Juan de la Rubia

As part of its organ concert series, the Auditorio de Tenerife presents Handeliana I, bringing together Juan de la Rubia, organist of the Sagrada Família, and the Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife.

This is not the first time Handel’s music has been heard on the organ at the Auditorio de Tenerife, but it is the first opportunity to experience a selection of his concertos for organ and orchestra performed by the Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife.

Devised by Juan de la Rubia as a journey through Handel’s orchestral and concertante music, the programme opens with the overture to the opera Rodelinda, an example of the theatrical grandeur and majesty that characterise the composer’s style. At the heart of the concert are three works from Opp. 4 and 7, in which Handel reveals the full breadth of his melodic invention and instrumental virtuosity. Originally conceived for the composer himself to perform during the intervals of his operas and oratorios in London, these works combine brilliance and improvisatory freedom with moments of intense lyricism.

The programme is completed by the Concerto in B-flat major, HWV 288, and a short sonata for violin and basso continuo from Op. 1. Together, they provide contrast and reveal the remarkable diversity of genres cultivated by the Hamburg-born composer who made London his home, from chamber music to orchestral works, with the organ taking centre stage.

Performed on period instruments, the programme explores the meeting of historically informed performance with a cutting-edge organ whose transparent and flexible tonal palette lends exceptional clarity and versatility to the dialogue between soloist and ensemble.

Handeliana I embraces a historically informed approach while affirming music as a living art, bringing the rhythmic vitality, rhetorical power and expressive richness of the Baroque vividly into the twenty-first century.