The Barcelona pianist Alba Ventura inaugurates this Friday, May 5, the Toca'm festival, in Tortosa, with a tribute to Alicia de Larrocha on her centenary which will take place in the reformed Plaza del Absis de la Catedral, one of the places with views of the river that the great rehabilitation of the old town has recovered for the city.
Thus, emblematic pieces from the repertoire of the iconic pianist will be played, as well as contemporary Catalan composers who wrote for her virtuoso hands. Ventura will interpret them following the original annotations that remain in De Larrocha's scores. And Alícia Torra, daughter of the prestigious artist, will talk about her most personal side and will be in charge of inaugurating the exhibition on her life that can be seen at the Marcel·lí Domingo Library.
Until Sunday the 7th, Tortosa will take advantage of everything that the piano can give of itself, occupying a wide variety of corners of the two-thousand-year-old city. And although the name of the festival coincides with that of the initiative of the Maria Canals Contest, which every year brings grand pianos to the streets of Barcelona so that any fan can cheer up, Toca'm ranges from purely artistic and professional events to activities to bring the piano closer to hospitals, nursing homes and schools. Or to also put him in contact with dance or the plastic arts... or put him on a tricycle to take him around the terraces of bars and restaurants.
In this second edition - despite the fact that the initiative already started in 2019 as a single day of activities -, the festival will fill the capital of Baix Ebre with music for three days, with performances at the fluvial pier, the Pont Roig, the Jardines del Príncipe, the redesigned Calle Cervantes, which has become a new promenade, the school of Sant Jaume and Sant Maties or Sant Jordi and Sant Domènec. Also the Plaza de España or the Museuy de Tortosa, the market or the Teodor González park... The pianos will invade the city with classical, jazz, flamenco, pop or contemporary music.
Among the invited artists is Carlos Marigó, with the Breaking Bach that was so successful at the Bachcelona festival a couple of summers ago. The pianist and composer from Blanes approaches Bach as a performance, seeing him as a living being, permeable to electronic music, hip-hop, jazz or flamenco.
People from abroad are also invited, such as Amine Mesnoaui, a Moroccan from Berlin who combines Andalusian tradition from the 14th and 15th centuries in a minimalist way with songs from the early 20th century and more modern Moroccan composers. Or the pianist and singer-songwriter from Costa Rica Sofi Paez who, also based in Berlin, investigates her sound inspired by nature.
Musicians trained in Barcelona's higher music schools participate, such as Jaume Vilaseca, who presents his 9th album, Jazz
There are about twenty concerts devised and organized by Maria Lombarte and Manel Miró, from the Cor Labinota Association, together with the Tortosa City Council and a large group of volunteers, "without whom the Festival could not take place," they say. And also: "We want to value the city of Tortosa, create an important artistic and cultural environment and enhance its heritage and its important musical and artistic history, headed by the musician, composer and teacher of the great masters Felip Pedrell, of whom the city still has its piano".
Catalan version here.
