Conxita Badia, "music made woman"

BarcelonaConxita Badia i Millàs (Barcelona, ​​​​1897 - Barcelona 1975) was one of the most relevant Catalan sopranos of the 20th century and a "leading figure of song", according to the writer Joan Alavedra. A disciple of Enric Granados, Pau Casals and Manuel de Falla, her voice and deep passion for music, but also her dreamy character, captivated everyone. "She was music made woman", the composer Narcís Bonet once said. "She had a special way of saying the paraules, of fer-te feel the music", remembers Montserrat Bonet, net of the soprano. Tanmateix, the interruption of the seva career by the war and the exile, the her discreet character and the fet of being dona, are going to bury in the oblit the figure and arrival of Badia, who now recovers the Generalitat in l'Any de Conxita Badia, mig segle After the death of the soprano.

Conxita Badia began her musical training at a neighborhood school where her talent was quickly detected. There She will meet her first teacher, Enric Granados, who will discover her in a solfeig exam and turn her into an interpreter of the six songs. In 1913, with the same set, Badia went to perform for the first time at the Palau de la Música Catalana in front of Noia Flor in the opera Parsifal by Wagner. That same year, he also premiered Love songs, a work by Granados that contained a pair of songs dedicated to her. But in 1916, Badia was left without a maestro when the Granados couple tragically died on a ship torpedoed by a German submarine, during the First World War.

The 1930s brought musical growth to Barcelona and a golden age for Badia, who gave many concerts with her second maestro, Pau Casals, and her orchestra. "With Casals, Conxita discovered the great German oratorios," Domènech explains. "Her diction and great ability to adapt to all musical styles made her very special." So much so, that when she performed at the Vienna Festival with Robert Gerhard singing Six popular Catalan songs, earned the admiration of great composers such as Strauss and Schoenberg, who called her "the Viennese of Barcelona." Badia became the muse of the greatest contemporary musicians and poets, such as Gerhard, Eduard Toldrà, Juan Lamote de Grignon, Frederic Mompou, Apel·les Mestres, Tomàs Garcés, and Ventura Gassol, who dedicated songs to her and offered their works to her. "Everything I have written for the soprano voice has been with you in mind. Everything, then, belongs to you," Casals wrote in Badia. Unfortunately, the cultural bustle that the country was experiencing ended in July 1936 due to the military uprising.

Ambassador of Catalan culture 

"Badia went to Paris to bring Catalan song to France at the request of the Generalitat," Domènech points out. "This mission as an ambassador for the culture of Catalonia is not known." Following the growing tension of the Civil War, in February 1937 Bahía and her three daughters went to France, where she gave the concerts For the Republic!, for the exhibitions of Catalan Romanesque art organized by Minister Ventura Gassol. "She felt so strongly about the country, to the point of exporting the values of the republic in a time of pre-war Europe, leaving everything behind," notes Domènech. Far from halting her activity, during that time the soprano gave concerts throughout Europe that earned her critical acclaim. The soprano traveled the world alone with her daughters—her husband was in Brazil—but she found a community of musicians who supported her. "The network of musicians became her extended family," says Domènech. "Her charming and passionate nature also helped her." In May 1938, close to the Second World War, Badia was able to go on tour to Brazil and reunite with her husband.

In May 1938, the work premiered at the Teatro Cervantes in Buenos Aires, and quickly became a star in South America. Argentina was experiencing a cultural boom, and Badia moved there with her family. There, she reconnected with her third maestro, Manuel de Falla, and other artists exiled from the Civil War, such as Jaime Pahissa, Ortega y Gasset, Rafael Albertí, Paco Aguilar, and Margarida Xirgu. During this period, Badia collaborated extensively with de Falla and often appeared on the radio, playing an active role in promoting Catalan music. But in 1946, she decided to return to Barcelona out of homesickness, news that saddened de Falla, who died two days after her departure. "They had a father-son relationship, to the point that she was the last to see him before he died," explains Domènech.

"She needed a family and maybe that's why she didn't have a successful international career like others, because she needed to go back, to have friends close by," reflects Montserrat Bonet. When Badia arrived in Barcelona she found it very changed and it wasn't until a year later that she returned to perform with The rose on the lips, a work that won the Albéniz Prize in 1936 and was dedicated to her by Eduard Toldrà and could not be premiered due to the war.

During this period, the soprano was a teacher of great voices such as that of Montserrat Caballé and acted as a cultural bridge. "Barcelona became a hub of talent, and people came from all over the world to study with her. "During Franco's time, this was extraordinary," says Domènech. "She was very welcoming, and there were always students at home whom she often invited over for lunch," recalls Mariona Agustí, the soprano's daughter. Badia died on May 2, 1975, in Barcelona. "We are lucky to remember her, and that fills you. All those memories of such a vital person," says Agustí.

The Year of Conxita Badia

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the soprano's death, the Catalan government is organizing the Conxita Badia Year, a commemoration of the soprano's legacy and her work as an ambassador for Catalan music. Mireia Domènech, the event's curator and the singer's great-granddaughter, emphasizes Badia's importance because "very often when we talk about great names in music, we talk about men." She adds that "perhaps it's time for a figure who did so much for Catalan music and also served as a cultural bridge to be recognized."

The program aims to disseminate, digitize, research, and disseminate her work, while also establishing dialogue with contemporary times. The commemoration will run from May 2025 to May 2026 and will include a program of various events, activities, and concerts that will take place both in Catalonia and abroad. The opening will be on May 12 at the Marshall Academy, commemorating the connection with Granados and Alícia de Larrocha. Badia will also be the focus of the Modernism Fair, from May 23 to 25.