The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra of Catalonia ( ca, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, OBC; ) is a symphony orchestra based in Barcelona, Spain. Since April 1999, the Orchestra has had its headquarters at

L'Auditori L'Auditori () is a modern building of 42,000 square metres designed by the architect Rafael Moneo, opened on 22 March 1999, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is in the centre of the new pole of urban development of Plaça de les Glòries, whic ...

. Prior to that, from its foundation to 1998, the orchestra was resident at the

Palau de la Música Catalana Palau de la Música Catalana (, en, Palace of Catalan Music) is a concert hall in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Designed in the Catalan '' modernista'' style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for ...

History

In addition to the Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu, founded in 1847 and devoted to

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, Barcelona has had several symphonic orchestras since 1888. From 1910 to 1924, a private-based Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona gave its concerts in the Teatre Eldorado, led by

Joan Lamote de Grignon Joan Lamote de Grignon i Bocquet (; 7 July 1872 – 11 March 1949) was a Catalan Spanish pianist, composer and orchestra director. Life Joan Lamote de Grignon was born and died in Barcelona, the son of parents of French descent, Lluis Lamote de ...

. After it, the city's principal orchestra was the Orquestra Pau Casals (1920–1936), conducted by Pau Casals, and linked to the Associació Obrera de Concerts (Workers' Society for Concerts). After the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

(1936–1939), both the orchestra and society were banned and Casals went into exile in France. In 1944, a new Barcelona civic orchestra – the current Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona – was founded with the name of Barcelona Municipal Orchestra, created by the City Council (Ajuntament de Barcelona) and promoted by the Catalan conductor and composer Eduard Toldrà. Toldrà, through his leadership, helped to consolidate the orchestra's presence very early in the cultural life of the city. Barcelona has since had a regular cycle of symphonic concerts with the collaboration of the main national and foreign performers and with the aim to make classical music reach the greater public and especially to spread the work of Catalan composers. After Toldrà's death in 1962, Rafael Ferrer became the head of the orchestra until 1967, when

Antoni Ros-Marbà Antoni is a Catalan, Polish, and Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia. As a Catalan given name it is a variant of the male names Anton and Antonio. As a Polish given name it is a variant of the fe ...

succeeded him. From this moment, it received the name of Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona (City of Barcelona Orchestra, or OCB) until the constitution of the Consortium made up of the

Government of Catalonia The Executive Council of Catalonia ( ca, Consell Executiu) or the Executive Government of Catalonia (Catalan: ) is the executive branch of the Generalitat of Catalonia. It is responsible for the political action, regulation, and administratio ...

and Barcelona City Hall, in the 1994–95 season, which gave it the current name of Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra of Catalonia), known as OBC. In 1994–1995 season a Consortium made up of the

and Barcelona City Council was constituted. In September 2015,

Kazushi Ōno (born 1960) is a Japanese conductor. He is currently music director of the Brussels Philharmonic and of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of New National Theatre Tokyo. Biography Ōno studied at the Tokyo Nationa ...

became principal conductor of the OBC, with an initial contract of three years. Ōno is scheduled to conclude his tenure as OBC principal conductor at the close of the 2021-2022 season. In November 2021, the OBC announced the appointment of Ludovic Morlot as its next principal conductor, effective with the 2022-2023 season, with an initial contract of four seasons. The OBC has made recordings for such labels as

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

Auvidis Auvidis was a record label founded in 1976 by Louis Bricard. Along with its subsidiaries, it was acquired in 1998 by Naïve Records. During its existence, Auvidis acquired a number of subsidiary labels, such as Unidisc; the traditional and world ...

, Koch,

Claves Claves (; ) are a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of short, wooden sticks about 20–25 centimeters (8–10 inches) long and about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter. Although traditionally made of wood (typically rosewood, ebony o ...

and Naxos Records.

Music directors / principal conductors

* Eduard Toldrà (1944–1962) * Rafael Ferrer (1962–1967) *

(1967–1978) * Salvador Mas (1978–1981) *

(1981–1986) *

Franz-Paul Decker Franz-Paul Decker (June 26, 1923 – May 19, 2014) was a German-born conductor. Life Decker was born in Cologne, Germany, where he studied at the Hochschule für Musik with Philip Jarnach and Eugen Papst. He made his conducting debut at the ...

(1986–1991) * Antonio García Navarro (1991–1993) *

Lawrence Foster Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. He is currently the artistic director and chief conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the music director of the Marseille Opera and th ...

(1996–2002) * Ernest Martínez Izquierdo (2002–2005) *

Eiji Oue is a Japanese conductor. Biography Oue began his conducting studies with Hideo Saito of the Toho Gakuen School of Music. In 1978, Seiji Ozawa invited him to spend the summer studying at the Tanglewood Music Center. There he met Leonard Bern ...

(2006–2010) *

Pablo González Bernardo Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People *Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer * Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer * Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist *Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * Pablo Bren ...

(2010–2015) *

(2015–2022) * Ludovic Morlot (2022–present)

Premières performed

As the city's main orchestra, the OBC has performed many world premières of musical compositions, including the following: * 1948

Xavier Montsalvatge Xavier Montsalvatge i Bassols (; 11 March 1912 – 7 May 2002) was a Spanish composer and music critic. He was one of the most influential music figures in Catalan music during the latter half of the 20th century. Biography Life Montsalvatge w ...

's ''Simfonia mediterrània'' (Mediterranean Symphony). * 1952

Jaume Pahissa Jaume Pahissa i Jo (also Jaime; October 8, 1880 – October 27, 1969, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was a Spanish-born composer and musicologist. From an article published in Le Figaro March 16, 1913: "We note the great success at the Liceo theater ...

's ''El camí'' (The way). * 1960 Xavier Montsalvatge's ''Càntic espiritual''. * 1961

Frederic Mompou Frederic Mompou Dencausse (; alternatively Federico Mompou; 16 April 189330 June 1987) was a Spanish and Catalan composer and pianist. He is remembered for his solo piano music and songs. Life Early years Mompou was born in Barcelona to the ...

's ''Variacions sobre un tema de Chopin'' for orchestra. * 1963 Xavier Montsalvatge's ''Desintegració morfològica de la xacona de J. S. Bach'' (Morphological disintegration of J.S. Bach's chaconne), and other of the composer's works. * 1964

Joaquim Homs Joaquim Homs i Oller (; 21 or 22 August 1906 – 9 September 2003) was a Spanish composer. Homs was born in Barcelona, and studied cello until 1922. Afterwards, he self-educated himself in composition before studying on-and-off from 1931 t ...

' ''Invention for orchestra''; other Homs works have had their premieres by OBC: ''Presències'' (1967), ''Brief symphony'' (1972), ''Nonet'' (1979)... * 1974

Josep Soler Josep is a Catalan masculine given name equivalent to Joseph (Spanish ''José''). People named Josep include: * Josep Bargalló (born 1958), Catalan philologist and former politician * Josep Bartolí (1910-1995), Catalan painter, cartoonist an ...

's opera-oratorio ''Oedipus et Iocasta'' (many Soler works have been first performed by the OBC). * 1997

Salvador Brotons Salvador Brotons (born 1959 in Barcelona) is a Catalan composer, conductor, and flautist. Early life In the year of 1967, Salvador Brotons attended the Barcelona Conservatory of Music where he received titles in his three areas of studies, whic ...

' oratorio ''Stabat Mater''

References

External links

Official Catalan-language homepage of the OBC

OBC Catalan-language page on the history of the OBC
{{Authority control Catalan orchestras

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

1944 establishments in Spain Musical groups established in the 1940s