MONTSERRAT TORRENT

THE LEGACY OF A LIFE

On the centenary of her birth, the Perelada Festival pays tribute to Montserrat Torrent, one of the most influential figures in Catalan music. More than an exceptional career, her presence embodies a way of understanding music as listening, as persistence and as the reconstruction of a legacy that, in her case, has never ceased to be alive.
This concert, which also marks the first appearance of the organ in the Festival's programming, will take place in the Church of El Carme at Peralada Castle, a venue particularly suited to this repertoire. The evening brings Torrent together with organists Paolo Oreni and Joan Seguí around the Wanderer modular organ, an instrument that allows the power and tonal richness of this repertoire to be brought into the concert space. More than a recital, the production is conceived as a space of continuity, where different generations engage in dialogue through a singular instrument.
The programme - still to be finalised - includes two world premieres commissioned by the Festival: Pregària a la Verge de Montserrat per abans d’anar a dormir by Bernat Vivancos, and Cercle I by Raquel García-Tomás. Two contemporary perspectives that not only celebrate a figure, but also engage with her legacy from the present.
To speak of Montserrat Torrent requires going beyond a list of achievements. Her career is linked to the recovery of a musical heritage that history had interrupted: the restoration of organs, the revival of a repertoire, and the training of new generations of performers. In this sense, her contribution is not only artistic, but also cultural: a way of reconstructing, through music, a vanished landscape.
In an age that tends towards acceleration, Torrent reminds us of another way of listening: attentive, patient, profound. For her, music is not just performance, but a way of inhabiting time. This concert is not only a tribute, but an invitation to listen anew, from a more conscious and discerning perspective.