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Founded in 1897, the Orfeón Donostiarra adds to its long trajectory the prestige of being considered as the most important choral society in Spain. Its repertoire covers over a hundred choral symphonic works, more than fifty operas and zarzuelas and a large number of folk and polyphonic works.
For over a century they have maintained the spirit of an amateur choir, with a professional dedication capable of providing an average of 35 - 40 concerts a year. José Antonio Sainz Alfaro, who followed in the footsteps of Secundino Esnaola, Juan Gorostidi and Antxon Ayestarán, has directed them since 1986.
They are regular participants at the most important Spanish music festivals: Canarias, Santander, Peralada, Granada, Cuenca and Quincena Musical (Musical Fortnight), and at European festivals including Salzburg (1999) with the Catalan group Fura dels Baus version of Berlioz' Faust's Condemnation and the premier of Choral Symphony no 5, Requiem, Bardo, Nirmanakaya, by Philip Glass; the Festival de Montreux (1999), with the Lyon Orchestra, for the performance of Stabat Mater by Rossini under the direction of Mark Monkowski; the German Rhine contests (2002) and the Ruhr Triennials (2002 & 2004), and the Lucerne Festival (2003) with the Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection", under the direction of Claudio Abbado and the Festival Orchestra. They have also participated in the Festival of the Mexican city of Morelia (2003) and Saint-Denis, París (2006). In 2007 It closed the ceremony at the Canarias Festival playing Mahler`s Symphony nº 2 along with the Berlin Philarmonic conducted by Simon Rattle.
Worthy of mention on the international stage are performances in Berlín with the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Claudio Abbado at the Silvesterkonzert (1997); on the centenary of Verdi's death with the Italian composers Requiem (2001) and with Barenboim and the Berlin Philharmonic with the Mass in F minor by Bruckner (2001). In 2004 the choir toured Holland with the Hague Resident Orchestra on its centenary; in 2006 the choir travelled to Caracas (Venezuela) where it performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under the direction of Claudio Abbado and the Venezuela Youth Symphony Orchestra and participated in the three first concerts of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra's international tour with Barenboim in Seville, Madrid and Peralada with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Standing out amongst the numerous soloists that the Orfeón has worked with are De los Angeles, Armstrong, Baker, Bastianini, Berganza, Bumbry, Burrows, Caballé, Carreras, Van Dam, Decker, Donath, Domingo, Gigli, Hager, Janowitch, Lorengar, Mandeal, Marshall, del Mónaco, Norman, Pavarotti, Procter, Schwarkopf, Tear, Varga or Vickers, amongst others. Amongst conductors: Abbado, Argenta, Barenboim, Frühbeck, López Cobos, Maag, Makerras, Maazel, Markewich, Masur, Mehta, Muti, Ozawa, Rattle, Salonen, Stokovsky or Víctor Pablo Pérez.
Standing out amongst orchestras they have collaborated with are: the Berliner Philharmoniker Orchester, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Rundfunk Sinfonie Berlín Orchestra, the Galicia Symphonic, the Madrid Symphonic, the Russian National Orchestra or the Milan Philharmonic.
Standing out from over 130 recordings are those made for EMI-France: Padmavati (Rousel), Requiem (Fauré), III Symphony (Ropartz), La Arlesiana (Bizet), Edipo (Enesco), Guercoeur (Magnard), Evocations (Roussel), Coronación Mass (Mozart), Mors et Vita (Gounod), Redemption (Franck), Requiem (Verdi) and Carmina Burana (Orff) with the Toulouse Capitol National Orchestra and Michel Plasson. In 2003, the CD of Verdi's Requiem Mass, edited by EMI, was nominated for the Grammy's in the category of "best choral performance". The same work was edited for DVD. Under the Deutsche Grammophone label: Homage to Carmen, recorded during the Silvesterkonzert held in Berlín in 1997 with Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic; the Condemnation of Faust recorded in 1999 in Salzburg and Mahler's 2nd in 2003 at the Lucerna Festival with the Festival Orchestra and Claudio Abbado. With Auvidis-Ibérica: Goyescas (Granados) and La tabernera del puerto (Sorozábal).
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