The Hallucinogenic Toreador
Inspired by the art and life of the Spanish Painter Salvador Dalí
World Premiere: Ocala Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Wardell, at the Reilly Arts Center in Ocala, Florida, on October 24, 2026.
Ocala Symphony Orchestra
Pictures at an Exhibition: From Dalí to Mussorgky
October 24 & 25, 2026
Reilly Arts Center, Ocala, FL
Matthew Wardell, conductor
details & tickets
Program Note:
The Hallucinogenic Toreador is inspired by the art and life of the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí (1904-1989). Commissioned and premiered by the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, the world premiere, conducted by Matthew Wardell, took place at the Reilly Arts Center in Ocala, Florida, on October 24, 2026.
The Dalí Museum, located in nearby St. Petersburg, houses an extraordinary collection of over 2,400 Dalí artworks. Renowned as a leader of the Surrealist movement, Dalí was known for incorporating shocking subject matter into his work while exploring eccentric, subconscious imagery from real and imagined dreams.
Considered Dalí’s last great Surrealist painting, The Hallucinogenic Toreador (1970) depicts death and resurrection in the Spanish bullfighting ring. Regarding death, Dalí declared in a 1958 CBS television interview, “I believe in general in death, but in the death of Dalí, absolutely not!” When Dalí died at age 84 alone in his castle in Púbol, Catalonia, Spain, it is said that he was listening to a recording of Wagner’s tragic opera, Tristan und Isolde.
–Michael Daugherty
