Advantages of Participating in Festivals
Festivals present a wide range of benefits. It is indisputable that it is a true privilege to have access to various options and renowned artists in the main entertainment venues (generally, in the city of Barcelona) in our country. However, have you ever felt overwhelmed arriving at a concert against the clock, after a long day of work and dealing with traffic? You may be enjoying the show, but at the same time feeling the pressure since you will know that you have to get up early the next day. At a festival, especially if it is a decentralized event like Música en los Masos, time seems to pass slowly and your only concern is to enjoy the landscape of the Garrotxa region between performances.
A Relaxed and Warm Environment
Once the event is over, you have the option of enjoying a drink offered by the organization while the sun sets behind the volcanoes and chat with the artists and other attendees in a context that few have the opportunity to experience: the old farmhouses of the region (some even still inhabited), majestic and deeply rooted in the land. Here, there is no stress, and there is an atmosphere conducive to enjoying the evenings in a close environment that characterizes this festival. Music in the Masos, which emerges unpretentious in the creators’ home, redefines the meaning of charm and relaxed luxury.
Notable Concerts
This year, we have been invited to witness the lieder recital of the soprano Irene Mas accompanied by the pianist Marc Sala, as well as the performance of the viola duo formed by Núria Pujolràs and David Glidden, scheduled for Friday the 19th and Saturday the 20th of July in Mas Ventós and Mas Subiràs, near the city of Olot. The concerts take place in the historic rooms of the farmhouses, adorned with personal objects of the former owners and portraits of their ancestors, with 19th century decoration and large windows that open onto the gardens or mountains that surround them.
Music in a Historical Space
Chamber music takes on a new meaning when it is performed in the place for which it was conceived. Hearing Irene Mas’s voice from just two meters away during her recital, dedicated to authors such as Grieg, Wolf, Mendelssohn and Toldrà, is something truly intimate. Its timbre has gained robustness and warmth, offering a homogeneous listening experience. Likewise, it is rare to appreciate the respiratory connection between the two musicians or the subtleties in their ways of playing, as we could see in the concert that explored silence and tranquility, performed by Pujolràs and Glidden with works by Bartók, Mompou, Pärt and Bach. Marc Serra showed himself to be an experienced and attentive pianist, capturing the romantic spirit that permeated the proposal with Mas, with musical phrases that floated in the air and an intense timbre during his solo intervention in the renowned Liebestraum No. 3 by Liszt.
A unique experience
Chamber music and intimate performances achieve a profound dimension when they return to the environment where they were created. The lied, often dismissed in large venues and misused as a means of getting closer to the great stars of opera, is truly understood under appropriate conditions (applause to the festival for providing the texts and their translations). Furthermore, it is likely that the abstract, circular and transformative journey proposed by Pujolràs and Glidden about internal music and external silence would not have the same meaning if it could not be experienced almost on the skin, in the intimacy of a room that houses only sixty people.
Impact and Transcendence
Along with the quality of Irene Mas’s instrument, the plenitude that Marc Serra has achieved, and the moments of profound transcendence of Pujolràs and Glidden’s recital (including the spirituality of a beautiful Spiegel im Spiegel by Pärt and the mystery of L’art de Bach’s fugue), one of the most impressive moments was the disruptive and revealing presentation of John Cage’s 4’33”, played by the viola duo. This radical essence became a joyful tribute to the value of sharing the silent experience for more than four minutes.
A Craft Festival
Música en los Masos is an excellent example of an artisanal proposal in the best sense of the word, carried out with passion and dedication. Here, musicians feel comfortable, the Catalan repertoire sounds naturally and without the need to commemorate anniversaries, and we can celebrate local talent while appreciating the country’s cultural heritage and enjoying the beauty of the surroundings. Without a doubt, they have convinced us.
