2024 programs archive

A native of London, Powell was an accomplished violinist as a child, wrote music for commercials out of school, and assisted composer Patrick Doyle in the early 1990s. He moved to the U.S. in 1997, where he worked on numerous projects for Hans Zimmer and his film music company Remote Control. He co-wrote the score for Antz with Harry Gregson-Williams, and quickly became one of the most desirable, versatile, and exciting composers in town.

John Powell was catapulted into the realm of A-list composers by displaying an entirely original voice with his oft-referenced scores to the first installment of Matt Damon’s Bourne trilogy, The Bourne Identity from 2002. He has become the go-to writer for family animated films, scoring such hits as Shrek (co-written with Harry Gregson-Williams), Chicken Run (co-written with Harry Gregson-Williams), Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Bolt, Rio, Happy Feet, Happy Feet Two and the two first installments of Kung Fu Panda (co-written with Hans Zimmer). His pulsating action music has provided the fuel for Hancock, Green Zone, Stop Loss, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Italian Job. His music has also sweetened the romance of Two Weeks Notice and P.S.: I Love You. In 2006 his music empowered X-Men: The Last Stand, lent tenderness to I Am Sam and gripping, real-time drama to United 93. 

His infectious score for How to Train Your Dragon earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Powell has also lent his voice to the score of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Rio 2, directed by Carlos Saldanha, and DreamWorks’ How To Train Your Dragon 2. His work can be found in Warner Bros.’ Pan starring Hugh Jackman, Universal Pictures’ action-thriller Jason Bourne starring Matt Damon and Fox’s Oscar-nominated animated feature Ferdinand. Most recent for Powell was Disney’s highly anticipated Solo: A Star Wars Story, directed by Ron Howard, which gave him the opportunity to collaborate with Maestro John Williams. 

Most recently, John Powell’s music can be heard in the critically acclaimed final installment of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, directed by Dean DeBlois. 

In addition to his numerous film scores of all genres, John Powell has also written concert works for choir and orchestra. A selection of these has been released in June of last year with the album "Hubris – Choral Works by John Powell" – including his deeply moving work A Prussian Requiem.

I. part
- Bedřich Smetana: Overture from "The Bartered Bride"
- Frédéric Chopin: Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante
- Alexander Moyzes: Dances from Gemer
- Ferenc Liszt: Hungarian Fantazy

II. part
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (Fate Symphony)
Encore: European Anthem

The Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the country’s leading symphonic orchestras, celebrated its centenary in the spring of 2023.

Following the eras marked by the leadership of János Ferencsik and Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, a new chapter in the history of the orchestra began in 1997, when Zoltán Kocsis was named chief music director. Over the course of the next two decades, the orchestra performed not only the classics, but also important works previously missing from the repertoire and, with the versatility worthy of a renewed national symphonic ensemble, introducing its audience to the Hungarian music of the recent past and today. During the period after Kocsis’s death, from March 2017 to August 2020, the post of music director was held by the Liszt Award-winning Zsolt Hamar, who had contributed to the orchestra for many years as first permanent conductor while also pursuing a serious international career.

Since the fall of 2022 and the start of the ensemble’s jubilee season, the musicians have been guided by their new General Music Director, György Vashegyi.

Vashegyi has taught at the Liszt Academy since 1992, currently serving as an associate professor and director of the Early Music Departmental Group founded under his leadership in 2010. In recognition of his work, he received the Liszt Award in 2008 and the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit, Civil Division in 2015. In 2021, the French state awarded him the honorary title of Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Over the past decades, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra has given nearly 330 foreign concerts while touring in some 40 countries. During Kocsis’s tenure, they performed at such renowned venues and festivals as New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, the Megaron in Athens, Bucharest’s Enescu Festival, the Colmar and Canary Islands festivals and Bogotá’s Beethoven Festival; In 2011, on the occasion of the Liszt bicentenary year, they played at the Bozar Centre in Brussels and at the Vatican, at a concert held in honor of Pope Benedict XVI. The ensemble pays regular visits to France, Japan, Germany, Romania, Spain, Slovakia and Slovenia, among other countries. In recent years, they have performed in Bogotá, Istanbul, South Korea, China and Switzerland.

In January 2023, they toured in Japan again under the leadership of Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi.

