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

BarcelonaThe fortieth edition of the Peralada Festival 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, even though the large auditorium that was planned has not been built "for governance reasons," according to director Oriol Aguilà. "We are working on an alternative project," he announced, and he celebrated the family's "generosity."

The backbone of the Alt Empordà festival is opera, and it will not fail to feature great operatic 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 of 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 there – 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 is 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 this way, because it is lacking that male audience takes an interest in these topics," claims Pavarotti. Demestres will celebrate 40 years of friendship with Pavarotti and, above all, he will celebrate life, the second year since his double transplant: "I would not have heard this work, only within my head," he states.

New creation

"The commitment to new creations will become more prominent," warned Aguilà. And this is noticeable in special anniversary proposals such as the scenographic-gastronomic experience by Joan Anton Rechi (July 18), which will pair artists like choreographer Botis Seva, winner of the Carmen Mateu dance prize, with the dishes of chef Paco Pérez. The show by dancer Lorena Nogal will also be revived, who will perform in the evening in the cellar designed by RCR with a site-specific titled Le terroir.

An expanded version of the micro-opera project Oh!pera from the Gran Teatre del Liceu will also be shown. The performance is titled Estètica i massacre, and it is composed by Carles Prat, with libretto by Carlota GurtThe Perelada Festival will be the place to commemorate many anniversaries. The Fortuny Trio will perform, celebrating their tenth anniversary. They will premiere 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). Empordà's own Sílvia Pérez Cruz will celebrate 30 years of her career with a double concert to present her new album (July 29 and 30). There will also be a tribute 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 Christmas, because she was hospitalized and I wanted her to have it – says Vivancos. It is a contemplative work on motives from the Virolai. It is the first time someone 100 years old has performed a piece of mine. And she asked me not to make her feet too complicated!" El Celler de Can Roca will also dedicate a chocolate truffle 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 event will be a visit from the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, which will go to the Palau de la Música because Perelada does not have a large enough space, under the direction of Pablo Heras-Casado (August 29).

A campus for young people

Ten years of the Perelada Campus are also being celebrated, "the most relevant and transformative project carried out by the festival team to discover, vindicate, 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, directs the show Niu (July 28). Also in dance, the baroque music and urban dance show 4 danced seasons can be seen, a new interpretation of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with musical direction by Julien Chauvin at the head of 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 cost between 25 and 120 euros.