Paris burns on this hot Saturday afternoon in June, in which the Place de la Bastille is taken over, on one side, by the yellow of the vests and, on the other, by that of the Ukrainian flags. The protest finds its natural space here, but coexists peacefully with the parade of elegant audiences that are going to attend an opera. Because Paris is well worth one. And not just any one. If the reason is the 175th anniversary of the Liceu, it must be at least a colossal and rare title, like Bluebeard's Castle in concert version –a Béla Bartók in Hungarian from 1918– with which the Orquestra del Gran Teatre makes its debut in this symbolic square.
Alexander Neef, the mayor of the theatre, is the host of this evening, which for him should not be exempt from nostalgia. Well, the Barcelona Symphony is now returning the visit that the Paris Opéra orchestra made to La Rambla in September, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. The exchange between institutions was based on the friendship of the Venezuelan maestro with the Liceu, but circumstances have meant that, two years after signing as musical director of the French coliseum, he has decided to terminate the contract, to be with his family.
“It has been like a brief but very good marriage. We have not discussed ”, Neef assures La Vanguardia. “I think he didn't gauge what it took to run this huge institution, but we're fine,” he adds circumspectly. What matters now is this Bartók-Barcelona, which "also for us is historic."
With the hall 75% full –with a capacity of 2,500 seats–, the performance by the high school symphony orchestra directed by Josep Pons and with two thunderous vocals such as Bryn Terfel and Irene Théorin –both debuting the roles of Barbazul and Judith– began has ended with the closed applause of the public for six minutes. It was not for less in a modern theater. Based on the tale by Charles Perrault and with a libretto in Hungarian -it premiered in Budapest in 1918-, this magical and dark story about the secrets of a loving relationship is masterfully served by Pons, exploiting the timbre richness and sound density of a orchestra with 90 musicians – the more than twenty instruments that have arrived by truck have a value of two million euros – and trusting in the dramatic capacity of the Welsh baritone and the Swedish soprano.
"What is behind these doors?" Judith asks her lover when they arrive at the castle. "You don't want to know, leave the past, trust."
“I love it, it's such a psychological and dark piece… He really loves that woman, but she won't stop asking for the keys to the doors… Oh please stop! They are both playing cat and mouse”, Terfel explained before the concert. “It's my first opera in Hungarian, but it's like Catalan, it has those Welsh vowels, my language. And this orchestra is incredible. And seeing so many people from different parts of the world and listening to Catalan... It reminds me of home. We Celts come from Galicia and we feel an affinity with that small country that is pushing to make a place for itself”.
The ministers of Culture, Natàlia Garriga, and of Foreign Affairs and the European Union, Meritxell Serret, have traveled with the Liceu. The Spanish ambassador in Paris, Victorio Redondo, and a happy ex-Minister of Culture, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, ambassador of the Unesco delegation, which intends to hold "a concert of bells in Paris", have attended.
The visit to Paris also gives rise to comparisons: in the enormous room of the Bastille, the reverberation of sound is two seconds. In the Liceu –with its velvet on the walls and seats– it doesn't reach one, bad business for the orchestra. In addition, they have the corresponding shell that projects the sound...
Salvador Alemany, president of the Liceu, says goodbye calling on the French group to return to Barcelona "on the occasion of the opening of the Liceu Mar", which, with all its poise, dates in 2028. And it will be in spring!
