Tour with Sir Antonio Pappano and Maria Dueñas
8th - 23rd November 2025

If last year’s tour with Antonio Pappano had a strong American component, this year’s definitely has a Spanish theme: joined by Spanish violinist Maria Dueñas, the Orchestra will perform Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole in four Spanish cities – Valencia (11 November), Madrid (13 November), Zaragoza (14 November) and Seville (16 November). The programme also features Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances op. 46 and, following their Spanish stint, the COE will travel to Ferrara (18 November), Berlin (20 November) and Eisenstadt  (22 November). As always, our concert in Eisenstadt will be broadcast live on medici.tv.

The COE musicians’ constant thirst to learn will hopefully be (temporarily!) quenched by their first venture into Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole which they have never performed before. Premiered one month before Bizet’s Carmen in 1875, this Sinfonia Concertante for violin and orchestra was composed for violinist Pablo Sarasate. The end of the 19th century was marked by a plethora of Spanish-themed compositions, particularly in France and Russia, and the Symphonie Espagnole had a significant influence on Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D minor which he wrote in just under a month.

In contrast, Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances is well-established in the Orchestra’s repertoire. They released a live recording of he whole set (op. 46 and op. 72) with Nikolaus Harnoncourt in 2002 to great acclaim. The first set of Slavonic Dances (op. 46) was composed in 1878, making it a contemporary of Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole. However these 8 dances, originally composed for piano four hands, steer well clear of the Spanish trend, instead showcasing folk music styles from Bohemia, inspired by Brahms’s Hungarian Dances.

The COE and Antonio Pappano

Sir Antonio Pappano has been a regular artistic partner of the COE since 2016 and we always look forward to working with a conductor whose enthusiasm and drive are so infectious and who takes the Orchestra on a wonderfully creative voyage every time they meet. All our projects together have featured world-class soloists including oboist François Leleux, violinists Lisa Batiashvili, Janine Jansen and Veronika Eberle as well as pianists Beatrice Rana and Bertrand Chamayou. For him, as per the short video below, one of the aspects that attracts him most to the COE is the mix between the older and younger generations and the ability of the Orchestra to build on its incredible heritage shaped among others by Claudio Abbado and Nikolaus Harnoncourt whilst also taking in more recent influences in its stride.

María Dueñas

This will be our second project with Maria since our first concert together back in May 2023 with Herbert Blomstedt in Dresden, when she had performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.

María Dueñas has emerged as a luminous talent in classical music, captivating audiences with her extraordinary range of tonal colours, impeccable technical prowess, and interpretations that blend artistic maturity with bold expressiveness. The New York Times praised her ability to breathe “new life into well-known pieces” and described her as a “22-year-old violinist who has something to say, and the skill to say it brilliantly”.

For Maria’s full biography, please visit her website: https://www.mariaduenasviolin.com/en