Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic Chief Conductor, Juanjo Mena, brings an afternoon of music from one of the very few 19th-century Basque composers - Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga.
Today’s concert includes music from Arriaga’s only opera, Los esclavos felices (‘The Happy Slaves’) which he composed in his early teenage years. The overture we hear today followed a few years later, shortly before Arriaga’s early death at 19 from tuberculosis, and demonstrates his outstanding creativity.
Also on the programme this afternoon is his only symphony – composed when he was studying at the Paris Conservatoire. Produced at 18, it gives no hint of immaturity or inexperience and demonstrates why he was known as the Spanish Mozart.
