PALAU DE LA MÚSICA
Paseo de la Alameda, 30
46023 Valencia
www.palaudevalencia.com

El Palau de la Música has emerged as one of the most emblematic buildings of the city.
More than 500,000 visitors per year, speak for themselves about the popularity of the audience, considered today as one of the most important musical centres of Europe.

Transparency is the means adopted by the architect in this unusual experience. A large glass dome, which runs parallel to the channel, it serves as main access without hindering its axial visuality.

The Palau in Valencia.

It would be unthinkable to conceive our city today without the Palau de la Música, which in a few years has become a symbol of Valencia’s future and a landmark of its urban development. The transparency of its glass dome flanked by the ten slender columns of its portico- like a double stave- seems to measure the smooth rhythm of the most agreeable pleasure.

Cultural forum of Valencia, the Palau has become a space open to many artistic proposals: Literary cycles, exhibitions, theatre, dance, flamenco, jazz, etc. Nevertheless, it is the international projection reached in the field of classical music that has astonished the housands who come to the auditorium attracted by its prestige. The Palau has made reality a dream. Within its walls one can live the magic of an opera night with a cast worthy of the most prestigious theatres in the world. Mythical orchestras have experienced its excellent coustics. Batons who are almost a legend have risen to the podium along with up and coming talents. The most sublime soloists have shared its
applause with our resident orchestra. The Palau has established itself as the lighthouse of a new cultured and cosmopolitan Valencia.

Facing a pool, which reflects its elegant profile, the clear and spacious
image offered by the building allows the privileged space that surrounds it – the river Turia gardens- to blend harmoniously with its interior. On the other hand, the construction of the Palau meant the recovery of an underprivileged area, which is now, one of the most exclusive in Valencia... As if one needed proof that investing in culture is as profitable as it is necessary.

The building

Designed by José María García de Paredes, winner of the National
Architecture Award, and creator of other concert halls such as those of Madrid, Granada and Cuenca, the Palau de la Música of Valencia was inaugurated on 25th April 1987. Since then, it has become one of the most emblematic buildings in the city. Its five hundreds thousands visitors per year testify to the popularity of the concert hall, which is now considered one of the most important musical centres in Europe.
"The Palau is an Stradivarius"
Thus Plácido Domingo defined the exceptional acoustics in the Auditorium of Valencia. No less generous was José Carreras who stated "The Palau has the best acoustics in Europe and even the world". Neither was Montserrat Caballé unstinting in her praise: "It is a fantastic hall. The acoustics are marvellous. I turned in all direction while singing and I can say that it is the most beautiful I have ever heard”. The acoustics have been unanimously praised by the musicians who have graced the stage: Abbado, Barenboim,
Celibidache, Mehta, Menuhin, Muti, Solti, Sinopoli, Pogorelich or Esa-Pekka Salonen who recently asserted: “Regarding the acoustics, it is one of the best modern halls I have been in. You can be very proud of it for the acoustics response is excellent”.

The halls at the Palau:

"José Iturbi" Auditorium
With over 1800 seats it is the most emblematic hall and visible image of the Palau where the symphonic concerts take place. It has a 190-m2 stage and a pit, which is covered during concerts by two rows of seats, but can be opened for special occasions such as opera productions.

"Joaquín Rodrigo" Auditorium
With 420 seats, it is ideal for chamber concerts and recitals. It has hosted great cycles like International Soloists, Lied, Ancient and baroque Music, Electroacoustic Music, Percussion, Opera workshop, Flamenco, Jazz...

Conference rooms C and D
Each has a capacity for a hundred people and are the ideal areas for
conferences, meetings, congresses, literary and poetry cycles, exhibitions, etc. Through these rooms have passed many famous names such Camilo José Cela, Carlos Bousoño, Francisco Nieva, José Hierro and Francisco Brines, hmong others.

Exhibition Hall
This multi-use area of 420 m2 has programmed shows of avantgarde
artists together with exhibitions on musical themes that have, in many cases, complemented the symphonic or chamber cycles.

Congresses
From the celebration of the “International Congress of Intellectuals and
Artists” held in June 1987, to the Symposium “Challenges of the III
Millennium” held in January 1997, the Palau has hosted the majority of
cultural, scientific and social events in the city of Valencia. The relevance of these events has generated an enormous source of income for the Auditorium as well as for the city.

