The Palau de la Música Catalana wants to recover the audience lost with the pandemic, so it has designed a 2022-23 season combining great references and young talents that will be seen in 124 concerts, with protagonists of the stature of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Pablo Ferrández, Teodor Currentzis and Paul Lewis. While tourist visits to the auditorium designed by architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, who this year celebrates the centenary of his death, are recovering well, the same is not happening with the audience for concerts. For the new season, with a budget of 3.1 million euros, it is expected to return to the attendance figures of 2017 and 2018, but without reaching those of 2019, a record year.
To attract those attendees who have not yet dared to return, the Palau wants to catch their attention by winking at one of the great protagonists of recent years, technology. It does so by asking them to connect to its music, but doing it again in person from the stalls. "We want you to physically connect again in our concert hall," defended its president, Mariona Carulla, at the presentation of the season.
The motto of the next season, Connecta't al Palau (Connect to the Palau), will inspire the different programmed performances with a reflection on the role that technology currently plays in society and everyday life, added the deputy artistic director of the Palau de la Música, Mercedes Conde, who had to intervene through a video as she could not attend in person, since she is recovering from an accident she suffered. "The technology that today allows us to speak and be very connected also distances us from reality," she stressed. The season's approach will be complemented by a new digital platform and app, which will serve to disseminate its content and reach new attendees.
This has been the last season that Carulla has presented as president, after 12 years at the helm. Her mandate has been extended to the maximum allowed in the regulations, approved by herself, and now it is time to say goodbye, with elections for the new board of trustees scheduled for June. "I leave wiser," she summarized, without yet wanting to take stock of all these years and asking for younger people to follow her.
The return of the great orchestras
Without wanting to miss the mark and make sure that as many people as possible connect in person, the Palau has secured the game by bringing in the Berlin Philharmonic, "possibly the best in the world or without the possibly," defended its director, Joan Oller. As if that weren't enough, it will feature the Barcelona debut of its principal conductor, Kirill Petrenko, with a classical program, Exsultate Jubilate, Mozart's Symphony No. 25, and Schumann's Fourth Symphony. There will also be space for the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, with Jan Lisiecki. The season will be opened by the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, which will return after a few years with Riccardo Chaily conducting Beethoven's First and Mahler's First, "two very optimistic works" to kick off the season, Oller remarked.
The Berlin Philharmonic will come with the Barcelona debut of its principal conductor, Kirill PetrenkoWith the audience in mind, the season includes its most valued conductor, John Eliot Gardiner, which will interpret theMass in B minorof Bach with the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists. Gardiner will stop in Barcelona on his 80th anniversary tour. All these concerts, included in the Palau 100 cycle, are complemented by a benchmark such asPhilippe Herreweghe, which has consolidated a long relationship with the Palau and will bring theMissa solemnis of Beethoven and theSt. John Passion; andTeodor Currentziswith its formationmusicAeterna will perform two of the saddest works of the season, Oller has pointed out, with theMetamorphosisof Strauss and thePatheticof Tchaikovsky. The directorAnna Sułkowska-Migoń will debut in Barcelona with a selection ofThe Magic Horn of Youthand will be accompanied by the baritoneAndrè Schuen.
The repertoire will also feature younger artists such as Pablo Ferrández, who will perform Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1, conducted by another emerging conductor, Elim Chan of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. The promotion of new talents like Ferrández will result in two more performances by him in the 2022-23 season. The Palau also supports local professionals with Ferran Cruixent as guest composer, who will premiere Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, "Fireworks", with the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès (OSV), a work that has been very successful beyond our borders but had not yet landed in Barcelona. Digital artist Anna Carreras, multidisciplinary artist Mónica Rikić, sculptor Naxo Farreras --- creator of the Tree of Life on the façade of the Petit Palau, which will soon be illuminated --- and poet Eduard Escoffet will enrich the musical season with their contributions.
Beyond symphonism: operas, piano, Bach and Serrat
In this comeback season, the Òpera al Palau cycle will be consolidated with a second edition, featuring three baroque operas, which best fit the Palau, and one contemporary. Only the sound remains by Kaija Saariaho will be recovered, a project that covid forced to postpone and that has been programmed to coincide with the composer's 70th birthday.
In the traditional Palau Bach cycle, Benjamin Alard will close the project of performing the complete works for harpsichord by Bach, reaching the eleventh concert, while, in the Palau Piano cycle, another project will begin, with Paul Lewis with the Complete Piano Sonatas by Schubert, which will feature four concerts, two in this season. The ever-present Grigory Sokolov will also return to the Palau.
The Òpera al Palau cycle will be consolidated with a second edition, featuring three baroque operas, which best fit the Palau, and one contemporary.The Fronteres cycle, that space where the Palau lets itself go and experiments for three years,Juan de la Rubiawill improvise with the filmMetropolis, making it coincide with Halloween night. On the occasion of Joan Manuel Serrat's farewell year from the stage, the early music ensemble Cappella Mediterraniawill propose a concert with works by the Catalan singer-songwriter.
An added recommendation by Oller is Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, written and first performed in a concentration camp and featuring Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Jörg Widmann, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard. "The work conveys sadness and hope. It is very special," said the director of the Palau. The Palau Cambra series will also feature the Casals Quartet with works by Haydn, Shostakovich, and Schubert.
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