A quote from the writer Blasco Ibáñez perfectly describes his friend Sorolla: ‘That’s not painting, it’s stealing light and colours from nature’, and that is what the UV Philharmonic Orchestra accomplished in SOROLLA, a fusion of music and images inspired by Sorolla’s paintings for the Vision of Spain collection, commissioned by the New York Hispanic Society in 1911, and with which the Universitat de València and the Cultural Institute of Valencia opened the 2024 Serenates Festival.
Composer Juan J. Colomer (Alzira, 1966) wrote the ballet ‘Sorolla’ for the Spanish National Ballet, based on the murals of the Valencian painter of the Hispanic Society, and it was premiered in Madrid in 2013, as a tribute to the painter on the 150th anniversary of his birth. The UV Philharmonic Orchestra performed the ballet by the Valencian composer, who also attended the performance at La Nau with great enthusiasm. The concert is a journey through many places on the Peninsula, the most meaningful folklore dances, such as the jota, together with other Spanish dances, such as flamenco. Provinces and cities such as Castile, Aragon, Navarre, Gipuzkoa, Seville, Galicia, Catalonia, Valencia, Extremadura, Elche and Ayamonte were represented in the OFUV’s performance, accompanied by the projection of video scenes created and synchronised live by the students from the College of Art and Design of Valencia (EASD), following a workshop by the visual artist Midiclorian.
The performance also marked the return to the Serenates Fesrival of Hilari Garcia (La Pobla Llarga, 1975), who resumed her role as director of the OFUV, after a five-year break during which she had other professional commitments. The feeling on stage was that time had not passed. The master presented a very cohesive orchestra, with the coolness and energy of youth, facing a complex repertoire, within a contemporary context. The music was delightful and evocative, with references to different regions of Spain, and it carried the audience away. The performance included a bagpipe, played by Nelo Mascarós and the recorded, played by Ana Payá, together with all the instrumental families of the OFUV.
The Serenates opening concert also confirmed other distinctive characteristics of the OFUV: the bet on staging innovation, the collaboration with the EASD in the orchestra’s production (since 2013) and the commitment to Valencian contemporary music. Quality and innovation for one of the youngest, most interesting and representative Spanish orchestras. Long live the orchestra!
