The second edition of the Iturbi Piano Festival will be held at different venues in the city of Valencia; in the towns of Ayora, Chiva, Gandia, Llíria, Sagunt and Xàtiva; and in European cities such as Rome and Toulouse, which will contribute to “the consolidation of the festival, combining the municipal character of the Provincial Council and the international nature of the competition”, explained Glòria Tello, councillor responsible for the Iturbi Prize.
The festival will be held between 28 October and 4 November and aims to be a “piano festival” marked by excellence and the memory of José Iturbi, the universal Valencian concert pianist who died in Los Angeles (the United States) in 1980. In all aspects of the programme, this innovative edition reaffirms its multinational vocation and its determination to become a reflection of the international piano universe.
This second edition, under the artistic direction of Justo Romero, marks the consolidation of a festival that began in 2020 as a counterpart to the biennial Iturbi Piano Prize. The stars of the programme, alongside Maria João Pires and Josep Colom, are the Russians Yulianna Avdeeva and Alexei Sichev, Luis Fernando Pérez from Madrid, Carlos Apellániz from Gipuzkoa and Claudio Carbó, María Linares, Carles Marín, Óscar Oliver and Xavier Torres from Valencia, together with harpsichordist Diego Ares and fortepianist Antonio Simón, among others.
New features: “Las lógicas exquisitas”
The concert programme is packed with new features, contemporary music and pianistic virtuosity, tracing a meticulous journey through the evolution of the keyboard, from Bach’s Concerto for Four Keyboards and Strings to the present day. The programme includes the world premiere of a Piano Quintet commissioned by the Festival from the Valencian composer Francisco Coll, entitled Las lógicas exquisitas, which will be performed on 29 October at the Centre Cultural La Beneficència by an ensemble of instrumentalists, with the piano part played by Madrid-born Luis Fernando Pérez, one of Spain’s most internationally renowned virtuosos.
“The name of Iturbi, the piano tradition of Valencia, and its musical and cultural influence demand this ambition to grow the festival into an essential meeting point for pianists and music lovers”, says Glòria Tello, who recalls that the success of the first edition “has set us on the path and course of excellence, rigour and universality as the hallmarks of an event that aims to be a communication showcase between the international piano world – of which Iturbi knew so much – and the rich pianistic and keyboard heritage that the Region of Valencia has produced since the time of the great Cabanilles to José Iturbi”.
Its Artistic Director, Justo Romero, has described the piano event as “expansive and growing, committed to offering a detailed, entertaining and plural perspective on the reality of the piano and its inexhaustible universe”, while Josep Vidal, head of the Provincial Council’s Department of Culture, highlighted that this edition “will take the winners of the latest Valencia International Piano Competition, the Iturbi Prize, to different towns in Valencia”, in a competition that “will open and close in Rome”.
The recital series is organised in collaboration with Valencia City Council, the Palau de la Música, the Valencian Institute of Culture through the Deputy Directorate for Music and Popular Culture, the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome, attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Palau de les Arts and the Piano aux Jacobins Festival.
The pianist María Linares
New Artistic Director
Born in Badajoz, raised in Seville and now living in Valencia, Justo Romero (Badajoz, 1955) is one of the best known and most respected figures in Spanish music. He was Technical Director of the Orquesta Bética Filarmónica (1978-1981) and the Orquesta de Valencia (1995-1998); co-founder, together with Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and Helga Schmidt, of the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana (2005-2007); Artistic Advisor to the Albéniz Festival in Camprodon (1999-2007) and the Alicante Auditorium (2011-2017), and Dramaturge at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia (2005-2015).
The new Artistic Drector of the Iturbi Festival was an editor and music critic. His bibliography, which particularly focuses on the world of the piano and Spanish music, includes, among others, the books Sevilla en la ópera; Albéniz; El Gato Montés; Falla; Cristóbal Halffter, este silencio que escucho; Chopin, Raíces de futuro and El piano 52+36. He has given lectures and led seminars in countries and universities in Europe and America, and has curated exhibitions promoted by institutions such as Madrid City Council, the Regional Governments of Andalusia, Extremadura and Valencia, the Ministry of Culture and the State Society for Cultural Commemorations.
