Torroella is overflowing this August

More than just its 45th edition, the Torroella festival—from August 3 to 22—seems to be celebrating its half-century, as its program is dazzling. Opening the festival are, without going any further, maestro Marc Minkowski with Les Musiciens du Louvre performing Handel's Concerti grossi ; the Camerata Salzburg offers Bach's Musical Offering with the stellar violinist Janine Jansen; and Leonidas Kavakos also makes his debut with Bach's Violin Concertos , leading the Apollon Ensemble. Brutal.

The festival will leave you breathless with a pair of Baroque operas in concert: the Armonico Consort will perform Purcell's Dido & Aeneas and Pergolesi's Stabat Mater , and Vespres d'Arnadí will tackle Hasse's Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra , featuring Anna Bonitatibus and Emöke Baráth.

The medieval band Tasto Solo will be the stars of the concert in memory of Ernest Lluch at the church of Sant Genís, featuring music from the court of John I of Aragon. A special mention should be made of the double appearance of viola da gamba player Lucile Boulanger, with a recital on Bach's three cardinal virtues (improvisation, virtuosity, and expressiveness) and a delve into the music of the Versailles court alongside the electronics of Calling Marian.

The medieval Tasto Solo will star in the concert in memory of Ernest Lluch at the church of Sant Genís.

There will be more opera with the festival debut of soprano Serena Sáenz with the Simfònica del Vallès. The Catalan presence will be reinforced by cellist Mariona Camats and pianist Eudald Buch, with his tribute to Garreta, Ravel, and Josep Cercós. Also in the year, Garreta will dedicate his Garreta Party! Carles Marigó with the Cobla Montgrins.

Barcelona's SenArts Wind Quintet will explore their repertoire for wind quintet, while Marco Mezquida will continue his Ravel's Dreams in the midst of the Ravel Year. And keep an eye out for Niño de Elche, who travels through the desert with the French-Egyptian poet and singer Abdullah Miniawy "as a metaphor for exile, inner search, and dialogue between traditions."

And anyone who hasn't heard András Schiff at the Pau Casals Festival can do so here, as well as the faithful Joaquín Achúcarro, who has been coming to Torroella since 1993.

Furthermore, the competition's director, Montse Faura, has arranged for around twenty European musicians to participate in the Ambronay-Sustainable-EEEmerging Academy on July 5th, led by Amandine Beyer. There will also be four S-EEEmerging residencies...

And keep an eye on the cinema: Torroella has teamed up with In-Edit Empordà and there will be films every Tuesday in July and August, from Living Bach to Soundtrack to a coup d'etat , which explores jazz in the Cold War, through Dispararon al pianista (They Shot the Pianist) or Alexina B. Vides in composition .

For its part, the Vilabertran Schubertíada – from August 14 to 31 – is focusing more than ever on Catalan artists and composers, bringing together internationally successful operatic voices to sing the lied, whether it be soprano Sara Blanch or baritone Carles Pachon, who will sing at Clàssic Pals, the Empordà festival with which the Schubertíada collaborates.

Their focus on emerging young artists will also be on a Catalan theme: Elionor Martínez and Ferran Albrich—Lied the Future scholarship recipients tutored by Dorothea Röschmann and Matthias Goerne—will open the edition with Schubert and Toldrà. Barcelona-born Violeta Alarcón will also sing Catalan songs, followed by the young chamber choir Noctes, which will perform Catalan music revisited by contemporaries such as Joan Magrané (on El rossinyol) , Irene Plass, and Josep Ollé (on L'Hereu Riera and Margarideta by Manuel Oltra).

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Violinist Maria Florea and pianist Àlex Ramírez will begin to climb the Everest of Beethoven's complete Sonatas for violin and piano (in three years), and also the country's pianists Juan Barahona, Marc Heredia and Eudald Buch will tackle Bach's complete English and French Suites, as well as his Partitas .

Among the international voices, Samuel Hasselhorn—who will perform songs written by Schubert in 1825—is part of the four baritones that will be joining the festival for the centenary of the legendary Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, along with Matthias Goerne, Florian Boesch, and Andrè Schuen. And soprano Christiane Karg will sing Ravel on his 150th birthday.