This Sunday, Valencia’s Plaza de la Reina will be transformed into a large open-air stage where classical music, bell-ringing tradition, and the smell of gunpowder will come together in a free show open to the public.
Valencia will celebrate a historic anniversary: the 600th anniversary of the completion of the Micalet. To mark the occasion, the City Council has organized a special concert by the Valencia Municipal Symphonic Band for this Sunday, February 8, at 12:00 noon.
The concert will feature a performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Although the original piece calls for the use of cannons, on this occasion the version will be purely Valencian: the artillery shots will be replaced by pyrotechnics and the accompaniment of the manual ringing of the Micalet bells, coordinated by the Associació Cultural de Campaners de la Catedral (Cultural Association of Bell Ringers of the Cathedral).
José Luis Moreno, Councilor for Culture, emphasized that this initiative seeks to “unite historical and musical heritage” and recreate the epic nature of the original work, but with the soul of Valencia.
Beyond the pyromusical spectacle, the repertoire will serve to vindicate great local composers such as El Micalet, by maestro Miguel Asins Arbó, and the symphonic poem Es xopà hasta la Moma, by Salvador Giner.
This event will commemorate the milestone of February 1426, when the tower was completed with the installation of the large bell that would eventually give its name to the entire bell tower.