It is the women’s voices that stand out in the four stories that you can experience and listen to in the auditorium and gardens of the Ateneu Barcelonès. Moving between comedy and drama, Quatre Solos Soles introduces you to four very different women: a young YouTuber who says goodbye to her followers forever, a soprano who lives her last highs with her fridge as her inseparable companion, a woman who returns to the basement where she was abused by her father as a child, and an old woman who refuses to leave her home to be sent to a nursing home. With librettos by some of the most exciting playwrights on today's scene (Victoria Szpunberg, Helena Tornero, Cristina Cordero and Marc Rosich) and music written by four prominent creators on the local music scene (Lucas Peire, Mario G Cortizo, Joan Magrané and Raquel García-Tomás), get ready to hear the stories of these four voices trapped within the circumstances of their lives. The pieces should have premièred at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the autumn of 2020, but the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic meant that they could only be streamed. Now, at last it’s time for their in person premiere.
Last Message
Mario G. Cortizo and Marc Rosich have written a piece about a teenage YouTuber who’s getting ready to send her followers a final message before the world comes to an end.
Music: Mario G Cortizo. Libretto: Marc Rosich. With: Elena Tarrats, Mario G Cortizo (percussion). Length: 16 mins.
Voracious Beauty
Composer Lucas Peire and librettist Cristina Cordero imagine the delirium of a mature singer who is getting ready for a concert that she believes will at last win her fame. A timid cellist and a large fridge are her confidantes and the witnesses to her swan song.
Music: Lucas Peire. Libretto: Cristina Cordero. With: Marta Fiol and Àlex Rodríguez Flaqué (cello). Length: 18 mins.
Danae Remembers
With music by Joan Magrané, Helena Tornero writes the confession of a woman who returns to the cellar where she was kidnapped and abused by her father when she was a teenager. Inevitably, she must face the ghosts and memories from which she has always kept at bay.
Music: Joan Magrané. Libretto: Helena Tornero. With: Elena Copons, Judit Bardolet (violin). Length: 21 mins.
Per precaució
One of the contemporary composers with the most brilliant of careers, Raquel García-Tomás sets a story dreamt up by playwright Raquel García-Tomás to music. An elderly woman refuses to be moved into a care home. If she has to die, she wants to do so surrounded by the furniture and memories of a whole lifetime.
Music: Raquel García-Tomás. Libretto: Victoria Szpunberg. With: Maria Dolors Aldea, José Antonio Domené (harp). Length: 20 mins.
With the participation of the Ateneu Barcelonès.
A co-production by Òpera de Butxaca i Nova Creació and the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
With the support of the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia, the INAEM – Ministry of Culture and Sport, and the Barcelona Institute of Culture.
Sponsored by SMEG and Mondigromax - Cultius de cultura.
Music direction: Francesc Prat. Stage direction: Marc Rosich. Set and lighting: based on an original concept by Laura Clos ‘Closca’. Costumes and make-up: Núria Llunell. Assistant to the director: Jordi Pérez Solé. Photography: Antoni Bofill/Pol Rebaque. Space assistant: Sergi Corbera. Performed by: Elena Tarrats, Marta Fiol, Elena Copons, Dolors Aldea (vocals), Mario G. Cortizo (percussion), Àlex Rodríguez Flaqué (cello), Judit Bardolet (violin), Esther Pinyol (harp). Executive producer: Clàudia Robert. ÒBNC communication: Ester Cánovas. Administration: Mònica Arús. ÒBNC directors: Dietrich Grosse, Marc Rosich.
