{"id":29331,"date":"2026-09-17T18:09:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T18:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifevictoria.com\/isabel-leonard-i-malcolm-martineau-inauguren-la-nova-temporada-del-life-victoria-amb-un-programa-dedicat-a-falla-i-montsalvatge\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T18:14:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T18:14:47","slug":"isabel-leonard-and-malcolm-martineau-open-the-new-life-victoria-season-with-a-programme-dedicated-to-falla-and-montsalvatge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifevictoria.com\/en\/isabel-leonard-and-malcolm-martineau-open-the-new-life-victoria-season-with-a-programme-dedicated-to-falla-and-montsalvatge\/","title":{"rendered":"Isabel Leonard and Malcolm Martineau open the new LIFE Victoria season with a programme dedicated to Falla and Montsalvatge"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
Isabel Leonard and Malcolm Martineau open the new LIFE Victoria season with a programme dedicated to Falla and Montsalvatge<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Barcelona, 17 September 2026<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Barcelona Lied Cycle opens its edition dedicated to exile on Thursday, 1 October, at 8:00 pm at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site.<\/li>\r\n \t
American mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, a three-time Grammy Award winner, makes her debut at the Cycle alongside pianist Malcolm Martineau.<\/li>\r\n \t
The opening programme explores the transformations of Hispanic cultural identity through the works of Falla and Montsalvatge.<\/li>\r\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\tThe LIFE Victoria<\/strong> season raises the curtain with a recital of major international significance: the eagerly awaited debut of mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard<\/strong>, Carnegie Hall Artist-in-Residence and one of the most acclaimed voices at New York\u2019s Metropolitan Opera House. She will be accompanied on piano by Malcolm Martineau<\/strong>, a leading pianist and regular collaborator of the Cycle.
The programme opening the Cycle is entitled 1898: The Loss of the Colonies<\/strong><\/em>, a conceptual proposal that invites audiences to explore the world of Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Frederic Mompou, Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca<\/strong> and other composers who, from distinctive perspectives, reflected on Hispanic cultural identity at a time of profound historical transformation. Their writing resonates with a renewed interest in popular roots and the search for an individual musical language.
The loss of the last vestiges of Spain\u2019s colonial empire in 1898 triggered a period of profound crisis and intellectual reassessment that decisively altered the country\u2019s trajectory, leading chronologically to the tragic events of Tragic Week in 1909 and, later, to the rupture brought about by the Spanish Civil War (1936\u20131939).
Within this framework of memory, the first half of the programme will focus on folk song and Spanish roots, with Falla\u2019s Siete canciones populares espa\u00f1olas<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 also marking the 150th anniversary of his birth \u2014, Lorca\u2019s Canciones espa\u00f1olas antiguas<\/strong><\/em> and Mompou\u2019s Damunt de tu nom\u00e9s les flors<\/strong><\/em>.
The second half will explore loss, Cuba and exile through Montsalvatge\u2019s Cinco canciones negras<\/strong><\/em> and three Latin American popular songs that have become universal: Alfonsina y el mar<\/strong><\/em> by Ariel Ram\u00edrez<\/strong>; El d\u00eda que me quieras<\/strong><\/em> by Carlos Gardel<\/strong>; and Granada<\/strong><\/em> by Agust\u00edn Lara<\/strong>.
This opening recital thus sets the tone for a profoundly symbolic edition centred on exile<\/strong>, seeking to create a space for reflection through music and art.
As a prelude, two new artists from the LIFE New Artists<\/strong> programme will open the recital: soprano Maria Patak<\/strong> and pianist Isaac Grau<\/strong>, who will perform a programme devoted entirely to Francis Poulenc<\/strong>, featuring the cycle Banalit\u00e9s<\/strong><\/em>, based on poems by Guillaume Apollinaire; C<\/strong><\/em>, a nostalgic song setting texts by Louis Aragon that reflects the desolation of the Second World War; and La dame de Monte-Carlo<\/strong><\/em>, a dramatic monologue about a desperate woman in Monaco, with a text by Jean Cocteau.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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