“Roger Alier’s last great satisfaction was this medal”, Jordi Maddaleno said excitedly after collecting on behalf of his master in opera criticism the gold medal of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, an institution that did not hesitate to call it “the great theater of all”. Those attending the ceremony, yesterday during a lunch in the hall of mirrors of the great theater, offered as a tribute the most heartfelt applause to Alier, who died two weeks ago and had received the news with great excitement. Maddaleno also recalled that Alier always bet on culture “because it nourishes and enriches us as people, it gives us freedom”.
It had been ten years since the Liceu had stopped giving out its gold medals, and it did so again yesterday as the culmination of the 175th anniversary celebration, of which the president of the Liceu foundation, Salvador Alemany, took stock. Just beginning the event, presented by the journalist Judit Jordana – with institutional representation of the Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga; the general director of Inaem, Joan Francesc Marco, or the new Commissioner of Culture of the City Council, Xavier Marcé–, Alemany has highlighted the leap in artistic quality of these two seasons, with relevant productions such as Briten’s War Requiem, The magic flute directed by Dudamel, Macbeth under the stage direction of Plensa or Alexina B. de García-Tomàs, but also emphasized other initiatives such as the Petit Liceu, the Liceu Mar project or the micro-operas, in addition to advance “the end of the slab of historical debt”, which is expected to be canceled next season.
The president of the Cercle del Liceu, Francisco Gaudier, assured when collecting the institutional gold medal that with the great theater they form “an indissoluble marriage” that gives “mutual support”, and he predicted “a promising future” for the relationship . It was an honor shared ex aequo with the Society of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, whose president, Manuel Busquet, wanted to set as an example of “public-private and citizen collaboration”, and assured that “here, the comedy non and finite”.
When Assumpció Aguadé received the gold medal for dance, she remembered how she had entered the theater when she was only 13 years old, and spent 33 years there as a dancer and choreographer, and she wanted to share the award with “all the dancers we have worked with here, that they can show that they know how to dance and that there are people who are worth a lot”.
There were also distinctions for philanthropy and patronage. On the one hand, the Puig family, of which the president of its foundation, Xavier Puig, pointed out that its objectives of “Barcelona, ??culture and education” are met by collaborating with the Liceu, which “it is a reference in Barcelona, ??Catalonia, Spain and all over the world”. On the other hand, the La Caixa Foundation received the medal from its deputy general manager, Elisa Durán, who emphasized that “culture and music are a tool for personal growth and social integration”, with examples such as the recent edition of Clàssica a la Platja or La gata perduda, the community opera they have made with the residents of the Raval.
The other artistic gold medal went to soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, who beamed and happily confessed that when you spend your life traveling, “what we want is to be at home”, because, beyond technique and voice, “the important thing is love, happiness, family and friends, and I feel at home here”, to end by affirming: “My heart belongs to the Liceu and to Barcelona”.
