The organist who played for the Pope at the Sagrada Família in Barcelona performs alongside the island-based ensemble in ‘Handeliana I’
Auditorio de Tenerife opens this season’s organ concert series with Juan de la Rubia, the organist responsible for devising and performing the musical programme during Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the Sagrada Família in Barcelona to mark the centenary of Antoni Gaudí’s death. The Valencian musician will perform a programme of orchestral and concertante music by George Frideric Handel, accompanied on stage by the Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife. This first organ concert of the season will take place on Sunday 13 September at 12 noon in the Symphony Hall, home to the 3,835 pipes of this magnificent instrument, the only one of its kind in the world.
De la Rubia, principal organist at the Basilica of the Sagrada Família, will perform this selection of Handel’s works for the first time with the Tenerife ensemble, led by concertmaster Adrián Linares. Conceived by Juan de la Rubia as a journey through orchestral and concertante music, the concert opens with the overture to the opera Rodelinda, an example of the theatrical grandeur that characterises the composer’s style. It is followed by the centrepiece of the programme: three pieces from Op. 4 and Op. 7, in which Handel displays the full extent of his melodic ingenuity 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, improvisation and moments of great lyricism.
The programme is rounded off by the Concerto in B-flat major, HWV 288, and a short sonata for violin and basso continuo from Op. 1, providing contrast and showcasing the diversity of genres cultivated by the Hamburg-born, London-based composer, from chamber music to orchestral works, with the organ taking centre stage. Performed by an orchestra on period instruments, the concert offers an opportunity to explore the sound world of an organ whose avant-garde aesthetic and design provide a transparent, flexible timbral palette, lending the dialogue between soloist and ensemble exceptional clarity and versatility.
Handeliana I embraces a historically informed approach and a commitment to keeping this music alive, highlighting the rhythmic vitality, rhetorical character and expressive richness of the Baroque style in the 21st century. The Handeliana II programme will be performed on 13 December by organist Alfonso Sebastián and Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife.
Tickets, priced at €15 (€5 for under-30s), can be purchased at www.auditoriodetenerife.com, from the box office Monday to Friday, 10.00–17.00, and Saturdays, 10.00–14.00, or by telephone on 902 317 327 during the same hours. Discounts are available for students, jobseekers, large families and other eligible groups.
Juan de la Rubia trained in several European capitals, specialising in organ, piano and improvisation, the latter with Emilio Molina and Wolfgang Seifen. His active career as a soloist has taken him to leading venues in more than thirty countries, and he has appeared as both soloist and conductor with orchestras including the Spanish National Orchestra, the RTVE Orchestra, ORCAM, the symphony orchestras of Galicia, Bilbao, the Principality of Asturias and Castile and León, and the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra, among other prominent ensembles.
In the field of historically informed performance, he has worked with Les Siècles and conducted the Freiburger Barockorchester and the Tenerife Baroque Orchestra. He also spearheaded the creation of his own orchestra, the Orquestra del Miracle, whose debut in June 2023 was warmly received by audiences and critics alike. De la Rubia has also specialised in improvising accompaniments to silent films, including Faust and Nosferatu (Murnau), Metropolis (Lang), The General (Keaton) and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Wiene).
The Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife continues its work to establish historically informed performance as a regular feature of musical life in the Canary Islands. It brings together young musicians whose growing expertise in early Spanish music, alongside the increasing number and calibre of Canarian performers specialising in historical instruments and performance practices, is helping to promote 17th- and 18th-century repertoire throughout the archipelago. Its programmes are gaining recognition on the international music scene and attracting the attention of professionals and music lovers worldwide.
Over the past seven years, the orchestra has established itself as the Canary Islands’ specialist ensemble for historical instruments and Baroque repertoire. It is characterised by gender parity among its musicians and by programmes designed to appeal to a broad audience, combining the enjoyment of music with up-to-date musicological context. With the support of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Tenerife Island Council, it has brought concerts to all the islands through Canary Islands Music Festival tours and the seasons and concert series at Auditorio de Tenerife.