The latest issue of the Catalan Musical Magazine dedicates a comprehensive and accurate dossier to the figure of Ricardo Viñes (1875-1943), a leading figure of Catalan piano music and of the musical avant-garde of the first third of the 20th century, who has an indisputable international projection. He was a generational companion and friend of composers such as Manuel de Falla, Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, and his interpretative technique is still remembered through some of the recordings he made throughout his life. An intense life despite a sad end, with Viñes condemned to poverty in his last three years, lived in Barcelona.

Ricard Viñes (Lleida, 1875 - Barcelona, ​​​​1943) and Maurice Ravel (Ciboure, 1875 - Paris, 1937) met during their adolescence and, from their early years in Paris, shared artistic concerns and a great personal affinity. When a young Ravel wrote the Small antique (1895), Viñes decided to premiere it in 1898, thus beginning a career deeply committed to new musical languages. "Ravel wasn't so gifted on the piano and was expelled from the conservatory, but thanks to it we gained a great composer," explains Màrius Bernadó, curator of the Viñes Year. That premiere, apart from marking Ravel's public debut, consolidated Viñes as a tireless promoter of 20th-century modern music.