{"id":25744,"date":"2026-02-17T08:33:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifevictoria.com\/a-victorious-closing-for-the-life-victoria-centenary-edition\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T08:33:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:33:59","slug":"a-victorious-closing-for-the-life-victoria-centenary-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifevictoria.com\/en\/a-victorious-closing-for-the-life-victoria-centenary-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"A victorious closing for the LIFE Victoria ‘Centenary Edition’"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
A victorious closing for the LIFE Victoria 'Centenary Edition'<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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October 2024<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Victoria de los \u00c1ngeles Lied Festival (LIFE Victoria) has concluded its season this week, dedicated to commemorating the centenary of the great Catalan soprano.<\/li>\n \t
Soprano Ofelia Sala and pianist Julius Drake were responsible for bringing this edition of the festival to a close with a recital at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site last Monday, October 21.<\/li>\n \t
Between September 2023 and October 2024, LIFE Victoria has presented more than 40 recitals by top-level national and international voices who joined together to celebrate the legacy of Victoria de los \u00c1ngeles.<\/li>\n \t
The Festival will return in February 2025 with an interim edition that will run until June, leading into a 2025-26 season spanning from September to May.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBarcelona, October 23, 2024. LIFE Victoria<\/strong> has culminated its centenary edition this week, dedicated to celebrating the life and legacy of Victoria de los \u00c1ngeles<\/strong> for an entire year. \n\nWith more than 40 recitals<\/strong> and more than one hundred artists<\/strong> on stage, LIFE Victoria<\/strong> has concluded victoriously<\/strong> a cycle featuring world-renowned voices such as Felicity Lott, Natalie Dessay, Julie Fuchs, Elena Pankratova, Adriana Gonz\u00e1lez, or Marina Viotti<\/strong>; top-level national artists like Xavier Sabata, Ofelia Sala, Montserrat Ser\u00f3, or Mercedes Gancedo<\/strong>; as well as emerging new talents from around the world such as Natalia Labourdette, Kunal Lahiry, Laurence Kilsby, or Valerie Eickhoff<\/strong>, who joined this great tribute to the Catalan soprano.\n\nThis edition has been dedicated to possible and impossible dialogues with Victoria de los \u00c1ngeles<\/strong>, based on an interview the soprano gave to the BBC program Desert Island Discs<\/em> in 1978<\/strong>, where she chose the records she would take to a desert island. Among those she selected are works by Debussy (Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande and Images<\/em>), Mozart<\/strong> (Violin Concerto<\/em>), as well as great operas such as Tristan und Isolde<\/em><\/strong>, performed by Kirsten Flagstad, or Carmen<\/strong>, by Conchita Superv\u00eda.<\/strong> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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“It has undoubtedly been the most ambitious edition of the Festival with the most major names, but the occasion of Victoria’s centenary certainly deserved it”<\/strong> \u2013 Marc Busquets<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe task of putting the finishing touch on this musical celebration fell to the Valencian soprano Ofelia Sala<\/strong> and the British pianist Julius Drake<\/strong>, who offered a deeply symbolic recital on October 21, as Sala was also the first voice to pay tribute to Victoria after her death in 2005<\/strong>.\n\nThe Victoria de los \u00c1ngeles Symphony Orchestra Quartet<\/strong> also participated in the closing recital, composed of Laia Pujolassos<\/strong> (violin), Maria del Mar Aldom\u00e0<\/strong> (violin), Patricia Torres<\/strong> (viola), and Eduard Ravent\u00f3s<\/strong> (cello).\n\nIn the words of Marc Busquets, artistic director of LIFE Victoria<\/strong>, “We are very satisfied with the result of this edition because I believe we have succeeded in making the public know Victoria better through her musical tastes, and this was one of the objectives of the centenary.”\n\nBusquets<\/strong> also highlighted that “this year we have continued with the policy of format innovation<\/strong> that we have been carrying out at the Festival for some time, offering staged recitals<\/strong> such as Mild und Leise<\/em> with Elena Pankratova and Josep Breinl, or poetic recitals<\/strong> centered on Rilke’s texts in dialogue with the music of Schubert and Bach; a line that we will undoubtedly promote in future editions of the Festival.”\n\nThis edition also stands out for its great public reception, with an average hall occupancy of 95% throughout the year<\/strong>.\n\nIn this way, LIFE Victoria bids farewell to its programming in style<\/strong> to return in February 2025<\/strong> with an interim edition until June and a 2025-26 season<\/strong> \u2014from September 2025 to May 2026\u2014 which will bring pleasant surprises to the world of lied and will continue to spread the legacy of Victoria de los \u00c1ngeles and support future generations of singers<\/strong>, following the soprano’s example, as stated in the Foundation’s own mission.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Relive the LIFE Victoria closing recital with Ofelia Sala and Julius Drake:<\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
![\"life_02\"](\"https:\/\/www.lifevictoria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/life_02.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>![\"life_01\"](\"https:\/\/www.lifevictoria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/life_01.jpg\")
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