The Perelada Festival broadens horizons: from Núria Rial and Jordi Savall to an opera directed by Oriol Pla

BarcelonaThe fortieth edition of Festival Peralada will continue to be a concentrated version of lyric and dance, but will also broaden its scope with new creations and site-specific performances. As in recent years, the festival will take place from July 17 to August 9 in various spaces within the Castell de Peralada complex. The Reger Suqué family has announced that the younger generations will continue to support the festival and in future editions the event will return to its iconic gardens, despite the fact that the grand auditorium that was planned has not been built "for governance reasons," according to director Oriol Aguilà. "We are working on an alternative project," he advanced, and celebrated the family's "generosity."

The backbone of the Empordà festival is lyric opera, and it will not fail to program great opera voices, starting with the opening with soprano Ermonela Jaho and tenor Benjamin Bernheim – which "will be a real delicacy," promises Oriol Aguilà – and continuing with Bryn Terfel, who returns after more than thirty years of not performing in Peralada, accompanied by Hannah Stone on harp and Annabel Thwaite on piano, with a repertoire by Schubert, Schumann, and Debussy that will culminate with Wolfram's aria from Tannhäuser (July 25).Soprano Sara Blanch – ten years after being an artist in residence – and tenor Michael Spyres will also perform at the festival, in a recital focused on bel canto (August 8).

One of the most notable premieres will be that of Diario di una madre, a song cycle by Alberto García Demestres with texts by Cristina Pavarotti, performed by soprano Sabina Puértolas and pianist Rubén Fernández Aguirre (July 26). "The theme talks about the mother-daughter relationship and the music has been wonderfully adapted to what I felt. For me, it is important that a man can express such a feminine feeling like this, because it is lacking that the male audience takes an interest in these topics," claims Pavarotti. Demestres will celebrate 40 years of friendship with Pavarotti and above all will celebrate life, the second year since his double transplant: "I would not have felt this work, only within my head," he states.

New creation

"The commitment to new creation will gain more prominence", warned Aguilá. And this is noticeable in special proposals for the anniversary such as the scenogastronomic experience by Joan Anton Rechi (July 18th), which will pair artists like choreographer Botis Seva, winner of the Carmen Mateu dance award, with the dishes of chef Paco Pérez. The show by dancer Lorena Nogal will also be revived, who will perform at sunset in the winery designed by RCR with a site-specific titled Le terroir.

The expanded version of the micro-opera project Oh!pera from the Gran Teatre del Liceu can also be seen. The show is titled Estética y masacre, and is composed by Carles Prat, with libretto by Carlota Gurt and directed by actor Oriol Pla (July 25th). "I wanted to write an ironic and hyperbolic text about aesthetic excesses. When you walk through Barcelona and see the explosion of nail salons and lips inflated with Botox... I wanted to explore to what extent the treatment of the body is legitimate, dangerous or pathological. Culture has to pose questions for us to think about", reflects Gurt, who describes the staging as "spectacular". "Traditional opera has recurring themes and this opera departs from the canon and makes you think, despite being quite conventional. At the Liceo it was already perfect, and here we have closed the story and expanded more musically with colors and textures", adds Prat.

A year of anniversaries

The Perelada Festival will be the place to commemorate many anniversaries. The Trio Fortuny will perform, celebrating their tenth anniversary. They will premiere Ronde, by Francesc Prat, and will feature Judit Neddermann as a guest (August 5). Sílvia Pérez Cruz from Empordà will celebrate 30 years of her career with a double concert to present her new album (July 29 and 30). A tribute will also be paid to the great organist Montserrat Torrent on the centenary of her birth, which will incorporate the organ into the festival for the first time, and an organ will even be placed in the church of El Carme. Torrent will perform, as will organists Paolo Oreni and Joan Seguí, and the festival has also commissioned two new pieces from Bernat Vivancos and Raquel García-Tomás (August 6). "I gave her the piece for Three Kings' Day, because she was hospitalized and I wanted her to have it –says Vivancos–. It's a contemplative work on motifs from the Virolai. It's the first time someone 100 years old has played a piece for me. And she asked me not to make the feet too complicated!" El Celler de Can Roca will also dedicate a bonbon to her, which the organist has confessed are her mid-morning secret after rehearsing since 5 in the morning.

Another of the major events will be the performance by Jordi Savall –who will turn 85 on August 1– and Núria Rial, who will exceptionally close the festival with an Italian baroque program with Les Musiciennes du Concert des Nations (August 9). The off-site closing will be the visit of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, which will go to the Palau de la Música because Perelada does not have a large space, under the direction of Pablo Heras-Casado (August 29).

A campus for young people

Also, ten years of Campus Perelada are being celebrated, "the most relevant and transformative project carried out by the festival team to discover, reclaim, and propose original voices from the Alt Empordà", states Aguilà. For this reason, this year they have decided to turn this campus into an opportunity for students to share a premiere with professionals, dancers from the Hamburg Ballet, and the musician Arnau Obiols. The dancer and choreographer Aleix Martínez, "a giant of dance and with the same great humanity", according to the director, is directing the show Niu (July 28). Also in dance, the baroque music and urban dance show 4 danced seasons will be presented, a new interpretation of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with musical direction by Julien Chauvin leading Le Concert de la Loge and choreography by Mourad Merzouki (August 1-2).

The festival will also feature a historical exhibition, a film series at Verdi, and an interdisciplinary dialogue series. Tickets go on sale on Thursday, April 30, and range from 25 to 120 euros.