Music Director

Gergely Madaras is Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège since 2019. Together, they have performed across Belgium and toured to Europe and South America, having been regularily featured on Mezzo and Medici.tv and have been building an extensive discography ranging from César Franck through Liszt and Dohnányi for Alpha, BIS and Palazzetto Bru Zane labels. Gergely was previously Music Director of the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne and Chief Conductor of the Savaria Symphony Orchestra.

As a guest conductor, Gergely’s recent highlights include engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Philharmonia, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Bamberger Symphoniker, BBC Symphony and Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Hallé, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Il Pomo d’Oro and Joyce DiDonato at the Concertgebouw, as part of their ‘EDEN’ tour.

The 2023-24 season sees Gergely return to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Hungarian State Opera and Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. He makes debuts with the WDR Symphonieorchester, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic and Sao Paulo State Symphony. Future plans include appearances with the Oslo Philharmonic, Gürzenich Orchestra Köln and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

Gergely was the inaugural Sir Charles Mackerras Fellow at the English National Opera, which culminated in his operatic debut at the London Coliseum with a new production of Die Zauberflöte with stage director Simon McBurney. Since then, he has conducted critically acclaimed productions at the Dutch National Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Hungarian State Opera. Last season, he made his debut at La Monnaie, conducting Shostakovich’s The Nose.

Whilst grounded in the core classical and romantic repertoire, Gergely maintains a close relationship with new music. He has collaborated with composers George Benjamin, Péter Eötvös, György Kurtág, Tristan Murail, Luca Francesconi, Philippe Boesmans and Pierre Boulez, for whom he served as assistant conductor at the Lucerne Festival Academy between 2011-2013.

Gergely has appeared as a regular guest at the Lucerne, Gstaad, Milano Musica, Bucharest Enescu, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Murten Classics, inClassica Dubai, Septembre Musical Montreux, MiTo Settembre Musica, Budapest Spring and the Tokyo Stradivarius music festivals and made highly praised recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Budapest in 1984, Gergely first began studying folk music with the last generation of authentic Hungarian gipsy and peasant musicians at the age of five. He went on to study classical flute, violin and composition, graduating from the flute faculty of the Liszt Academy in Budapest, as well as the conducting faculty of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where he studied with Mark Stringer.

Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Radulović champions the power of music to bring people together with his unique energy and candour, thrilling virtuosity, depth of expression, and adventurous programming.
His hotly anticipated BBC Proms debut in 2019 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Kirill Karabits featured a Barber Violin Concerto played with ‘lyric delicacy and...super-virtuosity’ (The Times).

Signed exclusively to Warner Classics in 2021, Mr Radulović’s debut album on the label – ROOTS – represents a beguiling sonic journey evoked by his many influences and inspirations to date. His previous album, Baïka, one of a string of nine successful recordings made on the Deutsche Grammophon and the Universal Music Group labels, was declared ‘a fiery whirlwind of an album...’ by BBC Music Magazine, which awarded it 5 stars and the coveted Critics’ Choice Award. Gramophone Magazine praised Baïka’s ‘imaginative pairings’, saying that ‘...Radulović dispatches [the Khachaturian Violin Concerto] with energy and firepower...’ and that ‘...with Radulović as narrator, this is an album with entrancing tales to tell.’ His latest Warner Classics album, releasing in November 2023, features Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Radulović’s own arrangement of Beethoven’s famed ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata.

Winner of the 2015 Echo Klassik Award for Newcomer of the Year, Mr Radulović’s recent and
forthcoming highlights include debut engagements with the New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Hallé Orchestra, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec; an extensive UK tour with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra and Jaime Martín; sold-out performances with his ensemble Double Sens at diverse venues such as the 1000-seat Tašmajdan Stadium in Belgrade, the Folle Journée de Nantes and Chorégies d’Orange festivals, and at the Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Berlin Philharmonie, and Vienna
Konzerthaus.

Mr Radulović has amassed a legion of loyal fans around the world who have enjoyed his performances with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Munich Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie- Orchester Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden, Gothenburg Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Royal Liverpool

Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony in Tokyo, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orquesta Nacional de España, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie in Hanover, WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne, Dusseldorf Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Belgian National Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI in Turin, Orchestra della Toscana, Tampere Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony in Dublin, Copenhagen Phil, Geneva Camerata, Queensland Symphony, Macao Orchestra, and the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa.

Mr Radulović has an equal passion for the intimacy of chamber music and is an increasingly active recitalist on the international circuit. He has performed at such notable venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonie, both the Salle Pleyel and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Athens Megaron, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and the Melbourne Recital Centre in Australia. His many recital partners include Marielle Nordmann, Laure Favre-Kahn, and Susan Manoff.

