Although Barcelona broke its heat record this Wednesday and the Teatre Grec stage is outdoors, Argentine actor Joaquín Furriel (Lomas de Zamora, 1974) is not afraid of the city's high temperatures. "I premiered my first play when I was 13, on December 20th in Buenos Aires, which is like performing here in July. I'm always happy when I perform in the heat, it's a caress for my soul," the performer highlights. He is the protagonist of The True Story of Richard III, a show directed by Calixto Bieito that will be performed this Friday and Saturday as part of the Grec festival. The play arrives in Barcelona after being staged in Madrid and Bilbao and having a season and national tour in Argentina with a very enviable reception: for two and a half months, the show could be seen from Wednesday to Sunday at the Teatro San Martín, which has a capacity of 950 people. They sold out all tickets.

Prone to the most extreme readings of classical and contemporary operas, Calixto Bieito presented his show about Giulio Cesare by Handel in Amsterdam, and now this masterpiece by the Baroque musician arrives at the Liceu.

There are many reasons not to miss the opera. Giulio Cesare, which will have six performances at the Liceu from May 25 to June 7. One is obvious: Handel's masterpiece, premiered in 1724 in London, is one of the musical peaks of the Baroque. In addition, the Rambla theater is programming it staged and not in a concert version as is too often the case with the repertoire of the 17th and first half of the 18th centuries in Barcelona. The other attractions are detailed by the artistic director of the Liceu, Víctor Garcia de Gomar. "There are five ingredients that make these performances very relevant. The first, Xavier Sabata (Julius Caesar). It was necessary for him to do a Handel at the Liceu," says De Gomar, praising Avià's countertenor, who in July 2023 was "a tremendous Ottone, musically exquisite and acting-wise super to The coronation of Poppea by Monteverdi, as noted by the ARA critic, Jaume Radigales. The second is the French soprano Julie Fuchs, crowned as Poppea in that same production and now transformed into Cleopatra. "She's a fantastic Mozartian and Monteverdian," recalls De Gomar.