Enrico Onofri © 2026 by Marco Borrelli
Our journey through the thirty years of history of the Real Filharmonía de Galicia continues this month with three new voices.
The life of an orchestra is shaped by many different artistic figures, experiences and perspectives, all of which contribute to its history. Some accompany the orchestra through significant stages of its journey, such as the chief conductors, who work with the ensemble for several weeks each season over many years. Others maintain a close but less permanent relationship, such as principal guest conductors or artists in residence. And then there are all those voices that leave a special mark with each encounter: some return frequently to reunite with the orchestra, while others do so more occasionally, yet their presence remains in the musicians’ memory.
For this article, I wanted to bring together three conductors who, for very different reasons, have left a particularly deep impression on the Real Filharmonía de Galicia.
, conductor, violinist and one of the leading figures in the field of historically informed performance, accompanied the RFG on a journey that ranged from Baroque repertoire to Beethoven and Rossini, always with a curious mind and an openness to new ways of making music.
, the distinguished Polish conductor with an extensive international career, collaborated with the orchestra on a single occasion in 2017. That encounter left a mutual impression of artistic affinity that we still cherish today.
And, of course, could not be absent from this article. Few guest conductors have left such a lasting legacy on the history of the RFG. He has collaborated with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia on more than a dozen occasions, from projects with Javier Perianes to the recording of with for Deutsche Grammophon.
When I asked them about their first encounter with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, their answers revealed three very different ways of approaching the same reality.
Enrico Onofri traces the beginning of his relationship with the orchestra to a performance of Handel's Messiah in 2015. That concert marked the start of a collaboration that would continue for several years. Widely regarded as one of the most influential Baroque violinists of his generation, he subsequently returned to Santiago on numerous occasions. Among those encounters, the 2019 programme stands out, in which he performed Haydn's Violin Concerto in G major as soloist while leading the rest of the programme with the RFG, a combination that was highly representative of his artistic profile.
Over time, those collaborations fostered a particularly close relationship with the orchestra and made him one of the most familiar and warmly regarded presences among its musicians during those years.
For his part, Michal Nesterowicz retains a particularly vivid memory of his collaboration with the RFG in 2017:
Although that concert took place nine years ago, my meeting with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia still remains in my memory as a very special artistic experience. I remember musicians who were deeply committed, sensitive and intelligent, and who from the very beginning were able to create a focused, attentive and very generous working atmosphere.
When I read the review of that concert again, especially the words about the clear affinity and understanding between the conductor and the orchestra, I found there exactly what I myself remembered from that meeting. Sometimes this kind of connection appears in a very natural way. Not because it can be planned, but because the musicians share the same kind of concentration, openness and wish to serve the music.
Manuel Hernández Silva goes back even further in time. His first connection with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia did not come from the podium, but from afar. In the mid-1990s, while living in Vienna, he followed with interest the birth of the Real Filharmonía de Galicia and the attention that the project attracted even beyond Spain. What particularly caught his attention was the fact that a newly created orchestra in Santiago de Compostela had appointed as its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director from the very beginning.
Helmuth Rilling arrived with that enormous prestige to lead, all of a sudden, a newly created orchestra in Spain, in Santiago de Compostela. And that was quite a statement of intent.
In Hernández Silva’s view, that decision was decisive in shaping the artistic identity of the new orchestra.
Maestro Helmuth Rilling is an interpreter and a musician who works with sound in order to create a distinctive sonic identity. I believe he brought that aesthetic of sound to the orchestra, instilled it in the ensemble, and created the sonic identity by which the Real Filharmonía de Galicia came to be recognised.
He concludes with a reflection that sums up his view of those early years:
It could not have turned out better. Creating the orchestra under the wise leadership of Maestro Helmuth Rilling was a truly fortunate decision.
Programmes come and go. Guest conductors arrive and depart. Seasons follow one another. Yet when I ask our three guests what remains in their memory of the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, their answers point less towards the works they performed than towards the people, the projects and the experiences they shared.
For Manuel Hernández Silva, what remains are also those projects that define a period and leave an enduring imprint on the collective memory of an orchestra.
Over more than a decade, he led some of the orchestra's most significant projects. He first conducted the orchestra in January 2010, in a programme that included the premiere of ’s Concerto no Lameiro with Venezuelan flautist , Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings and Mozart’s Linz Symphony. That collaboration marked the beginning of a relationship that would play an important role in the artistic life of the RFG for years to come.
