Josep Pons - Gaetano Donizetti: Alahor In Granata (1999)

Josep Pons studied music at l'Escolania de Montserrat and orchestral conducting and composition with A. Ro Marbá and Josep Soler. He eventually became the director of the Orquesta da Camara Teatro Lliure (Chamber Music Orchestra of the Lliure Theater), the Jove Orquesta Simfònica (Jove Symphony Orchestra) of Catalunya, and the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada (City Orchestra of Granada). Pons is interested in interpreting a wide range of music and his repertoire consists of classical works played on the original instruments up to concerts of contemporary music given in Barcelona. He and the Chamber Orchestra of the Lliure Theater have recorded compositions by Federico Mompou, Manuel de Falla, Roberto Gerhard, and the opera Pepita Jiménez by Isaac Albéniz, all of which have received international recognition. He and the Philharmonie de Lorraine have recorded three discs of the works of Luis de Pablo. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Pons was named musical director for the Olympic ceremonies. His spent winter 2002 on a touring schedule that was typical for him and included performances of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette in Nice, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 and Arriaga's Symphony in D minor in Germany, Mozart's Concerto for flute No. 2 with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 and Symphony No. 4 in Lucena and Granada, Mozart's Jupiter Symphony and Haydn's Concerto for violoncello in Granada and Madrid, Dvorák's Symphony "From the New World" and Ginastera's Concerto for harp in Granada, and Handel's oratorio The Messiah in Granada, Barcelona, and Palma. -- "Blue" Gene Tyranny