The concert, with works by Boccherini, Haydn and Canales, will take place next Wednesday [23rd] at 7:30 p.m. at the Chamber Hall

 

The Auditorio de Tenerife is a cultural venue linked to the Department of Culture of Tenerife Island Council that is managed by the island's Minister of Culture Enrique Arriaga. The venue has programmed the concert Madrid 1770 by the Gara Quartet. The young musicians will perform works by Luigi Boccherini, Joseph Haydn and Manuel Canales next Wednesday [23rd] at 7:30 p.m. at the Chamber Hall.

During the 18th century, the journal La Gaceta de Madrid not only recorded the musical activity of many Spanish composers, it also included events relating to some of the most outstanding European artists.

Around 1770 the Spanish capital was the centre of the country´s artistic scene. In its issue of July 1774, La Gaceta de Madrid, the official information bulletin of the government of Charles III, referred to the publication of the Six string quartets Op. 3 by Manuel Canales (1747- 1784, Toledo). 

Thus, in December 1775, it reported the arrival, publication and sale in Spain of the Six string quartets Op. 20 by Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). These compositions are, among other works, those that gave him the nickname of the Father of the genre. 

Thanks to this journal we know how and when many of the masterpieces of European classicism made their way into the hands of Spanish composers such as Canales, illuminating their path towards this new and fresh language. His Quartets Op.3 are a clear example of the masterful handling of the style developed in Esterházy, which makes us think that Canales got hold of them, studied them in depth and fell under the influence of the Austrian genius.

The quartets by Haydn and Canales were not the only quartets premiered in Madrid in that era. Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) wrote his quartets Op.8 and 9 in 1770 during his stay in the Spanish capital. In these works, he frees the cello from its traditional accompanying role as basso continuo, in order to give it much more of a solo role.

Gara Quartet, formed by Jesús Merino and Lorena Padrón on violin, Iván Sáez Schwartz on viola and Candela Gómez Bonet on cello, was established in 2020 as a response to the concerns and desire of its four young musicians to explore the genre of the string quartet from the perspective of historical interpretation, having a humanist vision of its own affections, combining passion and technique, rhetoric and grammar.

The challenge of integrating new performative perspectives without moving away from the stylistic trends corresponding to each era is, along with the pursuit of an identity and a unique hallmark, the main raison d'être of the Gara Quartet.

After its members specialised at the most prestigious universities for the study of Historical Performance in Europe (Cologne, Trossingen, The Hague, Frankfurt), the ensemble settled in Cologne, as an active cultural hub and centre of its movements. Musicians such as Shunske Sato, Amandine Beyer, Olivier Fourès, Roel Dieltiens, Lars Ulrik Mortensen and quartets such as Casals or Quiroga inspire the four performers in their development.

Aside from their devotion to the quartet, its members continue their individual careers collaborating with several of the most important orchestras on the current music scene, such as Concerto Köln, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Le Concert des Nations, Bach Vereniging, Orchester of the Eighteenth Century, performing in the most important concert halls in Europe, North and South America and Asia.

Tickets can be purchased at a single price of €15 on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com, at the auditorium's box office or 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. Check the special discounts for the audience under 30 years of age, students, unemployed and large families.