This November, Catalan music takes center stage at one of Europe’s most prestigious venues: Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. From November 12-16, German audiences will experience classical and contemporary Catalan composers performed by some of the most outstanding names in Catalan music, in a focus supported by the Ramon Llull Institute. This program showcases the richness of Catalan musical tradition—from early music to folk roots, jazz, and Mediterranean song—performed by some of Catalonia’s most representative ensembles.
On 14 and 15 November, Minister of Culture Sònia Hernández will attend the Catalan focus, experiencing several concerts and activities in the Hamburg program, including performances by the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and Catalonia National Orchestra, Tarta Relena, Cobla Sant Jordi Ciutat de Barcelona, and the Palau de la Música Catalana Chamber Choir.
The Minister will also participate in a 15 November roundtable on connections between Catalan and German music.
The focus opens with two giants of Catalan musical heritage: Jordi Savall with Hesperion XXI and The Royal Chapel of Catalonia will perform the Red Book of Montserrat on Wednesday, November 12. Before the concert, Maestro Jordi Savall will lead a conversation to contextualize the work.
On Thursday, November 13, Marco Mezquida & Chicuelo will present their third collaborative work, of the soul, which completes a trilogy of jazz and flamenco fusion begun in 2017. With Paco de Mode joining on percussion, the trio has developed a unique sound captured in pieces like swimming, Street of dangerand The lighthouse of desires. Of the soul you celebrate musical dialogue and the fusion of tradition and modernity.
Friday, November 14 features a double program: first, at 7 PM in the Grand Hall, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and Catalonia National Orchestra performs works by Claude Debussy, Frederic Mompou, Miquel Oliu, Isaac Albéniz, and Maurice Ravel. The OBC performs under conductor Ludovic Morlot with internationally renowned soprano Núria Rial. One hour before the concert, Verena Wife leads to conversation. Second, at 9 PM, the duo Relena cake performs in the Small Hall, presenting their new work It’s a question.
Saturday also offers a double program with two concerts: Cobla Sant Jordi-City of Barcelona and the Palau de la Música Catalana Chamber Choir. The Cobla performs at 6 PM in the Grand Hall with a specially designed repertoire that opens with classical pieces like Eduard Toldrà’s Jordan’s beech tree and continues with contemporary sardines like Marc Timón’s Princess Nerídia’s dreamshowing how the sardana has evolved from popular dance to sophisticated concert music. The program also explores personal and musical relationships between composers, with pieces like Juli Garreta’s Shepherdess in loveinfluenced by European symphonism, and Xavier Pagès-Corella’s twelve lustraswhich demonstrates the cobla’s innovative capacity. The concert culminates with two masterworks that exemplify contemporary cobla excellence: Joan Albert Amargós’s Color variants and Joaquim Serra’s Puigsoliu.
The day before the concert, Cobla Sant Jordi also participates in several educational activities around the concert, including a public sardana dance in the Elbphilharmonie’s interior plaza and a workshop-lecture to introduce the cobla and sardana and teach German audiences how to dance sardanes.
The Palau de la Música Catalana Chamber Choir presents a concert framed in Generation C, which highlights the new generation of contemporary Catalan choral composers. The program also incorporates traditional works from Catalan choral heritage and contemporary popular songbook, offering a musical journey through Catalonia’s choral music history.
Conducted by Xavier Puigthey perform choral tradition pieces like The song of the sign by Lluís Millet and The emigrant by Amadeu Vives, new creations like Joan Magrané’s Or you all and Josep Ollé’s Hail Mary Stellaand popular songbook pieces like Arnau Tordera’s The gallant godmother and Feliu Gasull’s The Arnau account.
Also on Saturday, a roundtable titled “Von Sardana bis Pau Casals – Die musikalische Seele Kataloniens” (“From Sardana to Pau Casals – The Musical Soul of Catalonia”) brings together Joan Ollé, director of the Palau de la Música; Xavier Puig, director of the Orfeó Català and the Palau Chamber Choir; Maria Lladó, director of the IRL’s Creation Area; and music journalist Albert Torrens. The Elbphilharmonie’s Deputy Artistic Director Vincent Dahm moderate
The Catalan Focus concludes on Sunday with Silvia Pérez Cruz and Salvador Sobral presenting their joint work—a celebration of friendship and shared inspiration with a repertoire including pieces written especially for the occasion by Jorge Drexler, Luísa Sobral, and Lau Noah, among others.
