The world of culture recommends: 5 must-see concerts this summer in the heart of Empordà

GironaThroughout the summer, in the Girona regions a lot of festivals offer concerts and shows of all kinds every week and, often, it is difficult to choose among so much cultural offer. Within the field of classical music, one of the unmissable events is the Torroella de Montgrí Festival, at the foot of the massif that separates the Empordà, which this year celebrates its 45th edition. Focusing mainly on early and baroque music, but also featuring contemporary offerings and repertoires from all styles and periods, from the 14th century to the present day, the Bajo Empordà festival offers a very interesting, unique, and diverse program of up to 32 concerts, which runs from August 3 to 22. To help you choose and sort through all the offerings at the Torroella festival, prominent figures from our country's cultural world recommend to the ARA the most attractive and essential concerts, designed for all tastes and interests.

The first recommendation is precisely the double event that will conclude the festival, led by viola da gamba player Lucile Boulanger: in the morning, she will present a canonical repertoire based on Johann Sebastian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel; and in the evening, in a free closing show in the Plaça de la Vila, she will fuse ancient music with electronic sounds, working in tandem with the French artist Arandel. This event is recommended by Bernat Vivancos, one of the most prolific Catalan composers of the 21st century, a firm admirer of the viola da gamba: "It's extraordinary; Jordi Savall has obviously given it a much-needed boost, but it's still sometimes little known. It's an instrument that speaks to the soul; whoever plays it feels as if they're embracing it. Playing it at home, even in private," explains the maestro. Boulanger, of course, also deserves praise: "She's a performer with a young, but already brilliant, career, a musician who knows how to make the viola da gamba sing and speak like no one else." Finally, beyond the instrument itself, Vivancos, heir to the musical tradition of the Escolanía de Montserrat and with his own compositional style, eminently contemporary yet eclectic and timeless, values the audacity of blending centuries of music into the evening's performance: "It will undoubtedly be surprising; the viola da gamba is the result of fusing contemporary electronic music with composers of the time."

The second event worth not missing is the performance by pianist András Schiff, now a veteran (71 years old), but still at the forefront of the great names on the international scene. Since the pandemic, the British musician of Hungarian origin, a heartthrob of exquisite technique and absolute knowledge of the repertoire, does not announce the works on the program in advance, but rather selects them with instinct and consistency, considering the uniqueness of each evening. For the visit to Torroella, he will play pieces by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, which he himself will introduce on stage with a brief and instructive live presentation. The writer and philosopher Cristina Masanés, based in the Alt Empordà region, winner of the 2025 Ciutat de Barcelona Prize for the novel Marchers, He highlights the virtues of this approach: "It requires a certain complicity. András Schiff is a great pianist actively involved in anti-fascism, and by offering a concert without a specific program, he asks you to trust him and to bet on discovery." And he concludes: "It's clear that the risk is minimal, because his interpretive excellence and the composer clues provided in the program make it very easy. But, nevertheless, I like not knowing what I'll hear."

At a festival committed to national talent and heritage, Catalan repertoire and musicians could not be left out of this list of suggestions. That's why the writer and classical philologist Raül Garrigasait It spreads to the chamber duo formed by cellist Mariona Camats and pianist Eudald Buch, who will perform pieces by Maurice Ravel and Juli Garreta: two authors of very different styles, one born in Euskadi Nord, neoclassical and expressionist, and the other in Catalunya, more Roman 1875. These two authors are accompanied, on the respective 150th anniversary of their birth, by a piece by Barcelona-born Josep Cercós, whose centenary is being celebrated in this case. "I recommend this concert because, in addition to offering us the opportunity to hear pieces by Josep Cercós and Maurice Ravel, it will allow us to hear again the fantastic Sonata in F major for cello and piano "From that still-unknown genius, Juli Garreta. It's music that creates a mysterious, melancholic atmosphere of a very unusual subtlety," says Garrigasait, who, beyond the lyrics, is also a great fan and connoisseur of classical music.

The daring performance by Boulanger and Arandel, which will close the festival, is not the only groundbreaking offering on the lineup. Also noteworthy is the concert by Nino de Elche, a multidisciplinary artist and innovator of contemporary flamenco, who makes his Torroella debut alongside the French-Egyptian poet and singer Abdullah Miniwy. This two-part show, combining words, shouts, silence, and sound, which uses the desert as a metaphor for exile and inner search, is the work of Laia Torrents, the sound artist of the Banyolí duo. Cabo San Roque, formed with Roger Aixut. Cabosanroque, accustomed to making classical musical tradition resonate with modern sounds and performances live, they learn first-hand about the work of Francisco Contreras (this is the real name of Niño de Elche) and encourage the public to discover this encounter with Abdullah Miniwy: "The two artists have a very peculiar, special and innovative way of approaching tradition and reinterpreting it, one in Egyptian folklore, the other, Egyptian folklore, the good one, they are great poets, writers and musicians," explains Laia Torrents: "What could go wrong with this encounter? We are really looking forward to finding out how poetry, vocal forms and experimentation combine."

Lluc Valverde is one of the members of The Ludwig Band, a trendy Catalan pop-rock band, and in this compendium of musical recommendations, it also means his own. Born in Espolla, the Empordà musician, clarinetist and saxophonist of the band, although now pursuing a career in modern music, has a solid background in classical and performing arts. That's why he recommends the vocal and instrumental ensemble Armonico Consort, which will perform theStabat Mater of Pergolesis and the chamber opera, unstaged, Dido & Aeneas by Henry Purcell, inspired by theAeneid of Virgil, a work for which Valverde feels a special fascination. With poetic and stimulating rhetoric, faithful to the roguish and cheeky style of the band, the musician glosses the classic work of the Roman poet to recommend Purcell's opera: "If those sailors had kept their word and burned the manuscript ofAeneid just as Virgil requested, ashamed through tears because it was not a perfect poem, perhaps Dido would never have been on that beach in Tunisia, lowering semitone by semitone the basso continuo that must seal her fate," Valverde fantasizes. And he certifies: "However, the sailor had the manuscript in his hand behind his back at the breakfast table. And the text became the center of the propaganda campaign of the new and brilliant Empire, joining together in an incredible administrative fantasy all of History in a narrative and dynastic thread that linked them with the greatest heroes of literature, ending centuries of feeling of inferiority, a living being of Greek culture and virgin of hegemony, peace and prosperity."