Juventudes Musicales, the City Council of Sabadell (Barcelona) and the Orchestra Simfònica del Vallès celebrated a concert & round table discussion to honour Benet Casablancas on his 60th anniversary.
On March 3rd Juventudes Musicales de Sabadell, the Sabadell City Council and the Orchestra Simfònica del Vallès proudly celebrated Sabadellian composer Benet Casablancas’ 60th anniversary at Teatro Principal with a round-table discussion featuring the composer followed by a monographic concert meant to spotlight his unique musical personality and aesthetic thinking.
Among the many recognitions achieved during his career, Casablancas has been awarded such prestigious prizes as the Generalitat’s National Music Prize 2007 and the Spanish Ministry of Culture National Prize 2013. Being considered one of the most important composers of his generation and lauded among Europe’s foremost musical authors and musicologists, his work is marked by a strong personality, complexity and richness of means that combine formal rigour with a richly-flavoured expressiveness.
Pre-concert talk was moderated by conductor Santiago Serrate and featured Mr. Casablancas as honoree. Other attendants were Jordi Cos (President of the Orchestra Simfònica del Vallès) and journalist/writer Antoni Dalmases. This round table presentation was followed by a concert focused on Casablancas’ large ensemble works performed by members of the Orchestra Simfònica del Vallès and soloists Albert González (narrator), David Casanova (piano) and Francisco Martínez (saxophone) under the baton of Mr. Serrate. Also of note is that some of Casablancas’ most-loved pieces were included on the evening programme: Six Glosses on texts by Cees Nooteboom (2010), Epigramas (1990), Impromptu (2009), Siete Haikus para sexteto (2015), Epigramas cervantinos (2016) and Pastoral (2012).
As a special treat, this concert was recorded live by Catalonian radio station Catalunya Música for a further CD release on Columna Música label. As such it will be just the first of a series of recordings featuring Casablancas’ music that will see the light of day within the following months.
