Classical doesn’t mean elitist

The Nits de Clàssica festival, directed since its early days by Víctor Garcia de Gomar, aims to dispel the elitist connotations of classical music, but without a drop in quality. In this eighth edition, the festival welcomes back performers who have played at the event before. Violinist Isabelle Faust, guitarist Milos Karadaglic, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, barítone Benjamin Appl and pianists Arthur and Lucas Jussen return to a festival that, in some cases, trusted in them when they were only emerging artists.

The loud colours used for the festival’s imagery in the photos by British photographer Martin Parr shows the desire to break with the elitist conventions associated with classical music. Moreover, the festival organised by the Auditori de Girona this year expands beyond this venue –where there will be only one concert, by the Jove Orquestra de les Comarques Gironines– with performances in the Museu d’Art, the cathedral, Sant Pere de Galligants, the Sant Daniel monastery, La Mercè auditorium and the Devesa, where pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard will give a free rendition of the Catalogue d’oiseaux by French composer, Olivier Messiaen. The festival opens with Benjamin Alard performing Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier and Appl singing Schubert’s great three-song cycle.