Exile: The Central Theme of LIFE Victoria 2026–27
- LIFE Victoria Commemorates Pau Casals and Manuel de Falla, Both of Whom Died in Exile, on the 150th Anniversary of Their Births
- The programme also commemorates the centenary of the Generation of ’27, the movement that brilliantly united folklore and modernity.
- Adriana González and Pedro Pardo are the season’s Artists-in-Residence, in dialogue with the work of visual artist Javier Pérez.
LIFE Victoria explores the theme of exile in its 15th season, which also commemorates the 150th anniversary of the births of Manuel de Falla and Pau Casals, both born in 1876 and both destined to die in exile, in 1946 and 1973 respectively. The season also pays tribute to the celebrated Generation of ’27, the remarkable group of poets who came together in 1927 to mark the tercentenary of the death of Luis de Góngora and who brilliantly united tradition and modernity. It was a generation profoundly marked by repression and exile: Federico García Lorca was murdered, while others—including Rafael Alberti, Luis Cernuda, Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Emilio Prados, and Manuel Altolaguirre—were forced into exile.
The season also shines a light on Kurt Weill and his wife and muse, Lotte Lenya, as well as Arnold Schoenberg, who fled Europe for Hollywood in the face of the Nazi regime. It explores lesser-known stories of exile, such as that of the poet Heinrich Heine, whose verses inspired some of the most beautiful Lieder in the repertoire, and Richard Wagner, who found in his exile in Zurich the inspiration for the Wesendonck Lieder, the first seeds of Tristan und Isolde. The programme also recalls the unjust exile of Conxita Badia, the impossible exile of Federico García Lorca, murdered shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, and the tragically current conflict in Iran, placed in dialogue with the country’s rich Persian heritage. Alongside these are more metaphorical forms of exile: Rainer Maria Rilke’s search for creative solitude, Shakespeare’s withdrawal from public life after his greatest successes, and the long-standing marginalisation of music written by women, unjustly consigned to the sidelines of history for centuries.
“Coinciding with the 150th anniversaries of Pau Casals and Manuel de Falla, as well as the centenary of the Generation of ’27, it felt especially fitting to invite reflection on a subject as profound as exile, which has marked the lives of so many artists throughout history,” says Marc Busquets, Artistic Director of the Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation. “In this sense, exile becomes an uprooted plant — a metaphor that emerges through the dialogue with the work of Javier Pérez. His wild grasses — or so-called weeds — have been pulled from the ground, yet remain alive, considered undesirable depending on where they grow. The same can happen to people in exile: they are treated as though they should never have belonged to their natural environment, and are uprooted from it,” he adds.
“This season, devoted to the theme of exile, represents another step in the institutional consolidation of the Foundation as it celebrates its 20th anniversary, as well as of LIFE Victoria, which marks its 15th anniversary. It also reaffirms the artistic project launched in 2007: fostering dialogue between the arts and, above all, supporting young talent through the legacy of Victoria de los Ángeles,” says Helena Mora, President of the Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation.
Adriana González and Pedro Pardo, Artists-in-Residence, in Dialogue with the Work of Javier Pérez
Soprano Adriana González, one of LIFE Victoria’s most beloved artists, will serve as one of the festival’s Artists-in-Residence this season. Together with pianist Iñaki Encina Oyón, she will give a recital at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid on the occasion of the exhibition Dalí’s Freudian Universe (19 December), followed by another recital at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site (29 April) exploring the relationship between Spain and France through the lens of exile. She will also lead a series of masterclasses as part of the Foundation’s educational programme. Alongside Pedro Pardo, the season’s other Artist-in-Residence, González will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Pau Casals with a concert by the Victoria de los Ángeles Symphony Orchestra (OSVA), recalling the performances once shared by Victoria de los Ángeles and Casals. Pianist Emma Stratton, recipient of the Güell Scholarship, will perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, while González will sing Mozart’s concert arias (20 January, L’Auditori).
