Bòreas Ensemble

Alba Valero, flute | Miquel Pérez, oboe | Santi Peñarroja, bassoon | Haizea Lores, trumpet | Oriol Ramos, clarinet

PROGRAMME

Jean Françaix: Wind Quintet No. 1 / Antonín Dvorák: String Quartet No. 12 “American”, Op. 96, Arrangement for Wind Quintet by David Walter     

The programme for this concert takes its title, Le Bonheur de vivre (The Joy of Living), from a 1906 painting by Henri Matisse. At the beginning of the twentieth century (1904-1908), the expressionist pictorial movement known as Fauvism emerged in Paris, featuring artists like Matisse himself, André Derain and Maurice Vlaminck. It was a movement that made provocative use of colour, which was the focus of creation, leaving form and mimicry in the background. The painting Le Bonheur de vivre represents the myth of Arcadia, an imaginary country where happiness reigns. The scene is represented by multiple colours. The same thing happens with the music in this programme: two works of very different styles and forms with the Wind Quintet No. 1 by Jean Françaix and an arrangement for wind quintet by Dvorak's American Quartet. These are two contrasting, highly demanding works in technical and interpretative terms, characterised by a fascinating density and intensity that is palpable to the listener. The combination of these works questions viewers and transports them to different moments in their lives. This is the quintet's particular interpretation of Le Bonheur de vivre. Bòreas Ensemble was founded in 2020 by five students from the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu under the guidance of clarinettist Isaac Rodríguez. Currently, its members are taking advanced courses in conservatories in Germany, Switzerland, France and Spain.