Imagine that the main theater of the capital of a (theoretical) country organizes a lavish gala to celebrate the centenary of the birth of one of its most glorious singers; and think –in turn– that it has merit, considering that the place in question is a quarry of vocal interpreters of planetary fame. Let's suppose then that, to give a couple of examples, the United States or Germany mounted a recital in homage to Leontyne Price or Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and that in the program of these concerts not a single singer from these two respective (and musically glorious) nations was seen. It wouldn't be very normal, would it? Well; this is exactly what happened at the Gala Centenari Victoria de los Ángeles that the Gran Teatre del Liceu programmed a few days ago, where the Barcelona public was able to enjoy female voices from all over the world... and none Catalan.
The reader will think that this is a minor detail, because music is a universal phenomenon and blah blah blah, or will opine that the important thing about the event in question was to have first-rate singers, as Joyce DiDonato or Iréne Theorin undoubtedly are. But consciously celebrating the career of a singer like Victoria de los Ángeles –a pure-bred Barcelonan and universal Catalan– also means believing in her legacy, a singing tradition that is still embodied today in excellent nostrades voices such as Núria Rial, Anna Alàs, María Hinojosa, Marta Mathéu or Serena Sáenz (most of whom, to life's greater irony, have already performed at the Liceu). Tradition is not an anecdote and should be highlighted; this country of ours, we know, suffers from the disease of self-hatred and, while we often give importance to short-lived phenomena, we half-heartedly celebrate our true glories.
In the land of oblivion, not everything is a desert. The Palau Robert has programmed an exhibition on the artistic friendship between Victoria and Alicia de Larrocha, a well-curated exhibition by Pep Gorgori and notably organized by the musical dramatist Rafael R. Villalobos. Despite the correctness of this initiative, the figure of these two world-renowned musicians should have been programmed in a more monumental and transcendent space than the Palau Robert, an exhibition burrow where exhibitions about a personality are often confused with installing four biographical panels (not the case, I insist). I bet all my (scarce) patrimony that both Gorgori and Villalobos could have much more deeply squeezed the figure of Victoria if they had a space – and a budget worthy of the occasion – proper to facilities such as the MNAC or the Museu d'Història de Catalunya.
But this would have happened in a normal country that truly cared for its musical past. As it should also have been the case that an entity like the Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals would have dedicated itself to this centenary, even if it were by re-programming the magnificent documentary ¡Brava, Victoria!, by journalist Maria Gorgues or ---oh, sin!--- televising some of her concerts at a time intended for some viewer to be able to see it (that is, just the opposite of what TV3 does with its very scarce cultural spaces). These are easy things to think about, as well as having coordinated the centenary among all the musical institutions of the city so as not to fall into the everlasting defect of this type of commemorations: firing concerts in abundance and with a lot of glitter, but without any artistic unity that tries to think precisely about what is the best way to commemorate the repertoire and legacy of a singer.
We certainly don't do things too well, although this is no longer news. However, Victoria de los Ángeles deserved an extra effort, starting with an organ called Departament de Cultura that every day seems more invisible. But the country, for now, seems to settle for very little. It's a shame, because there are things that deserve to be remembered, such as the voice of this enormous artist.