Ludovic Morlot before "the most ambitious season of the OBC"

Barcelona"When I took the reins of the Seattle Symphony in 2011, Simon Rattle told me to be patient, that it would take me five years to feel that it was my orchestra," explains Ludovic Morlot, who is just now beginning his fifth year as chief conductor of the OBC, the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra. Morlot uses the anecdote at L'Auditori de Barcelona during the presentation of the inaugural concert of the 2026-2027 season of the OBC, which will have two sessions: Friday, October 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday the 4th at 11 a.m. "I am just reaching that moment that Simon Rattle spoke of," he adds, happy with how the orchestra is flowing today. This spirit accompanies him when he asserts that this season will be "very ambitious" both in terms of repertoire and recordings. "While the repertoire for this season is different from last year's, the goal remains the same: artistic excellence," says Morlot.

For now, the term begins with a program featuring the Seventh Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Frédéric Chopin (with Jan Lisiecki as soloist) and the Concertino for String Orchestra by Robert Gerhard. "It will be a great celebration," assures Morlot. The inclusion of the Concertino by the composer from Valls is part of the first edition of the Robert Gerhard Biennial, promoted by the Robert Gerhard Foundation and L'Auditori with the collaboration of the Music Museum, the Esmuc, and the Friends of Music of Valls. "Gerhard is the most important Catalan composer of the 20th century, the Miró of music, and we want to connect him with the public," asserts the director of L'Auditori, Víctor Medem.

Both Morlot and Medem speak of ambition and balance to describe an OBC season with at least four "threads" regarding the great repertoire: Richard Strauss, "orchestral virtuosity," according to Medem; the beginning of an anthology of Mozart's piano concertos, "because the OBC must play more classicism"; Wagner's "revolution of orchestral writing," with proposals such as a Tristan und Isolde without words, and the Russian symphonism of Shostakovich. With the Ravel recording cycle closed, Morlot opens another on Prokofiev, "a more lyrical composer" that the OBC can take on with guarantees after the work done previously. As usual, the great repertoire will share programs with works by contemporary composers such as Blai Soler, Cassandra Miller, Sofia Gubaidulina, Josep Planells, and Gabriella Smith, among others; and with the prescriptive heritage recovery.

Optimism

According to the director of L'Auditori, "the OBC is at a point of maturity", with a consolidated staff (96 musicians) that has experienced "a generational shift" with the entry of many young people. All in all, says Medem, this translates into "a qualitative leap in the artistic ambition of the project". "An OBC concert is the ideal place to get into the symphonic world, because it is the country's orchestra that performs the most varied programs, and there is always something to discover. In the same program we combine the Second by Mahler with a premiere by Blai Soler. Only we do this", states Medem. As of now, the public's response is positive. With the whole season ahead, 12,765 individual tickets have already been sold, 25% more than at the beginning of the previous season (10,196).