"The Dream of Eros" by Oscar Esplá and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5
National Orchestra of Spain
Conductor: Pablo González
Oscar Esplá — "The Dream of Eros"
Gustav Mahler — Symphony No. 5
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National Orchestra and Choir of Spain
Founded in 1937 by the Government of the Second Spanish Republic as the National Concert Orchestra, the ensemble gave a brief concert season in Barcelona in 1938. Under its current name, the National Orchestra of Spain resumed activities in March 1942, following the hiatus of the Civil War. Since then, it has maintained an intense concert life — including its regular concert cycle in Madrid (based at the National Auditorium of Music since 1988), performances at Spain’s leading festivals, and extensive tours across Spain, Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
With the opening of the 2026/27 season, the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain — unified as one institution since 1971 — enters a new chapter with the appointment of American conductor Kent Nagano as its Principal and Artistic Director. This appointment reaffirms OCNE’s commitment to international projection and artistic excellence.
Prior to Nagano, the orchestra’s podium was occupied by David Afkham (2014–2026), Bartolomé Pérez Casas, Ataúlfo Argenta, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Antoni Ros-Marbà, Jesús López Cobos, Aldo Ceccato, and Josep Pons. Among its distinguished guest conductors were Sergiu Celibidache, Igor Markevitch, Rafael Kubelik, Zubin Mehta, and Riccardo Muti in its earlier decades; more recently, Yuri Temirkanov, Ton Koopman, Gustavo Dudamel, Semyon Bychkov, Leonard Slatkin, Christoph Eschenbach, Pablo Heras-Casado, Giovanni Antonini, Juanjo Mena, Joana Mallwitz, Jörg Widmann, Simone Young, Anja Bihlmaier, Gemma New, Vladimir Ashkenazy, William Christie, and Susanna Mälkki.
Since September 2014, the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain has released numerous recordings on its own label. Earlier releases include *Sonata Suite*, winner of the 2010 Latin Grammy Award for Best Flamenco Album; *El amor brujo*, with Estrella Morente (Deutsche Grammophon); monographic albums devoted to Benet Casablancas (Diverdi) and César Camarero (Kairos). More recently, the OCNE label has issued Mahler and Shostakovich symphonies conducted by David Afkham; concertante works by Ginastera and Rodrigo under Juanjo Mena; and historically informed reconstructions of works by Ramón Carnicer and Manuel García.
The National Orchestra and Choir of Spain is a production unit under the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM), Ministry of Culture.
PABLO GONZÁLEZ — Conductor
Recognised as one of the most versatile and passionate conductors of his generation, Pablo González inspires both orchestras and audiences worldwide. Attentive to every silence and every orchestral entrance, he “weaves and brings order to this tonal revolution” (*OperaWorld*).
He served as Principal Conductor of the Radio and Television Orchestra and Choir of Spain (2019–2023) and of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra of Catalonia (2010–2015); as Guest Principal Conductor of the Granada City Orchestra; and as Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Recent and upcoming engagements include concerts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, The Hallé, Helsinki Philharmonic, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Stavanger Symphony, Residentie Orkest, Liège Philharmonic, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, and Buenos Aires Philharmonic. In Spain, he maintains close ties with all major symphony orchestras and frequently performs with them at international festivals.
As an opera conductor, highlights include *Don Giovanni* and *L’elisir d’amore* in two acclaimed Glyndebourne Festival Tours; *Carmen* at the San Sebastián Quincena Musical; *Una voce in off*, *La voix humaine*, *Die Zauberflöte*, *Daphne*, and *Rienzi* at the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona); and *Tosca* and *Madama Butterfly* at Ópera de Oviedo.
He has collaborated with soloists including Maxim Vengerov, Nikolai Lugansky, Javier Perianes, Khatia Buniatishvili, Beatrice Rana, Renée Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Sol Gabetta, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Isabelle Faust, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Arcadi Volodos, Viktoria Mullova, Johannes Moser, Truls Mørk, and Viviane Hagner.
His discography features a landmark three-volume set of Enrique Granados’s orchestral works, and a CD of Bizet’s *Carmen* and *L’Arlésienne* suites with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra of Catalonia (Naxos). González enjoys an ongoing collaboration with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern (DRP), with whom he will soon record music by Emmanuel Moór; his recording of Schumann’s symphonies with Lena Neudauer received the prestigious International Classical Music Award.
Born in Oviedo, Pablo González studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (London). He currently resides in Oviedo.