Organization

Admin

Teatro Arriaga Bilbao

Pianist

Rubén Fdez. Aguirre

Piano

Mezzo-soprano (+3)

Carmen Artaza

Mezzo-soprano

Teatro Arriaga

A cultural revolution came to Spain in the early 20th century. The representative building that welcomed in these changes was the Student Residence in Madrid, a centre that housed university students, designed to encourage disciplinary exchange and break through the boundaries created by specialist studies.

Students thereby went from living in cold, lonely lodgings to enjoying visits from Albert Einstein, Manuel de Falla or Stravinsky, which also attracted young people not living in the building who enthusiastically shared their ideas, such as Rafael Alberti or the Halffter brothers. This saw the start of the Group of Eight or the Madrid group, including the aforementioned composers, Ernesto Halffter and Rodolfo Halffter. Their drive sought to bring a breath of fresh air and fight conservatism in music, although the Civil War brought an end to all this. Rodolfo fled to Mexico in exile and never came back. Ernesto went to Portugal, although he was able to use his possessions to ‘negotiate’ his return after the war. This recital is an approach to the figure and work of these two amazing composers.

Grianghraif