The musicians of the Valencia Orchestra (OV) hugged and congratulated each other at the end of the concert. They seemed exultant and relieved. They had just debuted in one of the most legendary stages of the classical music scene in the world, the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, where the city’s Philharmonic celebrates the traditional New Year’s Concert. And the experienced audience gave them intense applause, which provoked a tip, during the eclectic program offered this Thursday, which had a little bit of everything, starting with the overture of Diana’s tree of the opera that the Valencian composer Vicente Martín y Soler, the so-called Spanish Mozartpremiered in October 1787 in the capital of the then Habsburg Empire.
“History is heavy, but music flows,” said a satisfied Alexander Liebreich, the group’s principal German conductor, after stepping down from the stage from where the best batons in history conduct and have conducted. “The acoustics are perfect, it is like the house of music,” he added, amidst congratulations from everyone.
An opinion shared by the performers, although the double bassists had to adapt to the limited space of the stage and the proximity of the wall and the organ that took part in the always impressive Thus spake Zarathustraby Richard Strauss, the popular symphonic poem with which the concert concluded in the cycle Jeunesse–Musikalische Jugend Österreichs (Musical Youth of Austria), which invited the Valencian group to participate. “From here it is amazing how the sound is projected and how the music in the room surrounds you,” commented one performer.
The public occupied around two-thirds of the rectangular and ornate golden hall, decorated with paintings on the high ceilings and caryatids as columns, and inaugurated in 1870 by Emperor Franz Joseph. At the same time, the auditorium offered another chamber music concert in an adjoining room, which also recorded a good entry. And not far away, in the Konzerthaus, Simon Rattle was conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, head of the Musikverein, that same Thursday afternoon. The musical and cultural offer, in general, of the Austrian capital seems endless.
The audience especially applauded the original effort of two brother pianists, the Berlin-based Israelis Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg, who played Richard Dünser’s orchestral adaptation of the Piano quartet number 3 by Brahms, a piece that did not convince some of the critics at its premiere in Valencia last week, but which this Thursday was applauded to the point that the artists gave a tip in the form of a scherzo de Rachmaninov.
The ninth international outing of the Valencia orchestra, which, like other Spanish groups, seeks to project itself outside its usual domains and exhibit the improvement in registers and quality, also featured the performance of the impressionistic and exuberant suite number two of the ballet Dafnis y Cloeby Ravel, which was also very well received.
Being a Valencian orchestra, the choice of Martín y Soler (Valencia, 1754-Saint Petersburg, 1806) in the program seemed obvious and, above all, in a city like Vienna, where he triumphed 240 years ago, although the pleasure of listening to it fell short due to the duration of the opera’s overture.
Diana’s tree was developed in parallel with Don Giovanniby Mozart, which premiered shortly after, and both works have the same librettist: Lorenzo Da Ponte. “More than 200 years later the orchestra of its hometown returns to play Martín and Soler, to play their work here, where it was premiered,” highlighted María Rubio Navarro, horn soloist of the OV. “Normally, Spanish orchestras when we go abroad are asked for Spanish music: Falla, Albéniz… And we never show what precedes that,” claimed the artist, before performing. Martín and Soler’s fame in Vienna at times eclipsed that of Mozart himself, although the two musicians admired and inspired each other.
José Luis Moreno, Councilor for Cultural Action and president of the Palau de la Música of Valencia, where the OV is based, highlighted the importance of promoting the “Valencia brand” and the city’s culture, through the trip organized by the City Council that has also included journalists from various media. “It is very important for orchestras and musicians to leave that comfort zone and go abroad for two reasons: they feel more valued and, above all, to make music known, in this case Valencian and Spanish,” he said, also in statements to Efe, before the start of the concert.