Javier Castro
- PhD Candidate
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Departamento de Comunicação e Arte | Universidade de Aveiro
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Campus Universitário de Santiago
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3810-193 Aveiro
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Portugal
- Tel: (+351) 234 370 389 (ext. 23700)
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Biography
Javier Castro is the artistic director and professor of Initiation to Orchestral Conducting at the Superior Music Conservatory of Castilla and Léon. He was also the Artistic Director of the Burgos Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2016, conducting more than 50 concerts and consolidating the orchestra's developmental period into a first rate cultural reference in the city and throughout the region of Castilla and Léon. Highlights include the premiere of the opera El Mozo de Mulas by the Burgal composer Antonio José in November of 2017, more than 80 years after the disappearance of the author.He has taught classes in orchestral direction in Burgos, Ávila and Palencia, and has collaborated in the Orchestral Direction class at the Superior Conservatory of Sydney (Australia). He has also directed the choir ARS NOVA, with which he has performed versions of the great symphonic-choral works such as, the Brahms Requiem, Hendel's Messiah, Saint John's Passion, Bach's Christmas Oratory and the Mozart Requiem.Javier Castro holds a graduate degree in Orchestral Direction from the University of Künste in Berlin. In Germany, he directed the Wernigerode Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin UdK Symphonic Orchestra and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. He directed the Opera Prima la musica, poi le parole by Saliere for the Berlin Theater Unterm Dach. In the Hildesheim Stadttheater (Germany) he directed the musical Jesus Christ Super Star, the operetta Der Bettelstudent and the Opera Martha. He attended the Festival Cordes et Pics in Saboya (France) as a guest artist. He has directed, among others, the Madrid Community Orchestra in the Madrid National Auditorium and the Castilla and Léon Symphony Orchestra in the Miguel Delibes Auditorium in Valladolid.Ciência Vitae | ORCID
Doctoral ProjectTitleMinatchi by Antonio José. Bringing back a forgotten Opera
AdvisorAbstract
The objective of this research is to reconstruct and present in public the unpublished Opera Minatchi,composed in 1925 by the Spanish composer Antonio José Martínez. Born in 1902 and killed by firing squad in 1936 after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War which left his name stricken from and his work forgotten by future generations. In the last few years important musical initiatives and written works related to this artist have been published, and I have personally had the opportunity to study and direct in concert the etirety of his orchestral work. I am more and more convinced that the musicological research and editorial activity surrounding a composer doesn´t represent the true signifigance of his work if those who interpret it don´t play his music, if we don't turn it into a tactile experience for the audience.A long while ago, in the Burgos Municipal Archive I found a score by Antonio José titled Minatchi, which had never been heard or seen except for mentions in catalogs or lists of his works, and which had various characteristics which awoke my curiosity. On the one hand it hadn´t been orchestrated, it was in a vocal score and reduced piano version, but complete and bound. On the other hand, it had the text written below the vocal score in two languages English and Spanish. Furthermore, the story takes place in India, with Hindu characters and themes. Lastly, there was a note in the cover indicating that it was designed to be performed in schools and congregations, and even indicated that at the end of the score would appear an arrangement for only male or female voices. These facts opened various questions about the work which inspired in me a desire to thoroughly research his music, its historic context and aspects related to its function and its themes to see if it was possible to arrive at a performable version of the work.Research Group: Creation, Performance and Artistic Research
