New Music Season in Barcelona

The city’s new music season gets under way in September with a varied and attractive programme.

You could start by sampling the programme at the Palau de la Música, which has a “Mozart in jazz” concert on 1 September, with Llibert Fortuny on sax and Manel Camp on piano. Also awaiting you will be the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès (18 September) and the guitarists Xavier Coll (8 and 17 September) and Pedro Javier González (24 September).

If you visit the Liceu between 4 and 7 September, you can enjoy an opera in four acts, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, with music by Christoph Willibald Gluck and a libretto by François Guillard. It opened in Paris in 1779. This is the second version of Iphigenie auf Tauris, which marked the end of the composer’s Paris period and is one of his truly brilliant operas.

On 27 and 30 September you will find Marc Piollet and Calixto Bieito directing the comic opera Carmen, with music by Georges Bizet, a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy and based on the novel by Proper Mérimée. It opened in Paris in 1875 and in Barcelona in 1881, coming to the Liceu in 1888.

As regards symphonies, the OBC will be at the Auditori (24-26 September), conducted by Pablo González and playing compositions by Ramon Humet, Debussy and Shostakhovich.

Gracia Festival: Barcelona’s biggest and most colorful street party

Probably Barcelona’s biggest and most colourful street party, the Festa de Gràcia gets underway on August 15th and, during one week, seventeen streets will be decorated for the celebrations, on another year of this historical event. The first reference of this festivity dates back to 1817, when Gràcia was a small village, and not yet absorbed as a neighbourhood by Barcelona.

Gràcia was established in 1626, in the surroundings of a convent called Nostra Senyora de Gràcia (Our Lady of Grace). Gràcia was an independent municipality until it was annexed to Barcelona in 1897 along with other villages in the plain of Barcelona. The expansion of the Eixample  district in the 19th century eventually led to the northward expansion of Barcelona, connecting Gràcia to the growing metropolis.

Given the confirmation that some two thirds of the event’s visitors will be attending its morning, afternoon and early-evening activities, it will hold its main family-interest shows and cultural events at those times.

Still, the night party may stretch out to 2 am during the week and 3.30 am during the weekend, with concerts and music.

The first event of the Festival was the poster contest. Aina Cordoncillo, local illustrator, has been selected among 268 participants, and her poster will be the Official Poster of the Festival.

Dies de Dansa Festival in Barcelona

Núñez i Navarro Hotels, with 9 hotels in the center of Barcelona, sponsor the Dies de Dansa Festival Barcelona from 1 to July 5, 2010.

Dies de Dansa is an international contemporary dance festival in urban spaces. It is a free annual cultural project born in Barcelona, which is part of the GREC Festival de Barcelona. During five days buildings, streets, parks and plazas flood with life in this encounter between dance, urban space and community.

Dies de Dansa takes place in different points of Barcelona, such as the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB), the Joan Miró Foundation, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA), the Picasso Museum; as well as in the cities of Mataró, Sabadell and Sitges. The daylight programme consists on the presentation of short performances that artists elaborate specifically for each place, with the participation of over 25 national and international companies.

Dies de Dansa also programmes Workshops for the community, a series of free dance workshops suitable to professionals and amateurs, and the workshops Dance within the Family, which throughout experimentation, creativity and research, stimulates the emotional bonds in a fun way.

The Mas i Mas Festival in August

For eight years the Mas i Mas Festival has been adding rhythm to the warmest days of the year. This edition’s festival, which kicks off on 29 July with a performance by the Malian diva Rokia Traoré, has programmed over 160 concerts to suit all tastes with world music, flamenco, classical and electronica.

Among all that will be going on, one concert stands out, the Plaça Reial tribute to the city’s most iconic jazz club, the Jamboree, which is 50 this year. Musicians like Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald and Ornette Coleman have been here, so jazz will be the star of this free concert on Monday 30 August, starting at 6 pm.

The Big Acoustic Band, the best national jazz outfit, and WTF All Stars, the musicians that liven up the WTF Jam Sessions every Monday at the club, will have the job of bringing the Jamboree out into the light in Plaça Reial.

Appearing at the Mas i Mas Festival besides Rokia Traoré will be Flavio Rodríguez, Lucrecia and Sole Giménez, accompanied by the saxophonist Perico Sambeat. This last recital will close the festival on 1 September at the Palau de la Música.

