Four Concerts for saxophone and orchestra, four first performances as part of the 3rd European Saxophone Congress, which is being held in Italy, in Trento, these days. New compositions by four authors of three different nationalities and with very different musical languages. And then five soloists, because one of the works includes soprano sax and tenor sax soloists. All of this, obviously, in few hours of rehearsals – very Italian-style – which will not fail to provide thrills…
And here they are, the titles of the works that have been the soundtrack of my days for a few weeks and in which I will lead the ORV Filarmonia Veneta in concert on Saturday 20 July at 9.30 pm at the Santa Chiara Auditorium in Trento, together with the related soloists: Francisco Martínez will be the saxophone in the Concert “The Mistral Wind” by Manuel Martínez Burgos, from Madrid, born in 1970, author of Universal Music; from Spain to Portugal with the concert “After a naked lunch” by Sara Carvalho, which will be performed by compatriot Henrique Portovedo; the “Suite Folklorique” by the very young Miquel de Jorge Artells is made up of two movements, entrusted to the sax of an equally young but already appreciated Iñaki Bermúdez; and finally the British composer and saxophonist Andy Scott and his “Open Sky”, in which he will be a soloist alongside his friend and colleague Rob Buckland.
Beyond the many technical difficulties proposed by these contemporary scores, it was and is an opportunity to learn more about an instrument whose appearances in the orchestra and in the world of so-called classical music are fleeting and episodic. Tonal extension, realization possibilities and technical agility were a discovery for me, despite the awareness of approaching this instrument starting from its European champions.