Emotion to the point of tears with what Judit Neddermann and the Trio Fortuny do

Manresa"If these songs have reached today, it is because they are bangers", declared Marc Heredia, composer and pianist of the Trio Fortuny. Agreed, they are bangers. But what the chamber trio has done with the voice of Judit Neddermann is the eighth wonder: they have recovered the songs that move us the most in the world, the traditional songs that our mother or grandmother sang to us when we were little –the stories of The heir Riera and of The spinner, the Gifted mountains and The sailor, compositions that have been gleaned from the Càntut archive, and have reinterpreted them through chamber music, with new arrangements and recompositions. The result is Edge, a jewel that next year will take the form of an album, but which is already a beautiful and exciting show, delicate and at the same time powerful, premiered Saturday evening at the Kursaal, in one of the climaxes of the Fira Mediterrània de Manresa, which has supported them as co-producers from its Obrador d’Arrel.

The gesture they make with Edge is like taking a tapestry –a simple, practical fabric, handmade and with a particular weave in every place where it is tradition–; taking what belongs to the people and hanging it like a museum piece, exalting the quality that these compositions have, which have crossed time and generations. The exceptional Trio Fortuny (Joel Bardolet, Pau Codina, Marc Heredia) plays with the strings when the grandmother goes to the fountain to fetch a small pitcher of water and meets the miller's son, they ride wildly through a tambourine song from La Palma d'Ebre, they tuck us in with tenderness to The mother and turn the ballad of The sailor in an epic saga that could be danced by (La)Horde. As Neddermann said at the concert, referring to the Canigó that her grandmother pointed out to her from Molló, without a doubt "singing makes us love things more".

One of the songs they sang is The small boat, a habanera that an hour earlier we had heard at the Conservatori Theatre of Manresa with a different register and voice, that of Arnau Tordera. His new show, Sirenia, he performs a similar exercise: the musician from Osona has dressed a repertoire of 'havaneres' in a new outfit, has written new arrangements –with his trademark harmonies–, highlighting the romantic power of the lyrics and the refinement of the melodies. "All these elements generated an irresistible attraction for me," the musician told us before the premiere.

Adorned with a striped shirt, barretina, and avarcas, Tordera sings and plays the guitar, accompanied by the voices of Clara Renom and Glòria Figuerola. The selection of songs includes classics by Ortega Monasterio, the Pérez Cruz duo, and even Mariner de terra endins, by Josep Bastons. And he also includes his own songs: the oldest is Com la sal al mar, by Obeses, a composition from fourteen years ago, and the spark that originated this show, which is titled Una barqueta blanca. Tordera, with his theatrical demeanor and a marine set design, offers the audience an unexpected and militant approach to the habanera –neither major festival classics, nor a modernizing bet: the common thread is "beauty, there is no testosteronic universe," he summarized– which ends with the apotheosical Gavina, by Frederic Sirés.

Do not claim: enjoy

Both the musicians from Vora and Arnau Tordera assure that the intention of their new projects does not stem from a desire to reclaim Catalan heritage, but from a pure fascination with this music, often far removed from their usual genres. "More than the fact that it shouldn't be lost, it's that I am inspired to sing this repertoire and, in turn, we make the tradition continue to live on," explained Neddermann. And it will also, in turn, lead mothers to sing them to their children again. For them, the project combined musical challenge and emotional connection. "After all, traditional music is linked to all other music: chamber music is proximity music. And within classical music, there is a tradition of rearranging these songs; Frederic Mompou himself did it," said Codina and Heredia. "We have a heritage that is artistically valuable. And for this legacy to be played live, to be reinterpreted from a contemporary perspective, and to continue moving people, is implicitly a political gesture," affirmed Arnau Tordera.