Pablo Casals Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Orquestra Pau Casals was established by Pau "Pablo" Casals
in the early 1920s in Barcelona
, with the debut performance taking place October 13, 1920. There had been other orchestras in Barcelona, but none that played with any enduring success. The orchestra was managed by a group of Casals' friends including Felip Capdevila and Casals' second wife Francesca.
Casals hired musicians full-time, invested his savings to balance the accounts and a great deal of effort in working with the orchestra and raising the level of technical accomplishment, so much so that he suffered a "nervous breakdown" at one point and had to rest for several months. However, after nine years of training, the Orquestra Pau Casals became recognized as one of the finer orchestras in Europe
, attracting high quality soloists and guest conductors. Casals conducted the orchestra himself, and promoted it by playing with it exclusively as a soloist in Barcelona, and refusing to play at other venues in the area.
Casals organized his orchestral performances to appeal to the working class people of Catalonia
, and workmen and their families often attended, listening to Mozart, Beethoven and other classical repertoire. Dedicated to the ideal that everyone should appreciate and support music, Casals also founded the Associacio Obrera de Concerts (Working Men's Concert Association) in Barcelona with annual dues of six pesetas which served as a subscription to his concert series.
The orchestra recorded Beethoven's First and Fourth Symphonies in November 1929. Other recordings are also available.
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...
in the early 1920s in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, with the debut performance taking place October 13, 1920. There had been other orchestras in Barcelona, but none that played with any enduring success. The orchestra was managed by a group of Casals' friends including Felip Capdevila and Casals' second wife Francesca.
Casals hired musicians full-time, invested his savings to balance the accounts and a great deal of effort in working with the orchestra and raising the level of technical accomplishment, so much so that he suffered a "nervous breakdown" at one point and had to rest for several months. However, after nine years of training, the Orquestra Pau Casals became recognized as one of the finer orchestras in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, attracting high quality soloists and guest conductors. Casals conducted the orchestra himself, and promoted it by playing with it exclusively as a soloist in Barcelona, and refusing to play at other venues in the area.
Casals organized his orchestral performances to appeal to the working class people of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, and workmen and their families often attended, listening to Mozart, Beethoven and other classical repertoire. Dedicated to the ideal that everyone should appreciate and support music, Casals also founded the Associacio Obrera de Concerts (Working Men's Concert Association) in Barcelona with annual dues of six pesetas which served as a subscription to his concert series.
The orchestra recorded Beethoven's First and Fourth Symphonies in November 1929. Other recordings are also available.