The inclusion of the Palau de la Música as a festival stage is one of the new features of the eighth Mas i Mas Festival. There the chamber music room will hold three latin and jazz concerts a day.

In all the festival will have seven stages around the city. La Pedrera once again provides the stage for classical music, with three concerts a day, while flamenco will be based at the Tarantos, with six sessions a day, and electronica at the Moog. The Auditori will open the festival and there will also be concerts at Luz de Gas and the Jamboree.

All those people who say nothing happens in Barcelona in August have got it all wrong!

Boston Ballet in Barcelona

Boston Ballet is a leading company perform both classical and contemporary dance and is led by acclaimed Finnish Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. Based at the Boston Opera House, it boasts the largest ballet school in North America.

Forty-five dancers from Boston Ballet make their first stop in Barcelona, before embarking on a five-week tour of Spain. Unique to the city, four diverse and original works have been selected from their two programmes: one piece by master choreographer George Balanchine and four pieces from their Made in Boston programme, most of which were created specifically for the company.

Russian-born George Balanchine (1904-1983) was a hugely influential figure in the development of 20th century ballet. Founder of the New York City Ballet, he also helped establish Boston Ballet in 1963. From the Made in Boston programme: Boston Ballet’s resident choreographer Jorma Elo presents Brake the Eyes, where ballet at breakneck speeds serves to parody the nature of dance itself.

Canadian choreographer Sabrina Matthews’ ein von viel is set to the Goldberg Variations of Johann Sebastian Bach, and is a challenging piece for two athletic male dancers.

‘Ultimate Balanchine’, by Boston Ballet perform Ballo della Regina
From 08/06/2010 to 13/06/2010
Coliseum Theatre -> GranVia de les Corts Catalanes, 595

Music in the Parks of Barcelona

Last wednesday, 2nd June, started the inaugural concert in the latest “Music in the Parks” cycle, organised by the Barcelona City Council Environment Area, with a performance by the Sant Andreu Jazz Band - the youngest big band in Europe - in the Teatre Grec Gardens.

The concert has opened new “Music in the Parks” programme. Now a traditional event, this year it aims to reach more people by raising the number of city parks holding the concerts to eight, doubling last year’s total.

It includes three parallel programmes, classical music, jazz and sessions by the Banda Municipal de Música of Barcelona, and these run from 2 June until 25 August.

There are 28 concerts in this year’s cycle. The Municipal Band’s concerts will take place in the Creueta del Coll, Diagonal Mar, Barceloneta and Guineueta parks. Turó Parc, the Príncep de Girona Gardens and the Hivernacle (Winter Garden) in Parc de la Ciutadella will hold the classical music concerts, while the Drets Humans (Human Rights) Gardens and the Hivernacle will hold the jazz sessions. The Municipal Band concerts start at 8 pm and the classical music and jazz concerts begin at 10 pm. All concerts are free and in the open air and you don’t need to book in advance.

The summer park concert programme came about fifteen years ago. The aim is top bring quality music to every kind of audience and to encourage performers by young musicians, while promoting the possibilities offered by parks as meeting places and recreational areas on summer nights and evenings.

Sponsored by DAMM Free, the event is being collaborated on by Cespa, UME Unión Musical, El Periódico, Time Out, Aigües Veri, the Conservatori del Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC).

Primavera Sound. 10 years of the best indie scene

Barcelona has been enjoying the very best on the indie scene for ten years now, with wide-ranging genres including rock, pop and even electronica. In fact, Primavera Sound has gained a reputation for avoiding labels and for hosting all and sundry artists, from the very new to the most established.

The 10th Primavera Sound festival will be held on 27, 28 and 29 May at the Parc del Fòrum but throughout the week there will be fringe concerts at the city’s clubs and other places like the metro and the parks.

With over a hundred groups playing at the festival, there will be a huge range of acts. One of this year’s main themes will be 1990s pop, with groups like The Charlatans, Bis, Pavement and Pixies.

The Athens group is one of those returning to Primavera, along with Wire, The Fall, Low, Shellac and Wilco. The latter, along with the Pet Shop Boys and Orbital, will be topping the bill at a festival where small print is very important.

