Concert ‘Carles Cases diu Llach’ in L’Eliana (Spain)
On Saturday, August 25 (read news), the Spanish composer Carles Cases performed at L’Eliana (Valencia, Spain) and the film music critic, writer, and soundtrack expert Frederic Torres, has prepared this article for SoundTrackFest where he tells us about that evening.
WHAT A NIGHT WE LIVED THAT DAY! : THE RETURN OF CARLES CASES
The Catalan musician returned for the third time in one year to Valencian lands to perform the themes of his recording ‘Carles diu Llach’, launched in 2014, and dedicated to his reinterpretation in a key of jazz, of the themes in which he worked hand-in-hand with the well-known Catalan singer-songwriter Lluis Llach during the 80s.
Carles Cases returned to L’Eliana for the second time after his last visit for the V Segles de Música festival, which in November of last year hosted his participation with a similar repertoire, although on that occasion, there was room for his cinematographic relationship with the movie director, Ventura Pons.
This time, the chosen scenario was La Torre del Virrey, a restored space that was originally a defensive construction dating back to the XVI-XVII centuries. Converted into a noble and outdoor building located on the outskirts of the town, it is comprised of a patio with a rectangular floor plan that provides a magnificent sound, as well as a pleasant temperature, so that the audience can alleviate the tremendous summer heat. In spite of that, the musicians suffered a bit the high values of the relative humidity of Valencia under the lights of the stage. The recital was scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m., in order to ensure that the temperature did not exceed the 25 degrees.
The trio formed by Carles Cases at the piano, the guitarist Jordi Farrés and the bassist Miguel Ángel Cordero (replaced by Pau Lligadas in the first visit of the musicians to the venue), took the stage after my presentation.
The presentation outlined the trajectory of Cases with Llach, their reunion in 2013 in the so-called “Concert for the Llibertat”, which took place at the Camp Nou, that was the germ of the aforementioned record the following year. There was also room for the restless characteristics that characterize Cases, always with new and suggestive projects in mind, such as the imminent release of new records with the soundtrack of the movie Espirituales.
The introduction also mentioned the highly anticipated box with four discs that compiles four unpublished works by the artist, planned to be published by Spanish Rosetta Soundtrack label during this month of September, and which will contain the TV series premiered on TV3-Televisió de Catalunya entitled Des del balcó; his collaboration with Ventura Pons in Mil cretins; the work nominated to the Spanish Goya Award, Oviedo Express; and finally, a disc dedicated to his piano solos. The box will also have a small study named Carles Cases: Son of the Music, written by me, which analyzes the characteristics of these works.
But leaving this introduction behind and going back to the concert, it must be said that it was perfect, starting slow and getting bigger and bigger, as the emotional atmosphere was conveyed by the intense melodies of Llach, which included songs like “Que tinguem sort”, “Vaixell de Grècia”, “El jorn dels miserables”, all from the album I si canto trist; “Tinc a carvel per a tu” and “Amor particular”, included in the album T’estimo; “Alè”, by Astres, and also some as emblematic as “La Gallineta” and “País petit”, by Verges 50.
The complicity between Cases, Farrés and Cordero was evident on numerous occasions, leaving trace that they have traveled many miles together and that have many performances on their backs. They had to offer up to three encores to satisfy an enthusiastic audience that refused to leave the venue, after the indispensable connection was established with the artists. A recital that will last in the memory of the public, as much as in the memory of the musicians. And it’s not just a phrase. They confessed that to me after the concert!
Article by Frederic Torres
