L’Auditori de Barcelona continues to pay tribute to Robert Gerhard, the brilliant composer from Valls, with two activities that emphasise his relevance and contribution to the world of music.
On the one hand, on 25 and 26 March, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra will perform the cantata The Plague, one of Robert Gerhard’s most outstanding works conducted by Francesc Prat. It will feature actor Pere Arquillué, Ensemble O Vos Omnes, singers from L’Auditori, the Palau de la Música Catalana Chamber Choir and the Cor Madrigal.
This will be the third time that The Plague has been staged in Barcelona since it was first premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1964, commissioned and performed by the BBC Orchestra and Choir.
Based on the novel of the same name by Albert Camus, an author with whom Robert Gerhard always expressed a strong affinity for, it is a work of extraordinary musical intensity, and it continues to be just as relevant today as the novel by Camus. One of Gerhard’s finest musical achievements, The Plague encapsulates all the musical expertise and human experience of Catalonia’s most internationally acclaimed composer.
To round off the programme, The Plague will be followed by a performance of Les Illuminations by Benjamin Britten, with tenor Ian Bostridge as soloist.
The exhibition Tot escoltant Gerhard (Listening to Gerhard) will be on show in the Foyer of Hall, 1 Pau Casals at L’Auditori until the last weekend of March. Organised in conjunction with Barcelona’s Museu de la Música to mark the 50th anniversary of Robert Gerhard’s death, it offers a closer look at Catalonia’s most multi-faceted composer and one of the leading figures on the 20th century Catalan, Spanish and European music scene.
This travelling exhibition, organised within the framework of the Gerhard Year, ends the Catalan leg of its journey at L’Auditori before going on to other international venues.
L’Auditori brings its role in the Gerhard Year to a close with The Plague and an exhibition in the Foyer
10-Mar-2022 – Aleix Palau