Classics in the Canaries
Got clients looking for Brahms with some balmy weather? Look toward Spain’s Canaries this winter. Sonatas and symphonies will fill the air of eight of the Canary Islands from January 10 through March 1, 2008 when the 24th Annual Music Festival of the Canaries – one of Europe’s only classical music festivals in the winter – kicks off January 10.
The first concert will take place at the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium in Las Palmas de Gran Canarias with a program of Beethoven’s Concert No. 3 for piano and orchestra, directed by Pedro Halffter and performed by the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra with the Children’s Choir of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria (OFGC). The festival will end on March 1 with the final concert in Santa Cruz de Tenerife featuring the Orchestra of Cadaqués with Sir Neville Marriner conducting Mozart’s Concerto No. 23 and his Symphony No. 38.
During the eight-week festival, there will be 65 performances – 21 each in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife – and 22 performances on the smaller islands of Lanzarote, La Palma, Fuerteventura, La Gomera and El Hierro. Even the tiny volcanic island of La Graciosa will host a concert, a performance of Beethoven’s Quartets on January 12.
Italian mezzo soprano Cecilia Bartoli, a four-time Grammy winner, will perform on January 31 and February 2, and the world-renowned Italian conductor Riccardo Muti will direct the London Philarmonia Orchestra in four performances, February 25-28. Led by Sir Neville Marriner, the Orchestra of Cadaqués will perform on February 27 and 29 with the Women’s Choir of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria along with the well-known Spanish soprano Ainhoa Arteta. Top orchestras from several European countries –Hungary, Finland, the Netherlands --will perform.
About the Canaries
Year round sunny weather with average temperatures in the 70’s has been drawing visitors to the Canary Islands since the 1960s. Lying just 62 miles off the African coast in the Atlantic, these volcanic islands offer beautiful beaches, and a variety of striking landscapes.
The chain’s largest, Tenerife is crowned by the majestic dormant volcano of Mount Teide, Spain’s highest peak at 12,195 feet. Santa Cruz boasts many historic buildings including a church dating from 1500, archaeological and fine arts museums and the bustling food market/bazaar Mercado de Nuesta Señora de África. In Puerto de la Cruz there is a wine museum, the Orotava Botanical Garden and Loro Parque, a subtropical garden with over 1,000 parrots and the world’s largest penguin zoo.
Gran Canaria has one of the archipelago’s most beautiful stretches of beach – some five miles long. Tourists flock to the port of Las Palmas for the duty-free shopping and the atmospheric Barrio Vegueta, while hikers head for the rural interior with its steep highland reaching almost 6,500 feet. Least populated of the islands, Fuerteventura has endless strands of white sand, towering dunes and clear blue waters perfect for windsurfing. The futuristic landscape of Lanzarote with its hardened lava and dark dunes suggests a scene from a science fiction movie. The entire island is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and conservation and controlled development make it an attractive vacation choice. Called the “Green Island,” La Palma attracts visitors with its lush foliage, black sand beaches and the huge crater national park in its interior. The capital, Santa Cruz is a preserved Spanish colonial city with 16th century buildings. La Gomera‘s rugged mountains – its forest was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site – attract hikers who want to get away from it all. The smallest and least visited, El Hierro also draws travelers of a solitary bent with deserted black sand beaches and a quiet pine forest. Streets and roads of unpaved sand mark La Graciosa – a tiny volcanic island about a mile north of Lanzarote.
Visit www.festivaldecanarias.com. To book tickets, which range from about $18 to $140, visit www.generaltickets.com/cajacanarias/index.cfm