Happy New Year!!!

2017 has almost ended...

2017 has almost ended.

It has been a crucial year for Azahar Ensemble: more than 20 concerts in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, France and Austria, the recording of 2 CD’s and rehearsals, rehearsals and even more rehearsals!!

In all kind of relationships (musical or personal) there is a point in which it is necessary to speak about the future. What do we want? How do we want it to be done? What are our expectations? And many other questions that are incredibly important.

We have answered together a lot of those questions and we are even a group with more clear ideas, with common goals and expectations and with recharged illusions!

From this illusion will emerge, we hope ASAP, the two CD’s we recores during this 2017. Those are discs that are very different but very special for us.

For the 1st disc we have chosen a program with pieces that are the pillars of the repertoire for woodwind quintet. We played this pieces in the ARD Competition and in many other concerts. This pieces were composed by Reicha, Onslow and Nielsen.

We were very lucky to count with Calanda Music for the recording of this CD. They phoned us one day and told us “come to Mallorca, we want to record you in a CD”. So we did!

After our tour in July we went directly there. 4 days of recording in the phenomenal Studio of Eugenia Gallego. Thanks so much! It was such a privilege to have this chance! We are already working together for upcoming projects.

The second CD will be titled “Turina x Turina”. It is a project full of meaning, hommages, effort and -above all- gratitude. First, gratitude to José Luís Turina. We owe him a lot of things, since he supported us from the very beginning of our career. He did not doubt for a second to be enrolled in this project, that is meaningful thanks to him.

José Luís arranged for us original pieces for piano and lute quartet composed by his grandfather, Joaquín Turina. He also arranged for windquintet a piece for 2 pianos that he composed for the 90th birthday of his father, the painter José Luis Turina.
In this piece, titled “Variations upon Themes by Turina” José Luís used his father’s favorite themes composed by Joaquín, among them there is an excerpt of Christmas Picture, piece that Joaquín sedicated to his son.
The Cd has been doable thanks to the Deutschlandradio Kultur (German Radio). They were very interested in the project and offered us to record it with amazing conditions! For such an special project we have collaborated again with Igorstudio for the promotional video recordings and photo shooting.

Just after the recording we began our last 2017 Tour. It seems that we sometimes like to make thinks complicated...Why did we played two totally diferent concert programs in this Tour? I think sometimes that we are crazy haha, but it is true that from this challenges the quintet gets stronger and always in good shape!
The repertorie was very demanding, we included the 10 Pieces by Ligeti (not easy to play them after having been focused in a CD Recording)! For this 4 concerts we travelled from Switzerland to the North, East and West and Germany...quite a lot of kilometers by car :-)

As you can see it has been a very intense year. A crucial year -that could have been a year to forget- but has ended being a year not only to remember but to wish it could be lived again! But this all does not end here!
?We will fight to make 2018 be even a better year!

We will come back to Spain to play in the Palau de la Música de Valencia, we will play our Debut in the famous Philharmonie Essen, will be teachers of a specialized woodwind quintet course in the JONDE (Youth National Orchestra of Spain), we will come back to Canada, and lots of other projects! Would you like to come with us?

Thank you very much to all of you for your supporting!

Happy New Year!!

Hug,

Antonio