Torroella explodes with Serena Sáenz, the soprano who flies higher than the birds

Torroella de MontgríA great night of opera at the Torroella de Montgrí Festival. Catalan soprano Serena Sáenz, accompanied by the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, delivered an evening of pyrotechnics and high-flying vocal virtuosity on the Espai Ter stage. In her debut at the Empordà festival, the young Barcelona singer, who has already made a name for himself on the international opera scene, captivated the public on the eve of the Virgen de Agost with a sublime display of operatic fragments from the 18th and 19th centuries.

The program combined some of the pieces recorded on his first solo album, Birds, published by Warner Classics and presented in 2025, with a second part of arias of opera characters in which the soprano has debuted or will recently debut. Faithful to the reference of the title, the album compiles a decalogue of pieces inspired by the chirping of birds, always volatile, spunky and playful, which, on the score, translates into high-pitched melodies, ornaments, stairways, arpeggios and all kinds of cadences. Sáenz, as a light lyric soprano with a natural gift for coloratura With a firm, well-trained vocal technique, she perfectly masters this crystalline repertoire. She does this not only by placing each note in its place, but also by displaying a vibrant timbre that resonates with nerve and is full of harmonics, combined with a warm and luminous color and a piercing and powerful projection.

The Song of the Birds, Mozart, Donizetti and Verdi

The concert opened with a first part dedicated to birdsong, starting with the Iberian expressiveness of Granados and his Complaints or Maja and the Nightingale, in which the soprano displayed a friendly and seductive phrasing. Later, after the ethereal singing of Le Rossignol et la rose Saint-Saëns, the soloist enchanted the audience with the swallow aria from the opera Mireille Gounod's aria, a ternary and playful one, which he played with an agility that never lost sight of the melody's design. More romantic and sentimental was the aria of the little-known The Vögel, by Walter Braunfels, culminating in a high-pitched la that mingled with the sound of the horn and violin. Finally, Sáenz closed the first part with the aria from Olympia de The Tales of Hoffmann by Offenbach, emulating, with the precision of a Swiss watch –but also with ironic mischief and many theatrical skills–, the gearing of the automaton doll that represents the character.

All of this was accompanied at all times by a more than solid Vallés Orchestra – with a very enthusiastic Óliver Díaz on the podium – who enjoyed considerable prominence throughout the concert, with the interpretation of several very well-executed instrumental interludes, but which, with so many entrances and exits from the soprano, slowed the pace a little.

The break gave way to the great opera titles. With Mozart's Konstanze inThe Rape of the Lamb, Sáenz maintained the right tone between delicacy and intensity, with polished embellishments but without coldness. Marie, from The daughter of the regiment, made the auditorium vibrate with a Cheers to France Expansive, good French diction, and contagious energy. And finally, the most extraordinary moment of the evening: the passage È strano… Always liberates of La traviata Verdi, which Sáenz made move from the emotional and affected lament of the beginning, with some pianissimio sweet and intense, to the point of cabaletta ending with an impeccable singing line, without harshness or tension. I hope we can soon hear her singing the entire role of Violetta on our home stages.

Gala ovation, standing ovation, and, as a gift, a delicious O mio babbino caro.