An artist who seeks to broaden the boundaries of classical music, Mr Radulović also regularly undertakes a play/direct role with his chamber orchestra, Double Sens, which was recently celebrated for their unprecedented musical film entitled Unique – an artist, a place, a concert, which featured selections by Bach and from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, as well as a new arrangement by frequent collaborator Aleksandar Sedlar of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, all shot and recorded live at the Neolithic site in Carnac, France. Their other recent recordings include Paganini Fantasy (2013), Journey East (2014), BACH (2016), Tchaikovsky (2017), and Baïka (2018).

Mr Radulović’s recognition for his work in classical music includes International Revelation of the Year by the Victoires de la musique classique in 2005, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Arts in Niš, Serbia, and an ELLE Style Award for Musician of the Year in 2015. In 2017, he was appointed ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’. He was the winner of several international violin competitions, such as Joseph Joachim in Hanover, George Enescu in Bucharest, and Stradivarius in Cremona.

Born in Serbia in 1985, Nemanja Radulović studied at the Faculty of Arts and Music in Belgrade, the Saarlandes Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Saarbrücken, the Stauffer Academy in Cremona with Salvatore Accardo, and the Conservatoire de Paris with Patrice Fontanarosa.

Double Sens was formed in 2008, when violinist Nemanja Radulović brought together some of his favorite French and Serbian musicians to perform together as a chamber orchestra. This unique formation is united by friendship and family, as well as a love and desire of sharing music and progressively asserts its identity on the stage, both in France and abroad.

Radulović says “My music, my friends? My France, my Serbia? My life before and now? The idea of creating Double Sens was born thanks to those questions! I wanted to gather my Serbian and French musician friends and didn’t have to think about it for too long, as I personally knew each musician, and was certain that everyone’s different personality would work well with the others, in order to become this ensemble where the most important thing is the happiness of sharing the music and stage together. When we performed for the first time, we all felt the desire to continue making music together and meet again as soon as possible. It has now been a few years that we play together, and this feeling is still present; we all can’t wait until the next time we’re all together!”.

Radulović and Double Sens have recorded four albums together: The 5 Seasons (Decca, 2011), Journey East (Deutsche Grammophon, 2015), and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations in an original arrangement for viola (released in 2017 by Deutsche Grammophon) as well as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade for Radulović’s last album Baika (2018). This last album was also released as a visual album entitled Unique, which takes the ensemble to Carnac and features other pieces by Bach, Vivaldi, as well as some traditional and world music pieces. This release was featured in cinemas all across France. In 2022, Radulović and Double Sens record their first album for Warner. Entitled Roots, the album presents arrangements of traditional and modern musics, in a journey around the world. The ensemble actively performs across the world, with recent and forthcoming highlights at Paris’ Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, the Düsseldorf Tonhalle, the Théâtre de l’Archipel, Opéra de Marseille, Kolarac Hall, Kyoto Concert Hall, as well as the Berlin Philharmonie.

Director/Soloist:
NEMANJA RADULOVIĆ

First Violin:
Tijana Milošević
Guillaume Fontanarosa
Mathilde Potier
Nemanja Ljubinković

Viola:
Boris Brezovac
Aleksandra Kurilić
Emmanuel Gross

Double Bass:
Boban Stošić

Second Violin:
Ksenija Milošević
Kristina Atanasova
Frédéric Dessus
Nataša Grujić

Celli:
Madeleine Doucot
Anne Biragnet

Piano:
Stephanie Fontanarosa

The Portuguese voice that takes you to the hot, vibrant world of Cape Verde! The honest, danceable melodies of Cape Verde come alive at LURA's concert on Margaret Island. With her bright smile, fantastic voice and movement, the energetic singer performs regularly on the big stages of outdoor festivals, in European theatres and American clubs. What is fado in Portugal, tango in Argentina or samba in Brazil is morna in Cape Verde. Lura's voice is unadulterated, and she captivates audiences around the world with her incredible stage presence that transcends all boundaries of style, place and time. Her soul is influenced by two cultures that are present in her life, her songs and her artistic career: Portuguese and Cape Verdean. Cesaria Evora's international success and fame has created the Cape Verdean music industry and shown its potential. In her honor, Lura wrote the hit song "Moda Bô", in which the diva herself collaborated. In 2004, she produced the album Di Korpu Ku Alma (Of Body and Soul). This was Lura's first truly Cape Verdean album, which quickly crossed borders and was released in more than 10 countries, including the US, Italy and the UK - where it was nominated for the BBC World Music Awards. A singer who has been performing for over 25 years, Lura recently released a new album that welcomes new sounds while staying true to her Portuguese and Cape Verdean roots.
Music that makes you dance!

