There are few things more stimulating than the enthusiasm of musicians chatting about music, especially when they're not talking about their music. It happened this Monday during the press conference for the presentation of West Side Story at the Liceu, where two performances have been scheduled, in a symphonic concert version, on July 29 and 31. West Side Story You can feel New York under construction. It's fascinating," says Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel, who will conduct the Liceu Symphony Orchestra in both performances. "Bernstein is a unique character: creator, pedagogue, composer, conductor, and a humanist." "Wonderful. I don't see anyone capable of doing everything he did. He was too many people in one person, like Maestro Abreu [the founder of the Venezuelan System of Orchestras and Hearts]," continues Dudamel, touched by Bernstein's influence from a young age: "West Side Story It has accompanied me since I was a child. Especially the mambo, it became an emblem of my youth with the youth orchestra of the Simón Bolívar System."

Considered one of the most difficult works of the operatic repertoire of all time and a symbol of bel canto, The sleepwalker, by Vincenzo Bellini, returns to the Gran Teatre del Liceu after eleven years. American soprano Nadine Sierra and Basque tenor Xabier Anduaga star in a new realistic version of the piece, directed by Bárbara Lluch, which focuses on the experiences of Amina. After its run at the Teatro Real in Madrid and the New National Theatre in Tokyo, the opera will be in Barcelona from April 22 to May 8, with an additional Under35 performance (for those under 35) on April 16, featuring soprano Caterina Sala and tenor Omar Mancini in the lead roles.