Orquesta de Valencia.
The Palau de la Música has been since 1987 the residence of
the Orchestra de Valencia. The creation of this musical centre has been an ideal platform for our orchestra, laying the foundation for a period of stability and great success.
It was founded in 1943 under the direction of Juan Lamotte de
Grignon. Its resident conductors have been Hans von Benda, Napoleone Annovazzi, José Iturbi, Enrique García Asensio, Pedro Pirfano, Luis Antonio García Navarro, Lorenzo Martínez Palomo, José María Cervera Collado, Benito Lauret and Manuel Galduf. Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez has been the resident conductor since September 1997. Some of the memorable guest conductors have been Ataúlfo Argenta, Clemens Krauss, Jean Martinon, Pedro de Freitas, Iosif Conta, Sergiu Celibidache, Antoni Ros Marbá, Sergiu
Comissiona, Jean Fournet, Krysztof Penderecki, Philippe Entremont, Franz Paul Decker, Cristóbal Halffter, Jesús López Cobos, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Maxim Shostakóvich, etc. Among soloists we find the illustrious names of Barenboim, Brailovski, Rubinstein, Weissenberg, Szeryng, Segovia, Zabaleta, Rostropovich, Pogorelich, Achucarro, Pires, Rogé, Labèque, Ayo, André and the voices of Victoria de los Angeles, Monserrat Caballé, Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, Mirella Freni, Elena Obraztsova, Samuel Ramey, María Bayo, Thomas Quasthoff, James Morris, Robert King, Nicolai Gedda, Gundula
Janowitz, Giuseppe Taddei, etc. Along with its concerts in the Palau and theatres of the Valencia Region, the Orchestra has performed in the Auditorio Nacional of Madrid, Palau de la Música of Barcelona, Teatro Maestranza of Seville, Festival of Peralada, Semana de Música Religiosa of Cuenca, etc. The Orchestra, which undertook an international tour throughout France and England with José Iturbi in 1950, participated in 1996 in the Festival Roma 96
and International Music Festival of Ravello with Mstislav Rostropovich as soloist and, in July of the same year, at the International Istanbul Music Festival. Among the recording of the orchestra are those with Iturbi for HMV and RCA; the Anthology of Valencian Music for ANEC; various LP’s and CD’s dedicated to Valencian composers; a CD dedicated to Albeniz for AUVIDIS; three live recording: J. Padilla’s “La bien amada”, J. Serrano’s “La canción del olvido” and “Compositores valencianos” incluing music by J. Rodrigo, E. López Chavarri and R. Chapí. In 1996 the orchestra recorded two CD’s for SONY Classical dedicated to J. Rodrigo and Ó.Esplá with Victoria de los Ángeles and Joaquín Achúcarro as soloists.

Collegium Instrumentale.
Created as the Palau Chamber Orchestra, they offered their first concert in November 1993. Since then, besides concerts at the Palau, they have performed in the Auditorio Nacional of Madrid, Festival de Música Religiosa of Cuenca...with Félix Ayo, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Maurice André, etc.

Choir of Valencia.
Since its creation in 1987, it has become one of the most prestigious choral groups in Spain. Besides its performances with the Valencia Orchestra, it has collaborated with illustrious European orchestras under the baton of Claudio Abbado, Sir Neville Marriner, etc.

Valencia Opera Workshop
Created in December 1993, this initiative, unique in Spain, has had great successes with its productions of “Le nozze di Figaro”, “Don Pasquale”, “La Revoltosa”, “Carmen” and “Les contes d’Hoffman”.

Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester.
Since early 1994 The Palau de la Música of Valencia is the residence of the GMJO, along with Viena, París La Villette and Bolzano.
Other resident groups are the Orfeón Universitario; Amores, Grup de
Percussió; Ensemble XXI, Quinteto de viento; Cuarteto de cuerdas
"Martin i Soler”...

Others musical activities.
The International Brass Festival, the Young Orchestras International
Festival and the International José Iturbi’s piano contest fill the city with
music during the summer months. To these one should add, since October 1993, the Flamenco Festival and, since July 1997, the Jazz Festival and recitals by famous artists within the Otras Músicas cycles. On the other hands, the ENSEMS brings us the latest in contemporary music. Children have their own space in the Palau. From “Mad about music” to the distinct phases of  “Auditions and concert for school children”, the Palau has never forgotten tomorrow's young audience. The Banda Municipal de Valencia offers its concerts, under the direction of its resident conductor Pablo Sánchez Torrella, every Sunday in the Iturbi Hall.

Others events:
Theatre, Dance, Literature, Exhibition and Cinema.
The cultural presence of the Palau in Valencia is not limited to the realm of music: the public has at all times enthusiastically supported plays, literary cycles and poetry. The exhibition hall has hosted shows of avant-garde artists and exhibitions on musical themes. The Mostra Cinema del Mediterrani is held in October. During a fortnight the Palau open its doors to famous actors and actresses, film projections, conferences, forums, concerts and international congresses on music for the cinema.