Friendship will be the common thread of the 44th edition of the Pau Casals International Music Festival (FIMPC), to be held in El Vendrell from 11 to 22 July.
Under the slogan “The fruit of friendship”, the festival seeks to rescue the deep bonds of friendship that the maestro established with outstanding musicians with whom he shared stages, projects and convictions throughout his life.
Friendship, along with musical fraternity, was a fundamental value for Casals in both his personal and artistic life. For this reason, this 44th edition highlights the exceptional bonds that Pau Casals established with five great musicians who accompanied him in all his musical and humanistic adventures, from the first Prada Festival in 1950 until his death in 1973. These musicians were the pianists Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Eugene Istomin and Rudolf Serkin, and the violinists Alexander Schneider and Isaac Stern.
One of the key points they had in common was that they were all marked by exile, with lives shaken by the great political upheavals of the first half of the 20th century. Casals was persecuted by Franco and had to flee Spain. His friends, like so many other musicians and citizens, had no other choice. A concert is dedicated to each of them in the festival program.
Other friendships are also highlighted in the program through the presence of renowned musicians who were linked to Casals: Jaime Laredo, András Schiff, Christian Tetzlaff and Jean-Guihen Queyras, among others.
Bernard Meillat is once again the artistic director of the festival. Meillat emphasizes that transmitting knowledge and love for music to the new generations was fundamental to Pau Casals. The opening concert will feature the young Canadian cellist Luka Coetzee and pianist Frank Braley.
Ticket sales
Tickets can be purchased at the Vendrell Tourist Office from Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm; at the Pau Casals Municipal School of Music (EMMPAC) on Fridays from 10 am to 1 pm and at the Pau Casals Auditorium during the Festival from 10 am to 1 pm, and at the box office one hour before the concerts.
Tickets can also be purchased online: www.auditoripaucasals.cat