Boluda Lines donated 74 containers to recreate a spectacular industrial stage structure for the evening of 14 July at the La Luz pier
The Boluda Maritime Terminal Las Palmas logistics platform, located in the La Luz pier, served on 14 July once again as an unparalleled setting for the symphonic concert “The Magic of the Waltz”. The concert is sponsored by Boluda Corporación Marítima as part of the corporate social responsibility policy implemented by the company in recent years, and is one of the most anticipated and well-established performances of the International Festival of Theatre, Music and Dance (Temudas Fest), whose magic brought together more than three thousand people anxious to experience this seventh annual event.
The musical performance features on the program of the 22nd annual Temudas Fest, held on the island of Gran Canaria from 5 July to August, organized by Las Palmas de Gran Canaria city council.
Under the design of local architect Juan Espino, two 60m high, 800-ton Post-Panama cranes and 74 containers formed a perfect backdrop to turn the maritime terminal into an opera house, which has hosted the first orchestral performance on this stage, under the baton of British maestro Karel Mark Chichon, who has been the philharmonic conductor since May 2017.
This year the front of the stage behind the orchestra was staggered, with a central container as a totem instead of the solid wall of previous editions. According to Espino this change was designed “to improve the stage acoustics and sound diffusion, as well as proportioning an aesthetic change in the design”.
In a repeat of last year, containers were placed in two columns as a screen to project images of the concert, providing views from the furthermost parts of the stage. The concert sound was electronically projected to twelve different points
Under the title “The magic of the Waltz”, the musical journey began its repertoire in Norway with the “Concerto for piano and orchestra in A minor op. 16”, by Edvard Grieg, given a new perspective with improvisation from Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, who was delighted to play again under the direction of Chichon, a former fellow music student in London. The musical evening charted a European tour through the most famous works of this Austrian dance, which included pieces such as the opera “The Knight of the Rose” by Richard Strauss, and “La valse” by Maurice Ravel, all during a wonderful night that once again enthralled the audience.
For the seventh year running the OFGC, along with the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Festival of Theatre, Music and Dance, ventured away from more traditional venues to bring music to the original setting of La Luz pier, where cranes and containers formed an extraordinary backdrop.
This latest edition confirmed the international scope of the open air event that offers the appeal of a magnificent industrial environment, where cranes and containers merge with the evocative, salty sea breeze.
In fact Boluda Corporación Marítima this year received the 2018 Puertos de Las Palmas Award, in the Socio-cultural category, for their sponsorship of the symphonic concerts in the Boluda Maritime Terminal Las Palmas.
