And we already have another season inaugurated. In this case, that of the Life Victoria, which this year will be centered on exile. The choice of the theme fits like a glove with the program that opens this new cycle, with pieces by Falla, García Lorca, Montsalvatge, Gardel, Lara and Ramírez. And who better than the American Isabel Leonard, with Argentine origins, to carry it out. The New York mezzo-soprano has a privileged timbre and the voice flowed throughout the two parts of a recital that also featured a communicative outpouring from the singer that sometimes seemed out of place, although it did not take her much effort to put the audience in her pocket.

This marks the 34th edition of the Vilabertran Schubertiad, founded by Jordi Roch, one of Catalonia's most important lieder and chamber music festivals and a leading European event. This year's program, running from August 13th to 30th, will be a tribute to its founder. died on December 15 at the age of 94"Continuing the path that Jordi Roch has left us is the best tribute to keep his legacy alive," explains Joaquim Borràs, general director of the Catalan Agency for Cultural Heritage.

Conxita 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.