24 July 2024 19:00-19:45 and 21:30-22:15
Opening and afterparty at the LURA concert
Venue: in the courtyard of the theatre, in the” Kerengő” at the water tower
Caribbean atmosphere, colorful bustle, cocktails and a Latin American band to liven up the atmosphere before the concert of the world-famous singer LURA!
Before the concert on the main stage on 24 July, Barrio Latino, a band formed in 2008, will set the mood. The band's song "Con Clave Y Tambó" has quickly toured the world, with the salsa community in more than 50 countries from Peru to Japan. One of Cuba's most famous hotels, the Capri in Havana, has used their music in a commercial. They are the first timba band in Hungary, sung by Mario Ochoa from Honduras. The group's music was discovered by Grammy Award-winning recording engineer and producer Michael Lazarus, and the band's first single is now released on the Latin Pulse Music label in California

-Lura – Singer @luraofficial7207
-André Moreira – Bass Guitar
-Rodrigo Correia – Guitar
-Ariel Rosa – Drums
-Iuri Oliveira – Percussion https://www.iurioliveira.com/
-João Gomes – Keyboards

Tenor

Lauded for his "vocally magnificent, radiant and distinctive tenor” voice (Opera Aktuell), Jonathan Tetelman has rapidly risen to become a major star of his generation. Chilean-born and New Jersey-raised, Tetelman continues to thrill on the world’s greatest stages with "balmy verve" (Der Tagesspiegel) and a "darkly colored tenor timbre" (SZ).

In the 2023/24 season, Tetelman makes his tremendously anticipated Metropolitan Opera debut as Ruggero in in La rondine under the baton of Speranza Scappucci, followed closely by appearances as Pinkerton in the Met’s iconic Madama Butterfly of Anthony Minghella. He sees additional performances of Pinkerton with Festival Aix-en-Provence, and Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he also debuts the role of Luigi (Il tabarro) in Pınar Karabulut’s new production of Puccini’s Il trittico. Further operatic highlights of the season include a return to the title role of Werther for the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden in a new production by Robert Carsen, and a special one-night-only performance of Rodolfo in La bohème at Theater Dortmund.

On the concert stage, Jonathan Tetelman appears as soloist in Gala concerts with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin at the Berlin Konzerthaus, and with the Prague Philharmonia at Dvorak Hall in the Rudolfinum for an evening of Puccini. He performs New Year’s concerts with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon and the Borusan Festival in Istanbul, sings a solo recital in Gstaad, Switzerland, and is heard as soloist in mainland China at the Opening Gala Concert at the Shenzhen Belt Road Music Festival held at Shenzhen Concert Hall.  

Jonathan Tetelman made highly auspicious debuts last season with the San Francisco Opera as Alfredo in La traviata, with Houston Grand Opera as Cavaradossi in Tosca, and with the Salzburg Festival as Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth. Additionally, he was Rodolfo for Semperoper Dresden, Cavaradossi and Paolo in Francesca da Rimini at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Loris Ipanow in Fedora with Ópera de Las Palmas. In concert, Tetelman appeared with the Houston Symphony Orchestra as tenor soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, performed with soprano Sylvia D’Eramo at the Tivoli Festival in Copenhagen, and joined soprano Angela Gheorghiu for concerts in Brussels and Paris, among others.

In the 2021/2022 season, Tetelman starred as Rodolfo in an operatic film of La bohème, co-produced by Radiotelevisione Italia (RAI) and Opera di Roma. He made his house debut at Theater an der Wien in a new production of Tosca and performed the role of Jacopo Foscari alongside Plácido Domingo in I due Foscari with Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He also was heard in Verdi’s rarity Stiffelio with Opéra national du Rhin and sang Loris Ipanow in Fedora with Oper Frankfurt. He presented numerous concerts in that season, touring Austria, Spain and Latvia alongside superstar mezzo Elīna Garanča and maestro Karel Mark Chichon. Tetelman was a soloist at the 169th Tivioli Festival Birthday Gala, sang a Gala concert honoring Birgit Nilsson in Sweden, and was heard as Rodolfo at the Grand Teton Music Festival in concert performances of La bohème.

