The history of the Urgell Canal summarized in a colossal opera

LleidaMore than 200 people (including singers and musicians), 75 minutes of poetic and musical spectacle, a budget of around 200,000 euros and five performances that will culminate next year at the Palau de la Música Catalana. It is the letter of introduction ofOpera in the veins, a joint artistic project by the Orfeó Leridano and the Julià Carbonell Orchestra to transform the history of the construction of the Urgell Canal into a large-scale opera for all audiences.

The show, presented under the heading A story of water, earth and blood, It opens on April 27 at the Lonja de Lleida with popular prices that do not exceed 25 euros.

History made poetry

The stage-musical show has as its starting point an adaptation of the book Water in the veins: Chronicle of a universal Catalan miracle created by the same author, Francesc Canosa, with a script by Berta Lacruz, in a multidisciplinary staging that integrates elements of dance, theatre and audiovisuals and with the participation of the mezzo-soprano from Lleida Marta Infante.

Opera in the veins was created to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the granting of ownership of the Urgell Canal to the General Community of Irrigators of the Urgell Canals and also has the collaboration of the Teatro de la Lonja, which this year celebrates its fifteenth anniversary. "It is a multidisciplinary project about our origins, about the transformation of five regions," explains the director of the Canals d'Urgell Foundation, Maribel Pedrol. "In the face of the urgency of drought and climate change, the show ends with a message of hope: the future modernization of irrigation," concludes Pedrol.

The soundtrack includes works by authors who were contemporaries in the construction of the Urgell Canal with great hearts of operas by Verdi, Puccini, Saint-Saëns and Bizet such as the He thinks ofNabucco to the Glory to Egypt ofAida or the heart of gypsies ofThe troubadour, the opera that opened the Teatro de la Lonja fifteen years ago, with solo and instrumental parts, such as the habanera of Carmen and the symphonic poem The Vltava by Bedřich Smetana. There will also be a fragment of Song of love and war and in a local key, the premiere of an arrangement for heart and orchestra by the Joys to the Virgin of Remedy. "We are facing an epic story that is unknown to many," says the musical director of the project, Pol Pastor. "It is a project in which all disciplines have worked in the same direction," adds the stage manager, DaniComa. "Unity has made us stronger and will allow Lleida to empower itself," says the manager of the Julià Carbonell Foundation, Núria Sirvent. "We are exhibiting Lleida talent without complexes," emphasizes the executive director of the Orfeó Lleidatà, Xavier Quintillà. "In 2025 it will go down in history for an alignment of forces," claims the councilor for Culture of Lleida, Pilar Bosch. "This project is extremely strong and local and will make us a cultural power," assures the vice president of the Institute of Lleida Studies, Estefania Rufach.

In addition to the world premiere on April 27 at the Lonja, the show will travel between May and June to the theaters of Juneda, Mollerussa, Bellpuig and Ponts. "It will be properly adapted to each of the venues," says Pastor.