The Pau Casals Museum joins the celebration of the Conxita Badia Year with an exhibition dedicated to the life and career of the Catalan soprano and her close relationship with Pau Casals, whom she considered one of her mentors.
Curated by Mireia Domènech, also responsible for the Conxita Badia Year, the exhibition presents, through panels and original documents, the artistic and personal connection between the two musicians. The exhibition can be visited from September 18 to October 19 in the Multipurpose Hall of the Pau Casals Museum.
Conxita Badia (Barcelona, 1897 – 1975) is regarded as one of the most influential sopranos of the 20th century. She excelled both in classical and popular repertoire and was decisively shaped by her three great teachers: Enric Granados, Pau Casals, and Manuel de Falla.
Her talent took her to the most important stages in Europe and South America, as well as to radio, the great mass medium of the time. The admiration she inspired in figures such as Schönberg, Strauss, and Weber earned her the nickname “the Viennese of Barcelona.” With unique diction and versatility, she embraced a wide range of genres, from lieder and chamber music to oratorios and folk song.
Badia also stood out as a pianist and pedagogue, leaving an indelible mark on students such as Montserrat Caballé.
Pau Casals entrusted Badia with the premieres of his songs and made her the soloist of his orchestra. “Everything I have written for soprano voice has been with you in mind. Everything, then, belongs to you”, he confessed to her in a letter written from exile in Prades, Conflent.
Granados had introduced Badia to Casals when she was still a child, and after the composer’s death, Casals became her second great mentor. The singer often said: “My breathing is Casals’ bow.”
Conxita Badia and Pau Casals shared many summers and music in Sant Salvador, where both spent decades with their families, making music together every afternoon until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War forced them into exile.