Meanwhile, Pedro Pardo, together with soprano Mercedes Gancedo and cellist Ferran Bardolet, will revisit the exile of Conxita Badia in a programme connected to the repertoire of Victoria de los Ángeles (23 October, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site). The centenary of Montserrat Torrent will be celebrated through concerts featuring soprano Montserrat Seró, organist Joan Seguí, and the Victoria de los Ángeles Choir conducted by Pedro Pardo (6 November at Sant Felip Neri and 7 November at the Monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès). Another major anniversary will be the 150th anniversary of the birth of Manuel de Falla, marked by a performance of El amor brujo with Elena Gadel and the Victoria de los Ángeles Symphony Orchestra (OSVA), conducted by Pedro Pardo (19 June, Victoria de los Ángeles Hall).
The work of this season’s featured visual artist, Javier Pérez, is deeply intertwined with the central theme of the programme. Born in Bilbao in 1968, Pérez is an internationally acclaimed Spanish visual artist whose work is held in the collections of institutions including the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid), the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Centre Pompidou (Paris), and the Corning Museum of Glass (New York), among many others. In 2001, he represented Spain at the 49th Venice Biennale.
To mark the 625th anniversary of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, the exhibition Folds of Time will present Pérez’s work Nightmares in dialogue with the unique setting of the Sant Rafael Pavilion at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site.
Conversation between Adriana González and Javier Pérez, the Season’s Artists-in-Residence
International Stars and Long-Awaited Returns
The season opens with the LIFE Victoria debut of mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, joined by pianist Malcolm Martineau (1 October, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site). This season’s Carnegie Hall Artist-in-Residence and one of the Metropolitan Opera’s most celebrated singers, Leonard will present, together with Martineau, a programme centred on the loss of Spain’s overseas colonies, featuring works by Manuel de Falla and Xavier Montsalvatge.
The distinguished mezzo-soprano Véronique Gens will present a programme dedicated to the recently departed Dame Felicity Lott, together with pianist Joseph Middleton (2 November, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site). The entire 2026–27 season is also dedicated to Felicity Lott in recognition of her longstanding generosity and support for the work of the Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation. Another eagerly awaited LIFE Victoria debut will be that of Iranian-born countertenor Cameron Shahbazi, who will appear alongside pianist Jeff Cohen (16 November, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site).
Tenor Nicky Spence returns to LIFE Victoria following his acclaimed festival debut in 2020, this time with a programme inspired by Shakespeare’s retirement, accompanied by pianist Dylan Pérez (24 April, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site). Soprano Elisabet Strid, who stars as Brünnhilde in the Royal Opera House’s new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle under the baton of Antonio Pappano, will present a programme exploring Wagner and exile, together with pianist John Sunderland (18 May, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site).
The eagerly awaited Barcelona recital debut of soprano Sabine Devieilhe will take place in collaboration with L’Auditori. Joined by pianist Mathieu Pordoy, she will present a programme celebrating women composers and poets (20 May, L’Auditori).
Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston returns to LIFE Victoria following her acclaimed debut in 2025 and, once again joined by pianist Sholto Kynoch, will perform Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin (2 February, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site). Another welcome return is that of pianist Rubén Fernández Aguirre, a longstanding favourite of the festival, who will appear alongside soprano Vanessa Goikoetxea in a recital centred on the exile of Heinrich Heine (17 February, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site). The recital will be preceded by the performance Wanderer: The Path and the Shadow, with dramaturgy by Jaime Abad and featuring actress Núria Miret.
On Tuesday, 2 March, LIFE Victoria will present a double bill. The evening begins with the festival debut of soprano Mireia Tarragó and pianist Victoria Guerrero in recital (7:30 pm), followed by Sol i tu, a dance production inspired by the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke and Joan Vinyoli. The performance brings together pianist and narrator Francisco Poyato and dancer Èlia Genís, with choreography by Magdalena Garzón and dramaturgy and stage direction by Carles Pedragosa.
After an absence of more than ten years, mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera returns to LIFE Victoria, joined by pianist Javier Arrebola for a programme dedicated to the Generation of ’27 (7 May, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site). Earlier that evening, the winners of the Xavier Montsalvatge Prize at the Les Corts International Competition—clarinettist Pablo Carballar and pianist Mireia Pladevall—will give a recital.
