The Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Palau de la Música and L’Auditori will fill Sant Sebastià beach with free symphonic music on July 9 and 10. Featuring excerpts from Mar i cel by Dagoll Dagom, Bizet and Granados, and offering accessible programmes for everyone, the initiative aims to bring music to all audiences and take it to places where it doesn’t always reach. There will also be workshops and concerts at Hospital del Mar and two care homes for the elderly, in order to bring music to those who cannot make it to the beach.
On July 9 and 10 at 9 p.m., Barcelona’s Sant Sebastià beach will be filled with classical music thanks to a new edition of Clàssica a la Platja, a series of free concerts open to the public, organized by L’Auditori, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Barcelona City Council, under the umbrella of Barcelona Obertura. This new edition emphasizes accessibility for all audiences, with various measures to improve mobility and sound reception, as well as initiatives that strengthen the social dimension of the project and bring music to those who cannot make it to the beach. Clàssica a la Platja, supported by the “la Caixa” Foundation, brings classical music from the city’s leading cultural institutions beyond their concert halls, reaching a diverse and broad audience and promoting it among the entire population.
The concerts, open to everyone, will take place on the sand of Sant Sebastià beach, from a stage measuring 26 meters wide by 17 meters deep, covered by an orbit-style dome. The space will accommodate around 20,000 people, with two access points: one between the Club Natació Atlètic Barceloneta and the Club Natació Barcelona (CNB), and the other alongside the CNB, at stage level.
The setup includes two 8 x 4.5 m screens next to the stage with subtitles, and one 6 x 3.5 m screen in the middle of the beach with surtitles, so that those further away can also enjoy the concert via Betevé’s live broadcast. For this production, Barcelona’s local television channel has arranged for a mobile unit to manage six cameras: one mounted on a crane, two at the front of the stage —to provide close-ups of the musicians—, another onstage offering shots near the conductor, and two more positioned at the technical desk for wide-angle views. In addition, to ensure that sound reaches the full 250-meter length of the beach, a special audio setup has been installed featuring a Delays Stereo system at the center of the beach.
Both concerts will be broadcast live by Betevé and Catalunya Música, allowing audiences to enjoy the performances either on-site via the big screens or from home through the Betevé channel and Catalunya Música radio. 3Cat will also offer a delayed broadcast of the concert at a later date (to be confirmed).
The concerts are part of Barcelona Obertura, an initiative born from the collaboration between the city’s three leading classical music institutions —L’Auditori, the Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Palau de la Música Catalana— aiming to promote Barcelona internationally through classical music and a commitment to making it accessible to everyone. Clàssica a la Platja is yet another example of these three cultural institutions working together to spread, celebrate, and promote the value of the Barcelona brand, portraying the city as iconic, festive, joyful, family-friendly and open to the sea, with the beach as another space to enjoy classical music.
Concert on July 9: Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu and Dagoll Dagom, with Mar i Cel
On Wednesday, July 9 at 9 p.m., Sant Sebastià beach will host an exceptional musical event, free and open to all, transforming Barcelona’s seafront into a large-scale open-air stage. The Chorus and Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, conducted by Pablo Assante and Sergi Cuenca, will present a unique evening featuring a program that blends classical works with iconic pieces from Catalan musical theatre. The event will serve as a heartfelt tribute to Dagoll Dagom, one of the country’s most iconic theatre companies, which will bid farewell to the stage on July 13, coinciding with the final performance of Mar i Cel at the Teatre Victòria.
The concert will begin with A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Felix Mendelssohn, a piece full of magic, brilliance and lyricism—perfect for a summer night by the sea. The audience will then enjoy a very special symphonic version of Mar i Cel, with arrangements performed by the Chorus and Orchestra of the Liceu and sung by the 2024 Mar i Cel company. The event will also feature a special appearance by Maestro Albert Guinovart on piano, composer of the musical’s original score, and special contributions from Pep Cruz and Àngels Gonyalons—two beloved figures of the Catalan stage and veterans of the company—who will present and narrate the evening.
