Event Detail

What a nice concert hall …! The violinist Pinchas Zukerman came in saying this phrase for the first time at the Philharmonic Society on April 1st, 1970.

Concerning the interpretation of European classical music of the last hundred years, the Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao was founded in 1896. Built in 1904 by the architect Fidel Iturría, it is considered one of the oldest and best acoustic chambers in Europe.

At the end of the 19th century, a group of young intellectuals from Bilbao met every afternoon in what they called “El Cuartito”, a room rented in the Siete Calles, originally located on Calle del Arenal, and which subsequently passed to Correo Street. and from there to Bidebarrieta.

In those years, the musical activity of Bilbao, which took place in the private rooms, needed to be updated regarding the musical movement that was taking place in Europe. The music lovers of Bilbao, led by the members of “El Cuartito”, began to glimpse the possibility of creating a society that would organise a season of concerts of the highest level during the winter months in the same way as those existing in other European cities. Among the promoters of this initiative, three were the most responsible for the success of the call: Juan Carlos de Gortazar Lope de Alana and Javier Arisqueta, also known as “The Apostles”, as he called them the Belgian violinist Mathieu Crickboom.

If you want to know more, join this activity to discover this hidden jewel next Friday, 1st March. Afterwards, we will have a drink in a tavern nearby