The 35 years of Amics del Liceu

Anniversaries are always a reason for celebration, as they allow us to look back, take stock, and at the same time gain momentum to face the future with pockets full of dreams. As all opera lovers and enthusiasts surely know, the Gran Teatre del Liceu is celebrating, as it commemorates the 175th anniversary since it raised its curtain on that emblematic April 4, 1847. A few days later, the first opera, Gaetano Donizetti's Anna Bolena, one of the great masters of Italian belcanto, was performed. But what sometimes escapes even the most avid music lovers is that there is another operatic entity closely linked to the Liceu that is also celebrating a birthday and is celebrating 35 years of life: Amics del Liceu.

In fact, Amics del Liceu is celebrating twice, as it has presented the 30th edition of its most beloved publication: the book Temporada de Ópera at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. This publication is presented every year coinciding with the start of the Gran Teatre del Liceu's opera season (which in the 2021-2022 program features thirty-four shows: thirteen operas, four ballets, five recitals, and twelve concerts), and has two vital objectives: on the one hand, to provide the reader with qualified information from specialists and, on the other, to discover how plastic artists approach the lyrical genre. Thus, it is a reference material that serves all fans of the genre to prepare for the operas before enjoying them at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

In the book Temporada de Ópera, the titles of the performances appear chronologically. Each one has articles of diverse nature: presentation article, plot, in-depth article, vocal quality, and recordings. The presentation article aims to introduce us to varied personalities from society (writers, politicians, singers, athletes, etc.) with the common denominator that they are opera fans and in their writing they reveal some curious experience related to one of the titles of the opera season. The rest of the articles are commissioned from specialists in the field, often from the university sphere, to delve completely into each opera.

Thus, through the history of this publication, readers have discovered the love for opera of personalities as diverse as Pau Gasol, Gerard Quintana, Boris Izaguirre, Terenci Moix, Mario Vargas Llosa, Sílvia Bel or Concha Velasco, among many others. In the 2021-2022 season edition, the publication features articles by Maria Barbal, Stefano Mancuso, Laura Farré Rozada, Jordi Lara and Nicoletta Mantovani who contribute with their texts a personal voice, along with the analysis of national and international academics and specialists. The book is published in Catalan-English and Spanish-English.

By reading 'Opera Season' readers discover the love for opera of very diverse personalities

In the latest edition, the 30th, one of the most curious articles is the one referring to the presentation of Rigoletto, in charge ofNicoletta Mantovani, president of the Fondazione Luciano Pavarotti and widow of the prestigious tenor. In his text, Mantovani explains that, although there are only seven notes understood as rhythmic figures, the possibility of combining them is infinite, since the composer of an opera establishes the rhythm and intonation, but not the interpretation or expressiveness, which remains with the performer. Mantovani exemplifies his reasoning with Pavarotti's interpretation of the role of the Duke of Mantua, of unique and exceptional expressive power.

The texts in the book are accompanied by original illustrations, which are commissioned each year from a different plastic artist, to enrich the operatic titles of the Liceu season with the pictorial universe of each creator. The originals that illustrate the book are exhibited annually in a show held in collaboration with an art gallery in the city, to strengthen the links between opera and the visual arts sector.

For this season, the publication is illustrated by the plastic artist Victoria Civera (Valencia, 1955), who lives and works between New York and Saro, Cantabria. Her work, with dreamlike content and based on the feminine universe, has moved between large-scale pieces and pieces of a measured and suggestive poetic, often incorporating objects from domestic life.

When expressing herself as an artist, Civera works with various disciplines, media, and supports: photomontage, sculpture, objects... To illustrate Temporada de Ópera she has chosen drawing as a language because "the mind and hand tune better to transmit expression and representation." To learn more about the artist's biography and work, you can consult the interview that Amics del Liceu conducted on the occasion of the book's publication. The originals that Victoria Civera created for this project were also the subject of the exhibition at the Balcó Foyer of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, which took place at the end of last year in collaboration with the Galería Joan Prats.

In addition to the book Temporada de Ópera, Amics del Liceu carries out a much broader task to bring opera and culture closer to people and to ensure that the passion for this genre is not an individual experience but an enjoyment in every sense, a shared experience with other like-minded people who are part of the collective itself. That is why this non-profit association regularly organizes specific conferences around each of the Liceu's titles (which can be retrieved through the entity's youtube channel), operatic screenings where the best historical productions of each season's titles are viewed, virtual and in-person opera history courses taught by specialists, and an extensive program of guided visits to exhibitions in museums, art galleries, unique houses, and cultural facilities.

To keep the passion alive, Amics del Liceu also plans group trips with opera as the common thread. After the forced halt due to the pandemic, the institution has already visited nine festivals as important as the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, last July, or the Verdi Festival in Parma, in October. In November, the Association traveled to Berlin to see the Tetralogy proposed by the Deutsche Oper and this January it will make another trip to Hamburg to visit the Elbphilharmonie, one of the most innovative musical auditoriums of recent times, and in February it plans a visit to Vienna, in order to enjoy the programming of the Wiener Staatsoper.

Amics del Liceu, with donations from patron members, will henceforth sponsor the orchestra's chamber music series

In previous seasons, concerts have been organized in the Foyer, such asL'Esclat de Cambra del Liceu, with members of the Gran Teatre del Liceu Symphony Orchestra and with a program based on themes for chamber groups. Thisallows musicians to feel closer to the audience than when they play in the pit and, to spectators, to enjoy the intimacy and intensity of this type of compositionsAmics del Liceu, with donations from patron members, will henceforth sponsor the orchestra's chamber music series, thus collaborating in the permanent improvement of this basic tool for any opera house.