The cast of the production will include: Jordi Garreta, Alèxia Pascual, Abel García, Albert Gràcia, Berta Luna, Xavi Fernández, Eloi Gómez, Clara Renom, Sergio Escribano, Candela Díaz Sanz, Esteve Roig, Cisco Cruz, Albert Mora, Anna Alborch, Bittor Fernández, Estel Aparicio, Carme Giner, Biel Llongueras, Guillem Ripoll and Guillem Fole.
Mar i Cel is a musical that tells the story of pirates and Christians trapped together on a ship in the middle of the sea. The piece explores the clash between East and West, and the intolerance between two opposing religions. At the heart of the plot is an impossible love story between a Christian girl and a Moorish corsair. Drawing strong parallels with today’s world, the musical is inspired by Mediterranean piracy in the 17th century and the expulsion of 300,000 Moriscos from the Kingdom of Spain, decreed by Philip III in 1609. Highlights of the concert will include emblematic songs such as “Per què he plorat” (Jordi Garreta and Alèxia Pascual), “Himne dels pirates” (Mar i Cel Company), and “No estàs sola” (Jordi Garreta and Alèxia Pascual)—pieces that have moved generations and return in a spectacular and emotionally powerful symphonic format.
It will be a one-of-a-kind evening to relive the power of Catalan musical theatre in a large, open-air format, with the sea as a scenic backdrop. The concert will include surtitles in Catalan, Spanish, and English.
Concert on July 10: the OBC, the Palau Chamber Choir, and Ludovic Morlot, with Carmen and Three Spanish Dances
The next day, July 10 at 9 p.m., the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra (OBC), conducted by Ludovic Morlot, will take over Clàssica a la Platja with a vibrant and popular concert. Accompanied by the Palau de la Música Catalana Chamber Choir, the ensemble will perform a selection of excerpts from Carmen, Georges Bizet’s best-known opera, which tells the story of a free and passionate woman who defies social conventions to follow her own desire. The mezzosoprano Silvia Tro Santafé, soprano Mira Alkhovik, bass-baritone Marko Mimica, and tenor Marcelo Puente will participate.
The concert will open with Three Spanish Dances by Enric Granados — “Oriental,” “Andaluza,” and “Rondalla aragonesa” — originally composed for piano and later orchestrated by Joan Lamote de Grignon, in a version that highlights melodic beauty and rhythmic strength. The entire evening will have Catalan surtitles to make it easier for all attendees to follow.
A more inclusive edition of Clàssica a la Platja
Audience members with reduced mobility and/or special needs will be able to enjoy the concerts from a reserved or accessible area located at Passeig del Mare Nostrum, 15, in front of the Desigual building. This year, this accessible area has been quadrupled (16 x 4 m), situated in an optimal space, and it is the most suitable area for anyone with special needs.
Additionally, the audience with deafness and hearing impairments will be able to try, through the Immersive Live System, about fifteen vibrating backpacks and individual induction loops. This service will include a professional fluent in LSC (Catalan Sign Language) as a second language.
The vibrating backpacks with a tactile bass system are devices worn on the chest or back that convert sound frequencies into vibrations. They allow connection to an individual magnetic loop and are designed for people who are deaf or have hearing impairments.
The choirs of the Orfeó Català Choir School bring music to a hospital and two nursing homes.
This initiative is added to the concert and the two choral music workshops organized by the Palau de la Música Catalana at the Hospital del Mar and two local nursing homes, bringing music to people who, due to their health conditions, cannot physically attend the beach concerts. This event, now in its third year, took place on June 2nd, when the Children’s Choir performed an open concert at the Hospital del Mar for patients, families, and healthcare staff, featuring a repertoire by Alberto Grau and conducted by Venezuelan Maria Guinand. The concert, titled La ronda que nunca se acaba, premiered the day before at the Palau de la Música Catalana. On June 16th, it was the turn of the Middle Choir, which performed at Residència Bouco, and the Little Choir, which performed at Residència Icària, where they offered a choral singing workshop involving the residents, mixing choral games and exercises with traditional songs.
Additionally, the project offers an even more magical experience by making eight spots available through a raffle for the public to watch the concerts from the stage. Interested individuals can enter via the Barcelona Obertura website until July 3rd.
Organized by:
|
With the support of:
| 
| 
|
| 
| 
| 
|
Media partners:
| 
| 
| 
|