Two symphonic evenings on Sant Sebastià beach

BarcelonaBrahms, Tchaikovsky and Dvorák star in the repertoire of the new edition of Clàssica a la platja, the joint project of L'Auditori, the Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Palau de la Música, with the support of the Barcelona City Council and the La Caixa Foundation and the collaboration of Port of Barcelona, which cedes the space at Sant Sebastià beach. As usual, on July 8 and 9 there will be two free concerts that will begin at 9 p.m., one by the Liceu Orchestra conducted by Josep Pons and the other by the Barcelona and Catalonia National Symphony Orchestra (OBC) under the baton of Ludovic Morlot. Beforehand, on June 10, different choirs from the Escola Coral de l'Orfeó Català (the Cor Petits and the Cor Mitjans) will give concert-workshops in two residences for the elderly, and on June 15 the Cor Jove will sing at the Hospital del Mar.

"We offer symphonic and classical music with a very popular repertoire," says the artistic director of the Liceu, Víctor Garcia de Gomar. Indeed, the program for July 8 includes very popular pieces from the symphonic universe, such as Dvorák's Slavonic Dance No. 8, Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 and the Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor by Borodin. That is, three works that were already performed on Sant Sebastià beach in 2019, then by the OBC. The Liceu Orchestra's program also includes Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat, Ginestera's Estancia and Ravel's Boléro.

The next day, the OBC also turns to Borodin, of whom they will perform the first movement of Symphony No. 2; Brahms (the poco allegretto from Symphony No. 3), Dvorák (a fragment of Symphony No. 8) and Tchaikovsky (the finale of Symphony No. 4). The concert, titled An Imaginary Symphony, is completed with the allegro molto from Rakhmàninov's Symphony No. 2. "It is a journey from the lyricism and Central European melancholy to the energy and drama of great Russian symphonic music," explains the director of L'Auditori, Víctor Medem. As for the concerts by the choirs of the Orfeó Català, the repertoires will include works by Catalan composers such as Jordi Domènech, Josep Ollé and Josep Vila, as well as songs from other traditions around the world. "All together we can go further with this idea of making music accessible," says the general director of the Palau de la Música Catalana, Joan Oller, about the Clàssica a la platja project.The concerts of the Liceu Orchestra and the OBC, which attract more than 20,000 spectators each day, can be enjoyed on the beach, and also seen on two screens: one next to the stage and the other in the middle of the beach. And to ensure that the sound reaches correctly along the more than 250 m length of the beach, a special audio device will be set up. Both will be broadcast live by Betevé and Catalunya Música.