The Pati dels Tarongers of the Palau de la Generalitat will host a new edition of the Barcelona International Carillon Festival, a proposal that invites to enjoy music outdoors with the sound of the 49 bells of the carillon. The event will take place during two consecutive weekends, from July 17 to 19 and from July 24 to 26.
Every concert evening, at 9 p.m., this historic space in the city center will bring together some of the best carillonists on the international scene. This year they will arrive from Japan, Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands, and France, before the Palau's resident carillonist, Anna Maria Reverté, closes the festival with the closing concert. Admission is free, with prior registration on the website presidencia.gencat.cat/carilló and with limited capacity.
Six nights of musical journey
Far from being limited to classical music, the festival demonstrates the versatility of an instrument capable of interpreting very diverse repertoires. The public will hear works by Mozart, Chopin, Brahms or Vivaldi, but also tangos, traditional songs, contemporary music, film soundtracks, Japanese animation series, and great classics of French chanson.
The inauguration, on July 17, will be led by the Japanese Naoko Tsujita, who proposes a musical journey between Canada and Japan with a stop in Barcelona thanks to Gaudí's Chimneys, a work inspired by Antoni Gaudí's chimneys. The next day it will be the turn of the Belgian Lorenz Meulebroek, with a festive and varied program, to the rhythm of tango, waltz, pasodoble and also with music linked to the "gegantera" tradition of Dendermonde, which shares roots with Catalan culture.
On July 19, the Polish Monika Kaźmierczak will present several world premieres, among which Gaudete for Carillon stands out, written expressly by the composer Katarzyna Kwiecień-Długosz on the occasion of the centenary of Antoni Gaudí's death. The second weekend, on July 24, the Dutch Rien Donkersloot, will demonstrate his talent improvising on a traditional Catalan song; the next day, the fifth concert, by the French Charles Dairay, with a repertoire that will combine French song, with Vivaldi, Mozart and Tchaikovsky.
Finally, the Palau's titular carillonist, Anna Maria Reverté, will close the festival on July 26 with a concert entirely dedicated to Catalan music. The recital will also commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Pau Casals, with works by the Catalan cellist and composer alongside pieces by Ferran Sor, Miquel Llobet, Frederic Mompou, traditional melodies, and compositions by Reverté herself.
An experience to live at sunset
Part of the festival's charm is the setting itself. The Pati dels Tarongers offers a unique atmosphere to listen to the carillon as the heat subsides and evening falls over Barcelona. In addition, attendees will be able to follow, through an internal television circuit, the movements of the keyboard with which the performers manually operate the bells.
Inaugurated in 1976, the Palau's carillon is made up of 49 bronze bells and is one of the most unique concert instruments in Catalonia.
More information: presidencia.gencat.cat/carilló or by calling 012.