The Galician Symphony, between the urgent and the important

The extra-musical news that has accompanied the Galicia Symphony Orchestra (OSG) for months is certainly worrying. The straw that broke the camel’s back came a few weeks ago from the general director, Roberto González-Monjas, when he warned that there was no money in the coffers for conclude the season. But previously, the musicians had protested against the difficult conditions in which they have to carry out their work at the Opera, their headquarters. At the same time, there have been reductions in the educational activity of the OSG, and all of this has generated concern among many of its supporters. It is for this reason that last Wednesday I was invited to participate in a round table at the Circus of Artisans of La Coruña, where I presented some ideas to fuel the necessary debate. It seems appropriate to report them here and detail them.

The most immediate need for the OSG is to put its books in order, and the solution depends only on public administrations supporting its financing. By returning the budgetary balance to the Consortium for the Promotion of Music – the instrumental entity created between Xunta and Concello for the management of the orchestra – measures will be taken to normalize the situation, which must be accompanied by the guarantee that the Palace is fit for at least what musicians deserve. Listening to Culture Councilor Gonzalo Castro on Wednesday, the public authorities seem to have internalized the criticality of the moment and are committed to increasing their contributions this year and next year.

It is urgent and does not allow for debate. No one questioned it at the round table. And it would not even make sense to look in the rearview mirror to look for blame as to why this point of precariousness has been reached, because this dispute over the past can only lead to obstacles in agreeing on the ‘future. And that’s what’s really important. Because a little more than thirty years after its creation, the OSG project shows obvious signs of exhaustion.

In my opinion, a profound reformulation of the project is necessary, which must answer two fundamental questions: What do you want the OSG to represent for A Coruña and its metropolitan area? And what role should the orchestra play in the cultural and social life of the city? These two variables are what, in my opinion, should constitute the basis of the future of the OSG, and from which the rest of the elements derive: the programming, the educational projects, the space in which it develops, the sponsorships private and, of course, public. funding.

I stop at the latter. If the various public authorities agree on an orchestra model and sign it, it is because they assume the commitment to respect the financing obligations that this implies. The GSO cannot be subjected to financial difficulties year after year. This is not acceptable and it also does not allow us to design a medium and long term strategic horizon. The refoundation requires the involvement, and not only of the Xunta and the Concello, but surely also of the Provincial Council and the State.

One of the most controversial issues is the audience debate. Today, the OSG pays one million euros per year for a series of assessed uses of the Opera for its activity. To deviate from it by a millimeter is to once again go through the cash register of the company which holds the concession for the property. This tribute is also paid, for example, by the Friends of the Opera, for their performances. Does it make sense to continue to waste public money on a property whose acoustics could be improved, the installations obsolete, the technology outdated and threatened by high concentrations of radon?

This is why I proposed – and I maintain – the opportunity to speak clearly about a new audience that avoids these difficulties and gives dignity to the headquarters where the OSG is located. And that once the location, the project and the financing of this auditorium have been agreed, the Palace is abandoned and, temporarily and provisionally, the orchestra is transferred to the Teatro Colón. Yes, it’s smaller and will require reconfiguring the season, but it will save money and inconvenience which I think will outweigh the obvious inconvenience. This is not strange, because Xunta and Concello have privately admitted this necessity for years, although it remains to be clarified. Once an agreement is reached, the cost of the auditorium becomes a secondary issue, even if it exasperates some.

And does it all boil down to more money and a new auditorium? Of course not. This is why I put on the table a case that I recently learned about, that of Parma, a town smaller than La Coruña but with enviable lyrical and symphonic activity. Only from a somewhat obscene myopia can the use of this example be interpreted as a waste of irritability. La Coruña cannot be compared to Madrid or Barcelona. Not even with Valencia or Sevilla. Neither by size, nor by social mass, nor by budget. But the conformism of being better than Santiago or Vigo only reflects a provincial, nostalgic and complacent localism.

In Parma, its Teatro Regio – which does not have an orchestra – is not only an organizer of operas, but its directors see it as a cultural institution serving not only lovers of the spoken word, but which also addresses with ambition to the whole of society. , not only to seek new audiences, but to enrich its cultural sensitivity. Private sponsorship reaches 50% in all Theater activities, but exceeds 60% in the Verdi Festival. Should La Coruña demand this weight from private sponsors? No, but one might wonder why today OSG only has Inditex and Gadis on its list of sponsors. There were others and they left. A little self-criticism or return to complacency? Or is it easier to always demand that the public turn on the tap?

Conceiving the OSG as something more than the exceptional ensemble of 82 musicians that performs in its 24 subscription performances each season is not a digression, it is the key to the future project. Because from there must come the common thread of educational and social broadcast programming, which does not necessarily have to be linked to the activity of the orchestra. Let us remember, for example, the highly anticipated Resuena program. There are wonderful wickers, because there are the children’s orchestras or the magnificent Joven, touched by the cuts. We are not starting from zero, but we must go a little further, by interacting with citizens who have never been to a concert and who will probably never attend one, but who appreciate what the orchestra represents. This is what a cultural institution is all about.

This is not a debate about names or people, but about ideas. Limiting it to money impoverishes it because it ends up being binary: either there is some or there is not. And then what do we do with it? A little intellectual height and humility are necessary for a healthy and productive confrontation of all parties. The opposite, monologue, only leads to masturbation.