Beethoven’s Eroica and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2

Albeniz / Rueda: Eritaña and Rondeña

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55, “Eroica”

The fifth concert in the BCN Clàssics season boasts the participation of two friends who can already lay claim to various concerts and European tours performing together. Jaime Martin’s energy is only comparable to Gabriela Montero’s, and vice versa. With the Cadaqués Orchestra these two forces of musical nature will offer us a Rachmaninoff No. 2 that promises to be at recording standard (not for nothing, Gabriela has already won a Grammy for a recording of this work).

The concert will open with the music of another great composer and pianist, Isaac Albeniz, featuring Jesus Rueda’s arrangements of two of the most dazzling, lively and rhythmic sections of Iberia.

In the second part, a symphony from revolutionary times that in itself also represented a complete revolution in the history of music. A revolution that marked a turning point whose impact lasted until Shostakovich and indeed continues to guide the evolution of symphony music.

The utopian dream proclaimed by the French Revolution captivated Beethoven during his whole life. The path taken by the revolution, Napoleon’s personal and military failure, and the return of the despotism of the great European monarchies put a brake on this drive for change, but in music, the dream of a different world, which Beethoven always believed in, has remained intact forever.