The Joan Manén Association, with the support of the Biblioteca de Catalunya, is pleased to present the fifth edition of the Historic Catalan Performers Lecture Series, which opens on 22 July. This year’s programme features four lectures taking place between July and November 2026 at the Sala de la Caritat of the Biblioteca de Catalunya, celebrating the lives, careers and artistic legacy of some of Catalonia’s most outstanding performers. Through the work of leading musicologists and researchers, the series offers fresh insights into musicians whose contributions have left a lasting mark on Catalan musical heritage.
The series opens on Wednesday, 22 July, with “La Cançó d’amor i de guerra and its performers: 100 years of Rafael Martínez Valls’s zarzuela”, presented by composer and conductor Rubén Penadés. Marking the centenary of both the composition and premiere of La Cançó d’amor i de guerra, the lecture will explore the stories, personalities and performances that have shaped the history of this landmark work. Through the great singers who have brought the score to life over the decades, Penadés will revisit the rich legacy of Rafael Martínez Valls’s music and the libretto by Lluís Capdevila and Víctor Mora.
The second lecture, “Manuel Ausensi: the nobility of singing”, will take place on 1 October and will be given by Miquel Pérez, vocal specialist and coordinator of the voice section of the Historic Catalan Performers website. Pérez will examine the life and career of Manuel Ausensi, one of the most celebrated baritones in twentieth-century Catalan music. His appearances on major stages around the world earned him an exceptional international reputation, and this lecture will pay tribute to his artistic achievements while presenting rare recordings and previously unseen materials from his personal collection.
On Wednesday, 21 October, musicologist Anna Fusté will present the third lecture, “From the salon to the World: the career of Mercedes Moner, Granados’s favourite pupil”. The lecture focuses on the remarkable career of Mercedes Moner, the distinguished pianist from Figueres and favourite student of Enric Granados. Moner gave the Spanish premieres of Granados’s Goyescas and Franz Liszt’s Grand Sonata. Although she withdrew from public life at a relatively early stage, her frequent appearances in musical salons and conservatories established her reputation as one of Europe’s foremost interpreters of the Romantic repertoire.
The final lecture, “The Regordosa Collection of phonograph cylinders: a window onto early twentieth-century catalan voices”, will be held on Wednesday, 25 November and will also be presented by Miquel Pérez. The session will introduce audiences to the Regordosa Collection housed at the Biblioteca de Catalunya, one of the world’s most significant collections of phonograph cylinders. Attendees will discover the origins of sound recording on wax cylinders and enjoy listening to some of the earliest surviving recordings, remarkable documents from the pioneering years of recorded sound.
The Historic Catalan Performers project, developed by the Joan Manén Association since 2021 through the website www.interpretscatalanshistorics.com, seeks to recover and preserve the memory of Catalonia’s most important performers. Created in collaboration with specialists and cultural institutions, the platform currently features the biographies of eighty performers across a wide range of musical disciplines. Each profile is complemented by audiovisual materials and original documentation resulting from extensive research into the artists’ professional and personal lives.
Admission is free of charge. Advance booking is required, as seating is limited: ticketing.cat/elsteusclassics.
- Wednesday, 22 July 2026, 7:00 pm
La Cançó d’amor i de guerra and its performers: 100 years of Rafael Martínez Valls’s zarzuela, presented by composer and conductor Rubén Penadés.
- Thursday, 1 October 2026, 7:00 pm
Manuel Ausensi: the nobility of singing, presented by vocal specialist Miquel Pérez.
- Wednesday, 21 October 2026, 7:00 pm
From the salon to the World: the career of Mercedes Moner, Granados’s favourite pupil, presented by musicologist Anna Fusté.
- Wednesday, 25 November 2026, 7:00 pm
The Regordosa Collection of phonograph cylinders: a window onto early twentieth-century catalan voices, presented by vocal specialist Miquel Pérez.
