More concerts than ever, 23 performances between August 11 and 28, and a “birthday program” combining great international stars and emerging artists will serve to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Schubertiad. Again with the canonry of Vilabertran as the main stage and Vilajuïga and Castellón as sub-headquarters, the appointment is aimed at to recover the international public that has not been able to attend for the last two years due to the restrictions of the pandemic.
The founder and soul of the Empordà festival, Jordi Roch, recalled in the presentation of the festival that one of the successes of the Schubertíada has been to have had the sense of smell to bet on young musical promises that, over time have become great artists, like Goerne himself, which has made them return to the festival year after year.
The director of the festival, Víctor Medem, in turn, pointed out that to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary they have scheduled a double evening of homage to Roch. There will be two concerts at the Vilabertra canonry on August 21 that will bring together artists who have a special relationship with Roch and his favorite repertoire, such as Julie Fuchs, Matthias Goerne and Wolfram Rieger.
The variety of repertoire proposed this year by the Schubertíada is of “great richness, diversity and balance”. In the instrumental field, three major piano sonatas by Mozart stand out; the first integral of Bach’s sonatas and violin matches with Catalan violinists; The art of Bach’s fugue in string quartet formation; and a tribute to the Russian composer Aleksandr Skriabin, a great innovator of European pianism, combined with masterpieces by Frederic Chopin.
On the side of the poetic song, there will be a wide presence of Schubert but also of Wolf, Schumann, Garreta, Toldrà, Serra, Strauss, Grondahl, Fauré, Poulenc, Korngold, Mahler, Brahms, Klein and a reinforced presence of dances and lieder by Carl Loewe.
In the section on the promotion of emerging figures, one of the brands of the house, eighteen artists will perform for the first time at the festivalbetween singers, pianists and soloists and chamber ensembles.
On the other hand, the Franz Schubert Association, which organizes the Schubertíada, has devised a new scholarship program to support young European talent called Lied the future to promote young talent. On the pedagogical side, the Association is organizing the International Lied Course and this year the Schubertiad Academy will have for the first time three world-class professors: Rieger, Banse and Goerne.