In collaboration with the Palau de la Música Catalana, LIFE Victoria will celebrate the Palau debut of mezzo-soprano Helena Ressurreição and pianist Mar Compte, two artists closely associated with the Foundation and graduates of the Victoria de los Ángeles Lied Master’s Programme at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (5 October, Palau de la Música Catalana).
Lucía Guerrero, winner of the Victoria de los Ángeles Prize at the 2024 Nuevas Voces Competition of the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, and pianist Llum Colomer will make their Oxford International Song Festival debut (20 October, Oxford). In return, Oxford International Song Young Artists Ellen Mawhinney and Daniel Silcock will make their Spanish debut as part of LIFE Victoria (2 February, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site).
The Alicia de Larrocha Piano Series will feature two solo recitals: the first by Daniel Bertomeu, one of the most exciting young pianistic talents to emerge in recent years (23 October, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site), and the return of Kunal Lahiry, Artist-in-Residence during the 2023–24 season, with a solo programme (24 April, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site).
LIFE Victoria in Madrid in Collaboration with the Thyssen Museum and Teatro Real
Following the success of last season’s first collaboration with the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, the partnership is reaffirmed and expanded in the 2026–27 season with three recitals. In addition to the previously mentioned programme by Adriana González and Iñaki Encina Oyón inspired by Dalí’s Freudian universe (19 December, Thyssen), the museum will also host a recital by Catalan soprano Núria Rial, together with Carles Blanch (Baroque guitar and lute) and Oleguer Aymamí (Baroque cello), featuring music by sixteenth-century Spanish and Flemish composers. The concert is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Mauritshuis / Thyssen-Bornemisza (10 October, Thyssen).
The season also includes a recital by soprano Ingela Brimberg and pianist Julius Drake, with António Areal joining at the piano, featuring Wagner’s Lieder alongside Liszt’s Wagner transcriptions (16 April, Thyssen). The programme is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Wagner and Painting, which will be on view at the Madrid museum.
LIFE Victoria’s presence in Madrid will also extend to Teatro Real through a collaboration with the renowned opera house. Victoria, Figaro and His Guitar, a family-friendly production for young audiences, will be presented at the Real Teatro del Retiro. Following its premiere in Barcelona with mezzo-soprano Cristina Segura and guitarist Bernardo Rambeaud, the production will travel to Madrid for two double performances on 26 and 27 September, at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm.
LIFE New Artists: Supporting Young Talent and LIFE Territori
The LIFE New Artists series—now a hallmark of the festival, featuring short recitals by emerging musicians before the main performances—will present this season: Isaac Grau (piano) and Maria Patak (soprano); Marta Esteban (soprano) and Rose Thomas (piano); baritone Javier Blanco with pianist Rubén Fernández Aguirre; Idun Gabrielle Fougner-Økland (soprano) and Guro Thornaes-Sirvertsen (piano); Miguel Domínguez (tenor) and Rose Thomas (piano); Jana Corominas (mezzo-soprano) and Oriana Kemelmajer (piano); and Paula Atanet (piano) with Patricia Rijnhout (soprano). From this season onwards, the series is generously supported by the Fundació Banc Sabadell.
The Foundation will present four series of masterclasses during the season: with soprano Adriana González (26–28 January), culminating in a final recital on 29 January; with pianist Keval Shah (8–9 April); and with pianist Javier Arrebola and mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera, focusing on the songs of Federico García Lorca (8–10 May), followed by a final recital on 11 May. In addition, pianist Julius Drake will lead masterclasses at the Escuela Superior de Canto in Madrid.
The Victoria de los Ángeles Legacy Mastercourse will also take place throughout April at The Juilliard School in New York, concluding with a final recital on 28 April at Paul Hall. Inspired by the life and artistic legacy of Victoria de los Ángeles, the programme continues the Foundation’s international commitment to nurturing the next generation of vocal artists.
A new feature of this season is the launch of LIFE Territori, through which LIFE Victoria expands its presence across Catalonia. The series will include recitals by soprano Montserrat Seró and guitarist Bernardo Rambeaud (17 October at El Monegal, Sant Llorenç de Morunys, and 24 October in Miravet), as well as a recital by violinist Federico Piccotti and pianist Marta Puig at El Monegal, Sant Llorenç de Morunys (31 October).