"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.

There were smiles among the Dutch audience leaving the century-old Concertgebouw concert hall on Friday night. The hall, which looms large over Amsterdam's great museums, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, opened in 1888 and is considered one of the finest in the world, especially for its acoustics. Gustav Mahler, although he disliked Amsterdam, considered it his second musical home. On Friday, Catalan talent from both the last and present centuries could be heard. The 101 musicians of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ludovic Morlot, performed Maurice Ravel (Ziburu, 1875 - Paris, 1937) and George Gershwin (New York, 1898 - Los Angeles, 1937), but also Eduard Tolrà (Vila) Barcelona, 1962), Pau Casals (Vendrell 1876 - Puerto Rico, 1973) and José Río-Pareja (Barcelona, 1973).