L’Auditori de Barcelona continues to pay tribute to Robert Gerhard, the ‎brilliant composer from Valls, with two activities that emphasise his relevance and ‎contribution to the world of music.‎

On the one hand, on 25 and 26 March, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra ‎will perform the cantata The Plague, one of Robert Gerhard’s ‎most outstanding works conducted by Francesc Prat. It will feature ‎‎actor Pere Arquillué, Ensemble O Vos Omnes, singers from L’Auditori, the Palau de ‎la Música Catalana Chamber Choir and the Cor Madrigal.‎

This will be the third time that The ‎Plague has been staged in Barcelona since it was first ‎premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1964, commissioned and performed by the ‎BBC Orchestra and Choir.‎

Based on the novel of the same name by Albert Camus, an author with whom Robert ‎Gerhard always expressed a strong affinity for, it is a work of extraordinary musical ‎intensity, and it continues to be just as relevant today as the novel by Camus. One ‎of Gerhard’s finest musical achievements, The Plague encapsulates all the ‎musical expertise and human experience of Catalonia’s most internationally acclaimed ‎composer.‎

To round off the programme, The Plague will be followed by a performance of ‎‎Les Illuminations by Benjamin Britten, ‎with tenor Ian Bostridge as soloist.‎

The exhibition Tot escoltant Gerhard (Listening to Gerhard) ‎will be on show in the Foyer of Hall, 1 Pau Casals at L’Auditori until the last weekend of ‎March. Organised in conjunction with Barcelona’s Museu de la Música to ‎mark the 50th anniversary of Robert Gerhard’s death, it offers a closer look at Catalonia’s ‎most multi-faceted composer and one of the leading figures on the 20th century Catalan, ‎Spanish and European music scene.‎
This travelling exhibition, organised within the framework of the Gerhard Year, ends ‎the Catalan leg of its journey at L’Auditori before going on to other international ‎venues.‎