Duo Del Valle, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León & Pablo Gonzales
Biography Duo Del Valle, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León & Pablo Gonzales
Duo Del Valle
Since they won Top Prize and Special Audience Prize in the 54th ARD International Music Competition (Munich, 2005), Víctor and Luis del Valle (Vélez-Málaga, Spain) have soon been acclaimed as one of Europe's most distinguished chamber music ensembles.
They have also been awarded the Silver Medal in the "Primer Palau programme" (Palau de la Música de Cataluña. Barcelona, 2005). They have been Winners in the "Musiques d"Ensemble 2008" Competition (Paris), "Special Audience Prize" in the XI Dranoff International Two Piano Competition (Miami) and Winners and Special Prize to the best Mozart performance in the IV International Piano Duo Competition of Bialystok (Poland, 2008). In April 2011, they have been awarded the Audience Prize in the XXI Central European Music Festival (Zilina, Slovakia), where most of the winners of outstanding music competitions took part (Queen Elisabeth Competiton, Tchaikovsky Competition, ARD...).
Their activities include performances in the Auditorio Nacional, the Monumental Theater (Madrid), the Maestranza Theater (Sevilla), Palau de la Música, Auditori and the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona), Palacio de Festivales (Santander), Cervantes Theater (Málaga), Auditorium Dom Musiki (Moscow), Herkulessaal, Prinzregententheater and Gasteig (Munich), Liederhalle (Stuttgart), Congress Centrum (Hannover), Theatre des bouffes du Nord (Paris), Teatro Nacional (Panamá), Teatro Metropolitano in Medellín (Colombia), Sibelius Academy Concert Hall, Finlandia Hall and Finnish National Opera (Helsinki), Estonia Konsertdisaal (Tallinn)...
Amongst their performances, they have played with the RTVE Orchestra, the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, l"Orquestra Nacional de Cambra d"Andorra, Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya (JONC), "Siemens Chamber Orchestra" of the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and the Orquesta Filharmonía de Galicia, Bialystok Philharmonic, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Munchener Kammerorchester, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Helsinki Philharmonic, conducted by Bogdan Oledski, Howard Griffiths, James Ross, Miquel Ortega, Ralf Gothoni, Manuel Valdivieso, Peter Csaba, Juanjo Mena, Yakov Kreizberg, André de Ridder, Guillermo García Calvo, Antoni Ros Marbà, Okko Kamu...
Brothers Víctor and Luis del Valle have made a recording of music by spanish composer Tomás Marco in collaboration with the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra. They have also recorded unknown works by the Galician composer José Arriola with the orchestra Real Filharmonía de Galicia, released by the label Brilliant.
Furthermore, they have made recordings for TVE (National Spanish Television), RNE (National Radio from Spain) "Radio Clásica", BR (Bavarian Radio), SWR (Sud West Radio), Rádio Klasika (Slovakia) and for the recording company SONY MUSIC-Spain. Their new CD "Impulse", released by IBS CLASSICAL and acclaimed by critics and public, has received awards from the most important specialist magazines in Spain (Scherzo and Melómano).
Involved in the approach of classical music to the general public, the Del Valle Duo created in 2014, with the andalousian singer Pasión Vega, the show "2 Pianos con Pasión", a music-theater fusion that was performed with great success on a tour throughout the Spanish geography enjoyed by more than 40.000 spectators.
The duo has been described by musical critics as "a prodigy", "audible beauty, virtuosity...in their exceptional innovation of piano skill" (El País, Spanish newspaper). "Brothers Luis and Víctor del Valle, with Ravel"s "Valse", "broke" the sound barrier, achieving magical tones." (Alerta, Spanish newspaper); "...splendid and masterful virtuosity, unprecedented risk, exceptional style become one in these two musicians... One hears works of Mozart very few times in such a convincing way" (Stuttgarter Zeitung); "...they made two pianos sound like the Wiener Philharmoniker" (Panamá América- Epasa); "... these magnificent pianists respect styles and techniques, and they also show clearly and strongly their own young voice, daring, full of life and humour, expressive and musical to the utmost." (La Provincia. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria newspaper).
Víctor and Luis del Valle began working as a piano duo at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía under the tuition of Dimitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martínez Mehner. They continued their chamber music education with professors Márta Gulyás, Eldar Nebolsin and Ralf Gothóni, always with the support of Fundación Málaga. They have taken counsel from Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Katia & Marielle Labèque, Ferenc Rados, Menahem Pressler, Zoltán Kocsis, Daniel Barenboim and Martha Argerich.
At present, Víctor and Luis combine their artistic activities with their teaching career in Madrid and Málaga. They are both frequently invited to give piano and chamber music master classes in Spain as well as abroad.
The "Instituto Andaluz de la Juventud" (Andalusian Board for Youth) from the "Junta de Andalucía" (Andalusian Government) has awarded them with the Distinction "Premio Málaga Joven" for promoting Málaga abroad. In addition, their hometown, ...
