Filharmònica de La Scala & Chailly at Palau de la Música Catalana

About the Event

In this highly‐anticipated concert, hear the mellifluous sounds of classical music by Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Mahler at Barcelona's treasured and world‐renowned Palau de la Música Catalana.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

An English subject with German origins, Georg Handel was truly a musical pioneer, combining musical traditions of English, Italian and German composers. He was born in 1685 in Halle, Germany, into a very religious and conservative family. His father was dreaming for his son to become a lawyer and would not let young Georg play musical instruments at home. But the Duke Johann Adolf accidentally heard him playing in the chapel and convinced Georg's father to let his son receive a musical education. Thus, Handel became a pupil of the famous organ player and composer Friedrich Zachow.

The first success came to Handel in 1705 when he moved to Hamburg and staged his two premiere operas, Almira and Nero, in the Oper am Gänsemarkt. Almira immediately became a highlight of the theatre and was performed around 20 times. Later next year Handel moved to Italy were he received high acclaim and was put on the same level as renowned Italian composers of the time. In 1710 Handel travelled to London where later he decided to settle down. There he wrote a sacred choral piece 'Te Deum' that was played in St. Paul´s Cathedral at the ceremony devoted to signing the Utrecht Treaty. From that moment onwards he became the leading composer of England, as the country did not have any native prominent composers. His oeuvre was mainly focused on operas, but by 1730 the genre of Italian opera ceased to be popular and Handel´s success dwindled. During the last years of his life until his death in 1759 he was mainly composing oratorias, including his famous and magnificent Messiah.

Gustav Mahler

Jules Massenet was a French composer of the late 19th century. He influenced the Romantic era with his works of operas such as Manon 1884 and Werther 1892. However, he also composed other genres such as ballets, oratorios, orchestral works and piano pieces. In 1863r he won the top musical prize, the Prix de Rome, and became one of the leading composer of opera in France. later on in life he became a professor at the Conservatoire of Paris, like many prominent French composers of the period.