Ferran Bardolet & Mercedes Gancedo & Pedro Pardo

At the heart of this programme, presented by Mercedes Gancedo, Ferran Bardolet, and Pedro Pardo, lies the legacy of Conxita Badia, one of the defining figures of Catalan song. During the years of exile following the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), she kept the Catalan language and its vocal repertoire alive across the Atlantic. Her approach to singing, deeply rooted in poetry and the expressive power of the spoken word, left a lasting mark on subsequent generations. Victoria de los Ángeles inherited this artistic legacy and brought it to the world’s leading concert stages. A devoted interpreter of the art song repertoire in its most intimate form, she made the Lied and the mélodie privileged spaces for artistic expression, always guided by an extraordinary sensitivity to the text. Like Badia, she championed the works of Enric Granados, Pau Casals, and Eduard Toldrà. This programme places that heritage in dialogue with contemporary creation, featuring songs by Pedro Pardo set to poems written by Victoria herself, which received their world premiere at LIFE Victoria in 2019.