Pablo González
Hailed as one of the most passionate conductors of his generation, Pablo González recently completed his four-years long term as the Principal Conductor of the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra (RTVE) and Artistic Adviser to the Orchestra and Choir, having appeared regularly at Madrid’s Teatro Monumental. Pablo previously served as Music Director of the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona I Nacional de Catalunya (10/15).
Pablo’s tenure in Madrid was characterized by the diversity of the repertoire, including the cycles: ‘Music under suspicion’, focusing in soviet composers under Stalin’s rule, ‘Echoes of the Belle Époque’, which culminated with a highly praised semi-staged performance of Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, ‘ Musical revolutions’ and ‘Roots’, an exploration of the influence of folk elements in XIX and XXth century orchestral repertoire. Berlioz, Mahler and Szymanowski received special attention, as well as well-established and emerging spanish contemporary composers. Full Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms cycles were also accomplished during these years.
During his tenure with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona I Nacional de Catalunya, Pablo conducted a vast array of repertoire including full Mahler and Schumann cycles; led a central European tour including a highly successful appearance at Vienna’s Konzerthaus; recorded and released three volumes of orchestral works by Enrique Granados, and Bizet’s Carmen and L’Arlesienne suites (Naxos); and championed many new pieces by Catalan and Spanish composers. While in Barcelona, Pablo’s involvement with opera and choral music was also remarkable, strengthening the relationship with Barcelona’s Teatre Liceu with titles such as Strauss’ Daphne, Wagner’s Rienzi, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Puccini’s Il tabarro, as well as all of Mahler’s orchestral lieder. Pablo also brought the orchestra back to the streets of Barcelona, reappearing at the popular “Festes de la Mercé”, and he led “Et toca a tu”: a mould-breaking social and collaborative project, bringing the musicians of the OBC together with children from neighborhoods at risk of social exclusion.
Russian and German symphonic repertoire of 19th and 20th centuries features most prominently among Pablo’s core repertoire. He has received widespread acclaim from audiences and critics for his interpretation of music by Mahler, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Schumann and Brahms. Pablo has also delivered passionate interpretations of symphonic works by Szymanowski, Nielsen, Dvořák and Berlioz.
Pablo enjoys a flourishing guest conducting career and has established several close relationships, with among others the Helsinki Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Dresden Philharmonic, The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, Stavanger Symphony, Bochum Symphony and Residentie Orchestra in the Hague. In the recent seasons Pablo has also collaborated with the Lahti Symphony in Finland, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the United Kingdom and with the Sinfonieorchester Basel.
Recent seasons were also dominated by a strong German presence, including debuts and return visits with some of Germany’s foremost symphony orchestras, taking Pablo to key venues such as Berlin’s Konzerthaus with The Konzerthausorchester Berlin; Cologne’s Philharmonie with Gürzenich-Orchester Köln; Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunk with Frankfurt Radio Symphony; and Kulturpalast with Dresden Philharmonic. For his debut with Dresden Philharmonic, Sächsische Zeitung wrote: “both orchestra and conductor transform Manuel de Falla’s ballet suites into a brilliant and richly contrasting declaration of love to happiness, cheerfulness and fearlessness”. For his return to Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Kölner Stadtanzeiger commented “Pablo González rendered Schumann’s filigrane score with equal precision and expression”, and Opernfreund noted that “Pablo González’s vehement conducting was effectively accurate and succeeded in getting across a wide variety of emotions, bewitching the audience”. In his native Spain, Pablo is in high demand and enjoys fruitful collaborations with the country’s most prestigious orchestras, including Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Asturias, Castilla y León, and City of Granada Symphony Orchestra. Pablo’s long-standing relationship with Real Filharmonia de Galicia has culminated last year with a tour to Austria, featuring performances at the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg and the Festspielhaus in Bregenz.
22/23 season highlights included returns to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and The Hague’s Zuiderstrandtheater with the Residentie Orchestra; Philharmonie de Paris debut with the Orchestre National d’Ile de France and return collaboration with Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur. In 23/24 season upcoming are Pablo’s debuts with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Strasbourg Philharmonic and Stuttgart Staatsorchester.
Pablo has collaborated with many distinguished soloists including Julian Rachlin, Alina Ibragimova, Pablo Ferrández, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Svetlin Roussev, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Isabelle Faust, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Maxim Vengerov, Nikolai Lugansky, Javier Perianes, Yeol Eum Son, Khatia Buniatishvili, Beatrice Rana, Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Sol Gabetta, Arcadi Volodos, Viktoria Mullova, Johannes Moser, Truls Mork and Viviane Hagner.
Equally passionate about opera, distinguished opera highlights of recent seasons include successful Glyndebourne tours of Don Giovanni and L’elisir d’amore; Carmen in San Sebastian and Tosca, Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly in Opera de Oviedo.
Born in Oviedo, Pablo studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and first captured international attention with his victories at the Donatella Flick and Cadaqués International Conducting competitions. Pablo has previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra of the City of Granada and as Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
