recent history, its approximately nine minutes levitate on a heartfelt melodic line where violins, violas and violoncellos share leading roles in a crescendo, before ending by slowly fading out into the five opening notes.

Biblical Songs, Op.99, is considered the culmination of the work devoted to the songs by Dvořák. Written in his mother tongue, based on the psalms of the Czech version of the Bible of Kralice from the 16th century, they were for their creator the best that he had composed in this field. On this occasion, the orchestra will be joined by the Tenerife-born soprano Raquel Lojendio, who returns to the season of the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra after four years.

The Seven Words of Christ on the Cross will add the finishing touch to this dual offer by the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra. It is a composition by Cesar Franck written in 1859, which coincided with the “dark period” of the Belgian author. The original manuscript – held in a private collection –  was rediscovered one hundred years after being written and was premièred in 1977.    Composed of seven songs preceded by a prologue, the three soloists, accompanied by the Reyes Bartlet Choir, will perform this work with simple harmonies and choir passages that create a spiritually beautiful ensemble, contrasting sorrowful laments with sections, mostly in a fast tempo, of anguish and anguish. 

The maestro Víctor Pablo Pérez, an honorary conductor of the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the group in these two concerts where the public will once again be able to enjoy the voices of Raquel Lojendio, Airam Hernández and the Reyes Bartlet Choir. The new addition this time is the presence of the Catalan baritone Josep-Ramon Olivé, who will coincide for the first time with the orchestra and who has performed on stages such as the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Wigmore Hall in London.

Tickets can be purchased on the website www.sinfonicadetenerife.es, at the auditorium's box office and by dialling the phone number 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.