The new schedule of the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra (OFJ) – eagerly awaited since the momentous change of musical directors was announced during the Christmas holidays – has been unveiled about three weeks before the season’s first performance set for Thursday, February 21. It will be the debut of Jesús Medina, who has a reputation as a good musician and a good person, as the OFJ conductor .
Covering mid-February through mid-April, the season will commence within a new acoustic shell installed in the Teatro Degollado (already world renowned for its sound quality) and a program beginning with a piece by beloved, Guadalajara-born José Moncayo (Sinfonietta, a praised but less familiar work than his popular Huapango), followed by Paganini’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1, with its “diabolical” violin part played by Russian-American soloist Alexander Markhov. The program culminates in one of Tchaikovsky’s most popular symphonies – No. 5 in E Minor, called colorful and spirited.
“Inclusive” is the watchword of Guadalajara’s new musical regime, under the eye of Secretary of Culture Giovana Jaspersen and the political party Movimiento Ciudadano (Citizens Movement), which is governing Jalisco for the first time. Still, the orchestra leadership has promised not to sacrifice the quality for which the group has become noted.
Apparently under the banner of “inclusive,” the new plans for the orchestra are indeed ineffably distinct and considerably less focused on star power than the OFJ of recent memory, especially the short era of Alondra de la Parra as director (2012 to 2013) and that of the high-profile and controversial Marco Parisotto (2014 to 2018).
Demonstrating this new, inclusive spirit are a list of remarkable features: maestro Medina will only conduct the first three of a total of seven programs, leaving room for guest conductors in the final four; master classes given by invited soloists to the city’s young musicians; the reservation of some seating in the Degollado Theater for the visually impaired; the performance of Overture in C Major, composed by the prolific Fanny Mendelssohn, long overshadowed by her renowned brother Felix; and the announcement that two members of the Patronato (a high-level “friends of the orchestra” group) will work closely with José Isidoro Ramos, the orchestra’s artistic manager.
And instead of a full opera (with its overtones of elitism), an opera potpourri is scheduled for the final performances of the season – April 11 and 14. This will be a collection of operatic songs and bel canto set off by Symphony No. 3 in C Major by Sibelius.
It will be interesting to see how this inclusiveness plays out among the orchestra instrumentalists, who are more overwhelmingly male – and Venezuelan – than ever (and whose abilities attract compliments from many quarters).
For the full schedule, see ofj.com.mx. Tickets range from 110 to 200 pesos, including the operatic program. Available at the Teatro Degollado box office from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., tel. (33) 3615-4773; or at Ticketmaster, tel. (33) 3818-3800 or ticketmaster.com.mx.