We began this season with the cycle Das Marienleben [The Life of Mary] by Paul Hindemith, that sets the cycle of fifteen poems with the same name by Rainer Maria Rilke. Back then we heard the first song, Geburt Mariä [Maria’s birth], and for this Easter week I chose the twelfth song, Stillung Mariä mit dem Auferstandenen [Consolation Of Mary With The Risen Christ].

A few months ago, I told you of a talk about Winterreise at the Wagner Club Barcelona. Inés, a lady who attended that talk, wrote me to confirm something that I had commented back then: that one of the songs, Der Lindenbaum, had transcended the cycle and became a traditional song, a song that children used to sing when they went on an excursion. In fact, I hardly convinced once a German lady more fond of excursions than of Lied that Schubert didn't harmonize that song, but composed it [...]

The painter Wilhelm Hensel, his wife Fanny, composer, née Mendelssohn, and his nine-year-old son Sebastian left Leipzig on 4 September 1839 towards Italy. The journey was for him up to a certain point a business one, and for the whole family was the opportunity to discover a new and fascinating country. They arrived in Milan on the 30th, and from there they travelled to Venice, Florence, Rome, and Naples. Wilhelm continued [...]

During the years 1898-1899, linguist Hubert Pernot and composer Paul Le Flem made a scientific journey to the island of Chios, at that time still under Ottoman rule; it was most likely the first approach to Greek ethnomusicology, and both men returned to Paris with a hundred songs recorded in wax cylinders; the first edition of the songs, transcribed by Le Flem, were published in 1902.

This year we celebrate the 30th Schubertíada with a generous programme in many ways: the number of concerts, the quality of the artists, the variety of programmes and even in its extension. The Schubertíada Vilabertran will take place from 11 August until 28 August; among the twenty-three concerts, I'm focusing on the sixteen song recitals. As you see, there are many of them; I don't know how I'm going to organize the usual review in August… But, for now, I should try to organize myself to [...]