The Orquesta Nacional de España (Spanish National Orchestra) is a symphonic orchestra that is based in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain.

History

Although the orchestra originated as of 1937, during 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 Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

, it was legally founded in 1940, by the merging of Pérez Casas' ''Filarmónica'' and the ''Orquesta Sinfónica'' of Enrique Fernández Arbós. The first official concert of the newly founded orchestra was in March 1941 at the

Teatro María Guerrero Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band), musical act signed to Sony BMG * ''Teatro'' (Willie Nelson album), 1998 * ''Teatro'' (Draco Rosa album), 2008 {{disambiguation ...

in Madrid conducted by eminent Portuguese conductor

Pedro de Freitas Branco Pedro de Freitas Branco (1896 – 1963) was a Portuguese conductor and composer. Life and career Branco was born in Lisbon, and studied music with Tomás Vaz de Borba and Luís de Freitas Branco (his elder brother). He founded the Portuguese O ...

(1896–1963). The principal conductors of these first years of the orchestra were

Ernesto Halffter Ernesto Halffter Escriche (16 January 19055 July 1989) was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was the brother of Rodolfo Halffter and part of the ''Grupo de los Ocho'' ( en, Group of Eight), which formed a sub-set of the ''Generation of '27'' ...

, José María Franco,

Enrique Jordá Enrique Jordá (March 24, 1911 – March 18, 1996) was a Spanish-American conductor. Born in San Sebastián (Guipúzcoa, Spain), later on he was a naturalized US citizen. After conducting in Madrid, Cape Town and Antwerp, he was music direc ...

Eduard Toldrà Eduard Toldrà Soler (; Vilanova i la Geltrú 7 April 1895 – Barcelona, 31 May 1962) was a Spanish Catalan composer and conductor. Toldrà played an important role in the Culture of Barcelona. In 1944 he founded the Barcelona Symphony Orches ...

and

Jesús Arámbarri Jesús Arámbarri Gárate (13 April 1902 in Bilbao – 11 July 1960 in Madrid) was a Spanish classical music conductor and composer native to the Basque Country. Jesús Arámbarri has been classed among the cultural treasures of the region, wit ...

, until the designation of the first principal conductor of the orchestra, Bartolomé Pérez Casas. After his death the new principal conductor was

Ataúlfo Argenta Ataúlfo Exuperio Martín de Argenta Maza (19 November 1913 – 20 January 1958) was a Spanish conductor and pianist. Biography Argenta was born in Castro Urdiales, Cantabria, one of the two children, and the only son, of the local stat ...

, who was in the orchestra from 1945 as the keyboard instruments player.

Principal conductors

* Bartolomé Pérez Casas (1942–1947) *

(1947–1958) *

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (born Rafael Frühbeck; 15 September 1933 – 11 June 2014) was a Spanish conductor and composer. Frühbeck was born in Burgos, Spain to a family of German ancestry. He first took up conducting while on military serv ...

(1962–1978) *

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 ...

(1978–1981) *

Jesús López-Cobos Jesus ( AD 30 or 33) was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who most Christians believe to be the incarnation of God and Muslims believe was a prophet. Jesus may also refer to: People Religious figures * Elymas Bar-Jesus, a Jew in the ''Ac ...

(1984–1989) *

Aldo Ceccato Aldo Ceccato (born 18 February 1934) is an Italian conductor. Ceccato was born in Milan. He worked as assistant to Sergiu Celibidache and was music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1973 until 1977. Then, from 1976 until 1982, he ...

(1991–1994) *

Josep Pons Josep Pons (born Josep Pons i Viladomat; 1957) is a Spanish conductor. Biography Pons was born in Puig-reig, Berguedà. He received his musical training at L'Escolania de Montserrat and continued his musical studies in Barcelona with such teac ...

(2003–2011) * David Afkham (2014–)

References

External links

HomepageArticle (in Spanish)
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1940 Spanish orchestras Culture in Madrid National orchestras 1940 establishments in Spain Arts organizations established in 1940

History

Principal conductors

See also

References

External links