The prodigious year of soprano Sara Blanch

BarcelonaThe Paris National Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, London's Covent Garden, the Salzburg Festival, the Perelada Festival... The 2026 schedule is quite eloquent about the magnificent artistic moment of soprano Sara Blanch (Darmós, Ribera d'Ebre, 1989). Until May 9, she is performing the leading female role in Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande, by Debussy, a good example of the breadth of repertoire that a singer trained in the The experience as Mélisande, with stage direction by Romeo Castellucci, is proving very rewarding. On the one hand, because "it's a different opera that prompts you to ask questions and reflect" and in which the balance between the vocal and interpretive parts is very important. On the other hand, because it is "a spectacular production, quite complex and with immense technical work" that requires the singers' attention, and because with the Italian stage director, one of the great names in European theatre, she works on "the psychological depth of the characters and at the same time perfectly captures the symbolism." It is not the first time Sara Blanch has sung at La Scala, where she debuted in 2024 with Cesti's L'Orontea

, by Cesti.

After Pelléas et Mélisande, Sara Blanch will be Susanna in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro

, in seven performances at the Liceu from June 5 to 21. She will share the cast with André Schuen, Konstantin Krimmel, Julia Lezhneva, and Adriana González. "I am very eager," assures the soprano regarding this production directed by Marta Pazos. Her next engagement will take her to London to perform Maria, the leading role in Donizetti's La fille du régiment, where she will sing with tenor Juan Diego Flórez for the first time. In Salzburg, she will participate in a semi-staged version of Mozart's Lucio Silla, and in Peralada, she will give a lyrical recital with Michael Spyres. "There are so many things this season that I'm taking it step by step," she says.

The audience at the Liceu, which has always shown warmth towards Sara Blanch, will be able to see her twice in the 2026-2027 season: in January in Puccini's La bohème, where she will share the role of Musetta with another of the great voices from home, the Barcelona soprano Serena Sáenz; and in July 2027 in one of the season's most engaging productions, Mozart's The Magic Flute according to choreographer Marcos Morau. Blanch will be Pamina, and Sáenz the Queen of the Night, and both star in the photograph accompanying the production's announcement. "We had a session, they did our makeup, put on our costumes and wigs, and photographed us holding onto a broom. Then they added the attraction's cart and the tracks [as can be seen in the image]".

Four years ago, Sara Blanch and Serena Sáenz had already alternated a role at the Liceu, that of Norina in Don Pasquale, by Donizetti, a production in which the Rambla theatre placed all its trust in Catalan voices, such as the two of them and also the tenor Carles Pachon. "I have a very, very good memory of that production. First of all, because Norina is a character I had quite internalized, and because it was a good moment to enjoy at home and to show the talent of local singers," explains Sara Blanch from Italy, the country where she has one of her base camps. "I have a base in Barcelona and another in Bologna, which is where my partner is. When I have work in Italy and Central Europe, I stay more in Bologna, because there is good connectivity. And if I work in France or Spain, I stay in Barcelona and I am closer to my hometown and my parents' house. Let's say I have a toothbrush in three different places," she says.

With an impeccable career and the respect and admiration of artistic colleagues, Sara Blanch has a small thorn in her side because in the summer of 2025 she had to cancel, for health reasons, a lied recital at the Schubertíada in Vilabertran. "I was very eager for it, and I had prepared the program with great enthusiasm and choosing everything very carefully. I hope to be able to do it someday, because it is a repertoire that I really like and I am eager to perform it with an audience," she admits. Of course, she will have to find room for it in an increasingly busy schedule of great challenges.