Among the memories he treasures are some of his earliest programmes with the orchestra, collaborations with and , as well as the complete cycle of Beethoven’s five piano concertos with presented at the Jaén International Piano Competition in 2020 under his direction, which he considers one of the most important moments of his shared history with the RFG.
When asked about a particularly significant project, his thoughts immediately turn to Cantos y Revueltas, created together with Pacho Flores and later recorded for Deutsche Grammophon:
That recording has gone down as a historic recording. I believe it was a very, very, very important moment for the orchestra. For me, it was a truly unforgettable collaboration.
Michal Nesterowicz has a simple explanation for why certain memories endure:
For me, an orchestra is first of all about people. Not the institution itself, not the name, not even the tradition, but a group of musicians who, concert after concert, take care of a certain kind of focus, inner discipline, sensitivity and determination. This is exactly what I felt in Santiago. There was delicacy, warmth and a natural smile, but also seriousness, precision and a very noble musical sensitivity.
And when asked about the true legacy of an orchestra he says:
The artistic DNA of an orchestra is something extremely difficult to build. It requires many years, patience, continuity, trust, focus and care. It is created by the musicians, conductors, managers, the audience, and also by the place itself and its atmosphere.
That same human dimension is also present in Enrico Onofri’s recollections. Beyond the programmes they shared over the years, the Italian conductor and violinist remembers a relationship that grew not only on an artistic level, but also on a personal one.
Over time, the personal, human – not just artistic – relationship with its members has grown stronger: I cannot recall a single time walking into a rehearsal in Santiago’s great hall without a smile on all our faces.
Thirty years after its founding, the Real Filharmonía de Galicia continues to write new chapters in its history. And although the three conductors featured in this article recall very different experiences from their relationship with the orchestra, they all point towards one essential idea: an orchestra is defined not only by the concerts it performs, but also by the people who shape it, the identity it builds, and the bond it creates with its community.
For Enrico Onofri, that identity is inseparable from the city in which the orchestra was born:
The RFG is one with the magic of Santiago; it is an integral part of its beauty and spirituality.
As the orchestra looks ahead, Michal Nesterowicz wishes it many more years of artistic growth, courage, curiosity and inspiration:
May the orchestra continue to deepen its identity, remain important to its musicians, its audience and the city, and continue to bring beauty, intelligence and emotion to the life of Santiago, Galicia and the whole musical community.
And Manuel Hernández Silva expresses his hope that the orchestra will continue to develop the artistic legacy built over these three decades and maintain its prominent place within both the Spanish and international musical landscape. After so many years of collaboration, he says with affection that he misses his visits to the RFG and hopes that their paths may cross again someday
I wish the orchestra a long life and a very happy anniversary.
The voices gathered in this article, though coming from different perspectives, seem to point towards a similar conclusion: orchestras change, repertoires evolve and projects come and go, but what is built over time — identity, trust and shared memory — is what ultimately endures.
And perhaps that is why, in one way or another, the same feeling emerges in many of the conversations we have gathered throughout this series: the desire to return. To meet the musicians again. To share another rehearsal. To make music together once more.
The fact that those who have been part of the history of the Real Filharmonía de Galicia still feel, in some way, that it is a place worth returning to is probably one of the greatest tributes an orchestra can receive.
And precisely because some of those stories are yet to be told, our journey through these thirty years of the Real Filharmonía de Galicia is not quite over. In the next chapter, we will meet again with some of those fellow travellers who have also joined this tribute, as we approach the final stage of this shared journey.
ACM Concerts. (2024, May 8). Enrico Onofri regresa a la Real Filharmonía de Galicia. ACM Concerts.
Cancela, B. (2017, February 7). Michal Nesterowicz dirige a la Real Filharmonía de Galicia. Codalario.
Galicia Press. (2020, January 27). La Real Filharmonía de Galicia participará en el Concurso de Piano de Jaén junto al pianista Javier Perianes. Galicia Press.
Melómano Digital. (2020, January 29). Hernández-Silva, integral Beethoven con Perianes y la RFG. Melómano Digital.
Pérez Castillo, R. (2010, January 31). El suelo y el vuelo de un gran director. Mundoclásico.com
Platea Magazine. (2019, January 21). Enrico Onofri dirige esta semana la Real Filharmonía de Galicia. Platea Magazine.
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