After completing his performance studies program at The New School of Music, Mannes College and earning his undergraduate degree from Manhattan School of Music, Jonathan Tetelman made a series of acclaimed house and role debuts in rapid succession. These include his Covent Garden debut as both Alfredo in La traviata and Rodolfo in La bohème; Canio in Pagliacci and Cavaradossi in Tosca with Teatro Regio Torino; Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Opéra national de Montpellier; Tosca and Madama Butterfly at the Dresden Semperoper; Tosca at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and Opéra de Lille; Werther with both the Gran Teatro Nacional de Lima and Opera del Teatro Solis in Montevideo; La bohème with Komische Oper Berlin, English National Opera and Fujian Grand Theatre in China; and the Duke in Rigoletto with the Berkshire Opera Festival. 

Tetelman’s concert appearances in this period included the role of Don José in Carmen in further collaboration with Elīna Garanča on tour through Eastern Europe, broadcast on Bartók Radio. He saw performances with soprano Nadine Sierra at Festival Napa Valley, and joined soprano Kristine Opolais for Gala performances in Moscow and with the Wurth Philharmoniker in Künzelsau, Germany. He sang a Verdi Gala with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, was the soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood under Andris Nelsons, and was twice heard in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 first with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, and subsequently with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, led by Dan Ettinger.

Jonathan Tetelman recently signed an exclusive multi-album contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Together with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and its principal conductor Karel Mark Chichon, he recorded his first album, entitled “Arias”, with music by Verdi and famous Verismo composers, a selection from the lyrical French repertoire, and duets with the Lithuanian soprano Vida Miknevičiûtė. It was released on August 12, 2022. His highly anticipated second album "The Great Puccini" is set to be released by Deutsche Grammophon on September 29, 2023. The album features excerpts from nine of Puccini's operas, including famous arias such as "Nessun dorma”, "Che gelida manina”, and "E lucevan le stelle”. Among myriad standout moments of Jonathan Tetelman's season, his album "Arias," soared to a triumphant achievement: the esteemed Opus Klassik award honored him as the Young Artist of the Year 2023.

© CSAM GmbH, September 2023

J O N A T H A N   T E T E L M A N

Season 2023-2024

Jonathan Tetelman is an exclusive recording artist for 

Deutsche Grammophon

www.deutschegrammophon.com

PLEASE DESTROY ANY PREVIOUS BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS

Personal Direction:

CENTRE STAGE ARTIST MANAGEMENT

For more information about Jonathan Tetelman please visit his website at

www.jonathantetelman.com

Violin I.: Jiří Vodička
Violin II.: Martina Bačová
Cello: Terezie Kovalová

Violin I.: Adéla Stružinská
Violin II.: Jana Hrbková
Viola: Klára Kunc Hegnerová
Cello: Alice Kodytková

Guitar I.: David Pavlik
Guitar II.: Jan Peš
Bass Guitar: Pavel Frýbert

Drums: Mirri Melcr
Percussions I.: Vlado Ulrich
Percussions II.: Dominik Johnson

Dancer I.: Tereza Hloušková
Dancer II.: Lucie Drábková
Dancer III.: Vojtěch Rak
Dancer IV.: Dalibor Lekeš

Artistic director
Stella Arauzo

Soloists
Carmen: Esmeralda Manzanas
Don José: Álvaro Madrid
Toreador (Bullfighter): Jairo Rodriguez
Husband:Miguel Ángel Rojas

Corps of ballet
Female dancers: Cristina Carnero, María Nadal, Virginia Guiñales, Elena Ros, Raquel Soblechero, Alejandra de Castro, Nuria Tena

Male dancers: Miguel Lara, Santiago Herranz, Ángel Navarro, Antonio Ortega, José Cánovas,

Musicians
Cantaores | singers: Enrique Bermúdez “Piculabe, Rafael González “Elohim”, Isabel Soto
Guitar players: Alberto Fuentes, Basilio García

