Repertoire

Jaume Pahissa: A les costes mediterrànies. Opening

Cinc cançons catalanes orquestrades per Joan Magrané :
Joaquim Salvat, Cançó de capvespre. Text de Josep Maria de Segarra
Joaquim Serra: Cançó voluble. Text de Josep Carner
Juli Garreta: Capvespre. Text de Apel·les Mestres
Romà Alís: Cançó de la plenitud del matí. Text de Salvador Espriu
Joaquim Serra: El sonet dels llavis. Text de Josep Carner

Eduard Toldrà La rosa als llavis. Text de Joan Salvat- Papasseit
Paul Dukas, Symphony in C

Artists

Barcelona Symphony Orchestra
Diego Martin-Etxebarria, conductor
Violeta Alarcón, soprano

Programme

The programme takes the audience on a journey through 20th century Catalan song, a genre that combines literary roots and musical refinement. Authors such as Pahissa, Serra, Garreta, Toldrà and Alís use texts by leading poets – Sagarra, Carner, Espriu, Salvat-Papasseit – in short pieces in the form of songs, with appropriately concise expressiveness, that demonstrate the permeability of the Catalan language to the European trends of the time. Voices become a vehicle for a sensibility that alternates between lyricism and cultural awareness, and the guest soprano, Violeta Alarcón, is sure to transport listeners to this world.

The second part of the concert will offer an opportunity to discover Paul Dukas’s1896 Symphony in C major. Written in France at a time when the country was not inclined towards the symphony genre, the work embraces the Germanic legacy, especially in the use of Wagnerian-based chromatic harmonies, as César Franck had also done. Organised into three movements, it features a solid and balanced architecture, with careful thematic work and precise orchestration. Far from the sombre drama of other contemporary symphonies, Dukas opts for an affirmative and luminous energy that culminates in a finale full of exultant vitality.