Festival Internacional de Santander
The Festival Internacional de Santander (FIS) is one of
Santander. However, performances are also held in fifty churches, cloisters, and parks both in Santander and in smaller towns in the Cantabria
region.
From 1952 to 1990 the festival's main performance space was a gigantic tent in Santander's Plaza Porticada. The final performance there was a concert by the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and
King's Consort of Handel's oratorio, Joshua. The building was designed by Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza. Its main auditorium, the Sala Argenta, is noted for its transparent and natural-sounding acoustics and has a seating capacity of 1670. Unusually, the backdrop of its stage is a large window looking out onto the Bay of Santander.[1] The auditorium is named in honour of the Spanish conductor Ataúlfo Argenta
, who played a major role in the establishment of the festival.
The festival had its beginnings in 1948 as a programme providing cultural entertainment to the foreign students at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo. By 1952 it had become a fully fledged international music festival with José Manuel Riancho as its first director. José Luis Ocejo, a noted conductor and founder of the
Beethoven.[3]
Amongst the many distinguished conductors, musicians and singers who have appeared at the Festival Internacional de Santander over the years are:
Kirov Opera debut in the title role of Otello
when the company performed at the festival in 1992.
See also
References
- ^ Enrique Franco, El oratorio 'Josué' inauguró el nuevo Palacio de Festivales de Santander, El País, May 1, 1991.
- ^ Biography of José Luis Ocejo, Coral Salvé de Laredo[permanent dead link].
- ^ El sello RTVE-Música edita el CD "Festival Internacional de Santander. Volumen 8", RTVE, February 1, 2006
- Dennis Gray Stoll, Music Festivals of the World: A Guide to Leading Festivals of Music, Macmillan, 1963.
- Jesús Delgado, 40 años de la plaza Porticada de Santander recogidos en un libro, El País, August 1991.
- Enrique Franco (editor), Plaza Porticada: festival de Santander 1952-1990, Circero Editores, 1991.
External links
Major musical events and festivals in Spain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Multi-genres |  | |
| Classical music | ||
| Dance/Electronic | ||
| Folk/Traditional | ||
| Rock/Metal | ||
| Others | ||