There are characters you think will never die. Simply because you've seen them your whole life. This is the case with... Jordi RochDr. Roch, who died this Monday at the age of 94, is remembered from the very first concerts I attended as a child. I knew who he was from seeing his picture in newspapers and magazines. Dr. Roch (he was a medical doctor and practiced until his retirement) always made his presence known. Not out of vanity or to show off, but because his presence as a spectator revealed a contagious passion for music. Later, I came to know and befriend a witty, intelligent, and inquisitive man, an excellent conversationalist who was always eager to discover or rediscover things that greatly interested him, and who shared them with the affability and generosity that always characterized him.

For five years, baritone Samuel Hasselhorn has been working with pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz to recover the extensive catalogue of late lieds of Franz Schubert. Between 2023 and 2028, the German singer, who is highly authoritative within the lieder genre, successively performs the songs that the Austrian composer wrote two centuries ago, between 1823 and 1828. The project, sponsored by the Vilabertran Schubertiad, recalls, opus of the absolute master of sung poetry, culminating in three courses, coinciding with the bicentenary of his death. This summer, Hasselhorn and Bushakevitz have returned to the Alto Empordà festival to offer an extraordinary recital, in this case, dedicated to the songs of 1824 and 1825.

Sara Blanch is one of the most prominent Catalan opera singers of today. Born in Darmós, a small town in the Ribera d'Ebre region, at just 36 years old she has become a regular soloist in the Gran Teatro del Liceo seasons. She has already performed on major international stages and has established herself everywhere as a great interpreter of the opera. bel canto Italian. A light lyric soprano with a great gift for the high notes and coloratura, combined with an absolute command of expressiveness and nuances, she will debut at the Vilabertran Schubertiad, one of the most important lied competitions in Europe, next Tuesday, August 19, with a recital of works by German composers. After a summer full of high-flying engagements, the 2025-26 season begins in just a few weeks, once again full of stimulating appointments, with premieres at the Royal Opera House in London, the Paris Opera and La Scala in Milan, in addition to the return to the Liceu, in June, with Le nozze di Figaro.