liceu

CNA interviewed Ángel Corella, perhaps the best known face of ballet in Spain. Corella’s company is now established in the Catalan capital with a new name: ‘Barcelona Ballet’. Furthermore, Corella will manage a new international dancing school and residence in Figueres, a town in northern Catalonia. The school will train young talents aged between 11 and 18, aiming to feed the ‘Barcelona Ballet’ company. In an exclusive interview, Corella explains the reasons behind his recent moves and gives us the low-down on the situation of the dance industry in our country.

The 58th edition of the prestigious international piano competition awarded the jury’s first prize to Soo Jung Ann, who is 25 years old. The Japanese interpreter Nozomi Nakagiri and Ukraine’s pianist Vadym Kholodenko won the second and third prizes. Nakagiri also received audience’s prize. The competition ran from March 9th to March 21st, and the final was held at Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana. 89 artists of 23 different nationalities participated in this year’s edition. More than 100 Catalan families offered their grand pianos for the occasion.

No workers will be laid off and no strikes will be organised. The management and workers of Barcelona Opera House have reached an agreement on the theatre’s deficit reduction measures. The management has decided not to proceed with the temporary mass layoff of 90% of the staff for 2 months after accepting the workers proposal to give up their extra payment in the summer. The agreement guarantees the regular schedule of the opera season, with the exception of ‘A Florentine Tragedy’, due out in April, which might be cancelled.

Barcelona’s Opera House faces a deficit of 3.7 million euros, after a reduction of public funds and other revenues. In the last weeks tense negotiations between the theatre’s management and employees are taking place. Workers are facing the temporary suspension of their contracts from March 20th to April 19th. Workers will also be affected from June 5th to the July 8th.

The Catalan opera diva, acclaimed worldwide, gave a concert at the Gran Teatre del Liceu surrounded by her friends, colleagues, pupils and a grateful audience. Only three days away from reaching half a century of performances at Barcelona’s opera house, Montserrat Caballé also celebrated this special anniversary by unveiling an exhibition on her career in the same venue.

Barcelona’s Opera Theatre offers only three portrayals of the Catalan composer Xavier Benguerel’s opera ‘Jo, Dalí’ (I, Dalí). It is a four act opera, which comes to the Barcelona theatre for the first time. Xavier Benguerel is one of the most recognised classical music contemporary composers in Catalonia.

The opera directed by Michael Boder and Olivier Py opens today at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu. It was composed by Alban Berg, although his death prevented him from finishing it; Pierre Boulez did so. Py described the opera as a “joyous apocalypse”.

The orchestral director Josep Pons will take over Michael Boder’s position as musical director at the famous Barcelona opera house, the Liceu Theatre. Pons will direct 6 seasons beginning in 2012-2013.