Antonio Gades made Spanish dance a universal style with a vastly expressive capacity. This fact allowed him to travel without words to the far corners of the world to show the classics in world literature such as Blood Wedding by Federico García Lorca, or Fuenteovejuna by Lope de Vega, as well as the rendition he offered together with Carlos Saura of Carmen. The latter has become one of the most notable approximations of this Spanish and universal myth.
After the death of the choreographer in the year 2004, the foundation carrying his name made it its primary mission to keep his legacy alive. The foundation is run by the maestro’s widow Eugenia Eiriz and presided by his daughter, the actress María Esteve. It sponsors a dance company that continues to be one of the most important underpinnings in Spanish dance and flamenco.
The Antonio Gades Company also keeps the Gades school alive. Across the world it teaches Gades’ aesthetic language rooted in Spanish popular culture and arts, yet refined in intellectual and artistic vanguards from the second half of the twentieth century. Under the artistic leadership of Stella Arauza, who for many years was his partner on stage, the company today consists of people who worked for long periods with the old maestro, and who have helped newcomers taking in his philosophy, aesthetics, and ethics, and applying them to dance. The performances are all presented with the rigour, talent, profoundness, and conceptual unity, so characteristic of Gades, to ensure they apply the most efficient manners of carrying on his legacy in the world of dance.
Throughout these past 14 years, the company has performed in some of the most renowned theatres in the world of dance, such as The Royal Theatre, Zarzuela, Palau de les Arts, Liceo and Niemeyer Centre of Spain, Sadler Wells in London, City Center in New York, Herodes Atticus in Athens, The Romano Theatre in Verona, The Great Alicia Alonso Theatre in Havana, Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo, and MUPA in Budapest, just to mention a few.
The company also participated in the making of the opera Ainadamar about the assassination of Federico García Lorca. Its artistic director made the choreography for the opera, and helped to present the piece to the Opera Philadelphia where it was received with great acclaim from both critics and audience. The company has also co-produced the recording and broadcast of the Gades trilogy in cinema and television with the Royal Theatre. Shown live in the Palais de Congrés in Paris, it had a record of over 20,000 spectators in its twelve days of performance.
Finally, the company is particularly proud of having participated with the football club Real Madrid CF in paying homage to Plácido Domingo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, as well as at the Gala of Spanish Music at the Arena in Verona, Italy. There once again the company was invited alongside Plácido Domingo to an event that was witnessed by 15,000 people and has subsequently been repeated throughout the world.
The work by the Antonio Gades Company, together with the foundation’s school and archives, has enabled new generations of dancers to know the great legacy. This knowledge can be condensed to one of the maxims most often repeated by the maestro: “dance is not in the step, but in what lies between each step.”
Since October 2006, the Antonio Gades Company has been a resident company in the town of Getafe.

Dance legend, Antonio Gades (1936-2004) is an essential reference in the European dance and theatre scene of the 20th century.
Dancer, choreographer and dance intellectual, he sought with his work to restore the essence of each step, those that have been defined by tradition, by folklore, by the people. His work can be seen as an attempt to study in depth Spanish culture, cultured and popular, and to glorify it by honouring its roots and sources. He always remained aware, above all things, that his work was representing the cultural heritage of his people, and that he had to tread carefully to respect its integrity, so as not to denature it.
His greatest achievement was to make flamenco a dramatic art, theatricalizing his choreographies, and disdaining that exhibitionist and gratuitously virtuous aspect that sometimes threatens to invade the scene. Gades had a vision of inclusive dance:
“People think that to dance you have to be young, handsome, tall, thin… It's not like that at all. Dancing is expressing a feeling, and anyone can do it. Probably one of the reasons our company is so successful is because it is truly human. “It is not a company that dances, it is a people that dances.”
His meeting in 1981 with the filmmaker Carlos Saura would be decisive for the dissemination of his choreographies and together they brought the ballet Bodas de Sangre (1974) to the screen. The film achieves enormous success throughout the world. They continued with the film Carmen, which was followed by a ballet of the same name, then El amor brujo and the ballet Fuego that closes this fruitful cycle of the tandem that popularized flamenco to the ends of the world. Then came Fuenteovejuna (1994), considered to date as the summit of Spanish dance, it was also, unfortunately, his last work.
He died in 2004, his ashes rest in the Mausoleum of the Heroes of the Second Eastern Front, in Cuba.
Despite leaving a part of his work immortalized through cinema, it has been the work of the Foundation that bears his name that has allowed his stylistic and choreographic legacy to be passed on to new generations of dancers, students and general public. Otherwise, his job would have disappeared.
In parallel with this work, it has been possible to gather and protect an important documentary archive. This archive reflects a time in which dance took on monumental importance in the world's vision of Spain after the arrival of democracy.