"It is a luxury to be able to have this farewell," says maestro Josep Pons at the press conference, who this month closes his stage as musical director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu after fourteen years of work. It is a farewell in two phases: conducting the orchestra of the Rambla theatre in the eight performances of Verdi's opera Falstaff (from July 9 to 19) and in the concert dedicated to Mahler's "Symphony No. 8 'The Thousand'" (July 24). "I tend to contain my emotions," says Pons, who does admit that he feels very happy. "I believe that the job we were entrusted with, we have done. We have created a family, and we are lucky to be among good people. I am very pleased to end at an all-time high," he assures, just after explaining that "working in an opera house is like entering a convent: it is an absolute absorption, you stop living." Happy and grateful, Pons, however, does not want the farewell to overshadow the performances of Falstaff. "Maestro Pons' last staged title, although he will have a title every year, at least," clarifies the theatre's artistic director, Víctor Garcia de Gomar, who recalls that from next season Pons will be the Liceu's honorary musical director.