For example, you need to bear in mind groups like The XX, Beach House, Wild Beasts and No Age, who are coming with some of the year’s most interesting ideas.

All that, not to mention cult figures like Gary Numan, the pioneer of electronica, Marc Almond, a real pop icon, and Hope Sandoval, who will be accompanied by The Warm Inventions.

Lo-Fi is another feature of Primavera with The Bundles, a new group made up by Kimya Dawson, a former member of The Moldy Peaches, and the singer-songwriter and comic artist Jeffrey Lewis.

More inf@: Primavera Sound website

The Barcelona Grec Festival 2010 dedicated to Japan

In its 34th edition, the 2010 Barcelona Grec Festival continues to opt for innovative, quality, newly created and varied shows. This year the Grec will be opting for the Japanese performing arts, with fifteen productions from Japan. The production, entitled Panorama Japó will enable audiences to enjoy a son et lumière show directed by Rioji Ikeda, in collaboration with the Sonar, and see Joan Ollé’s take on the non-modern theatre of Yukio Mishima.

Mention should also be made of “Ki“, an initiative from Cesc Gelabert and Frederic Amat (who is in charge of the programme for the 2010 Grec) to mark the centenary of Yamaga city’s Kabuki theatre, featuring a Japanese Butoh performer and a contemporary dancer.

Of the 65 shows making up the festival’s programme, it will fall to Prometeu to open the event, starring Carme Elias, though the amphitheatre will also be the setting for a mixture of music and poetry with Bolívar, fragmentos de un sueño, Chouf Ouchouf’s circus show and several dance and music performances.

As every year, the Grec, being held from 13 June to 1 August at 29 venues located throughout the city, seeks to find a balance between foreign and local offerings and among the various art forms: theatre, dance and music.

The national scene will be represented by Sergi Belbel, Julio Manrique, Oriol Broggi, Joan Manuel Serrat, Jordi Savall, T de Teatre and La Caldera.

The big international names attending the festival will include Corinne Bailey Rae, Bijan Sheibani, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Aydin Tejer and Omar Porras and William Ospina.

Aerosmith Tour 2010 in Barcelona

Aerosmith

- the biggest, most enduring and thrilling band in rock history will make a spectacular return to the UK and Europe this summer with the COCKED, LOCKED, READY TO ROCK TOUR! spawning what will be the ultimate music event of the new decade.

Aerosmith are one of the great American rock bands of all time. Steve Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer Aerosmith formed nearly four decades and throughout his career have sold over 150 million albums worldwide. The so-called “bad boys of Boston” have a lot of number ones and a multitude of records.

Barcelona and in particular the Palau Sant Jordi is the venue chosen by Aerosmith for what is undoubtedly one of the most important events of the year with the rock life. They visit us in its 40th anniversary with a single action which will give a full review of his vast career.

Palau Sant Jordi -> Passeig Olímpic, 5-7 Barcelona
Date: 27/06/2010 -  Time: 20.45h

“Barcelona is the best city in the world” by Woody Allen

Playing to a full house last Sunday March 28, film director Woody Allen and his regular band showed their jazz repertory, some of which is closely associated with his films. During the concert he declared his love for the Catalan capital, saying: “Barcelona is the best city in the world“.

This was the film director’s second performance at the iconic Modernista concert hall, Palau de la Música. He was appearing on the Millennium Festival programme, in which he held a distinguished place a few years ago as a clarinettist in the New Orleans Jazz Band.

With a calling card of modest remarks, like “I’m nothing more than an amateur clarinettist“, “if I weren’t famous, nobody would come to my concerts“, “people come more to see me than to hear me“, Allen made another appearance before his Barcelona public, fans both of his films and performances.

The Modernista Palau had a put up a notice two days before the concert informing the public that all tickets had sold out for concert featuring the film director, a jazz musician, as he himself admits, with a passion for New Orleans music.

Allen learnt to play the sax soprano when he was thirteen or fourteen, but he later chose the clarinet as he’d always loved New Orleans jazz, especially Sidney Bechet.

While acknowledging that he listens to other kinds of music in his free time, including opera, classical music and modern jazz, and that he also loves songs from Broadway musicals, he reaffirmed his preference for New Orleans music. Source: www.bcn.es

Web de Woody Allen & His New Orleans Jazz Band

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