Barcelona Symphony Orchestra delights Hamburg and Stockholm audiences
OBC performs works by Ravel and Catalan composers on first tour since pandemic
The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra of Catalonia (OBC) delighted audiences in Hamburg and Stockholm this week with performances of works by French composer Maurice Ravel and two Catalan composers, Raquel García-Tomás and Xavier Montsalvatge.
The orchestra's first tour since before the pandemic began on Thursday at the iconic Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany, one of the largest and most acoustically advanced concert halls in the world.
Under the direction of French conductor Ludovic Morlot, the sold-out, two-hour performance included three works by Maurice Ravel – 'Daphnis et Chloé Suite No 2', 'Shéhérazade', featuring mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, and 'Pavane pour une infante défunte'.
The concert was bookended by works by Catalan composers, opening with 'Las constelaciones que más brillan' by Raquel García-Tomás and concluding with 'Cinco canciones negras' by Xavier Montsalvatge.
The orchestra traveled to Sweden and Stockholm's Konserthuset for the second and final concert of the short European tour on Saturday.
The repertoire for the tour was also performed in Barcelona on March 15, 16 and 17 as part of the 25th anniversary of L'Auditori, home to the OBC.