"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, and after a brief concert season in Barcelona in 1938, the National Orchestra of Spain—under its current name—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), appearances at Spain’s leading festivals, and tours across Spain, Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
With the start of the 2026/27 season, the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain—a unified institution since 1971—enters a new chapter with the appointment of American conductor Kent Nagano as Principal and Artistic Director. This appointment reaffirms OCNE’s commitment to international projection.
Prior to Maestro Nagano, the National Orchestra of Spain was led 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 guest conductors, the orchestra has collaborated in its early years with masters such as Sergiu Celibidache, Igor Markevitch, Rafael Kubelík, Zubin Mehta, and Riccardo Muti; more recently, with figures including 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 several recordings on its own label. Earlier releases include *Sonata Suite*, awarded the Latin Grammy for Best Flamenco Album in 2010, and *El amor brujo* with Estrella Morente (Deutsche Grammophon), alongside monographic albums dedicated 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 historical recoveries of Ramón Carnicer and Manuel García.
The National Orchestra and Choir of Spain is a production unit of the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM), under Spain’s Ministry of Culture.
PABLO GONZÁLEZ — Conductor
Recognized 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 entrance of the full symphony orchestra, he “weaves and brings order to this tonal revolution” (*OperaWorld*).
He served as Principal Conductor of the Radio Televisión Española Orchestra and Choir (2019–2023) and of the Barcelona Symphony and National Orchestra of Catalonia (2010–2015), Guest Principal Conductor of the Granada City Orchestra, and Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Recent and upcoming engagements include performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, The Hallé, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Liège Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, and Buenos Aires Philharmonic, among others. In Spain, he maintains close ties with all major Spanish symphony orchestras and regularly appears with them at international festivals.
As an opera conductor, highlights include *Don Giovanni* and *L’elisir d’amore* in two successful Glyndebourne Tours; *Carmen* at the San Sebastián International Music Festival; *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 the Oviedo Opera.
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.
Among his discographic achievements are a three-volume monograph on Enrique Granados and a CD featuring Bizet’s suites from *Carmen* and *L’Arlésienne*, recorded with the Barcelona Symphony and National Orchestra of Catalonia for Naxos. Pablo González enjoys an ongoing collaboration with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern (DRP), with whom he will soon release a CD of Emmanuel Moór’s music; his recording of Schumann 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.