It is an honour to be conducting the Euskadiko Orkestra on a tour that takes in the orchestra’s institutional headquarters in Bilbao, San Sebastián, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Pamplona. Over a period of almost fifty years, the Basque National Orchestra has demonstrated an engaging artistic and institutional vitality, which has positioned it amongst the leaders in the field of European concert performance. And it has done so by working in a way which I particularly appreciate, for example by giving amateur singers who are keen to sing with their national orchestra the opportunity to open orchestral concerts with two or three impactful pieces. Following the triumph of the first edition, ‘Abestu Euskadiko Orkestrarekin’ features the same format for my concerts too: I’m looking forward to moving from the opening pieces by Sorozabal, Bizet and Vivaldi, sung by these amateur enthusiasts, to the profoundness of the Schumann Cello concerto in A minor which I’m conducting to start the concert, with the great Johannes Moser as soloist. This masterpiece, conceptually divided into directly linked movements, gives the cello a central role but requires a flexible orchestra with a gentle sound, able to express that enchanting romantic melancholy which, thanks to constantly changing harmonic combinations, bears the unmistakable hallmark of Schumann’s composition. And I am even more delighted to be performing Ottorino Respighi’s Fontane di Roma and Pini di Roma in the second half of the concert. One month ago, Pentatone released my album devoted to music by Martucci and Respighi, two composers who are close to my musical sensitivity, whose work I like to conduct whenever possible around the world, something I wanted to do with the Basque orchestra, distinctive for its excellence in complying with the colours and nuances of the most elusive indications in the score. So, to paraphrase the title of the album – Italian Perspectives – I might say Italian Perspectives in the Basque Country.

📷 Simone Falcetta