Pere Estelrich i Massutí: "On a stage, it is impossible to die better than Isolde"

PalmaThis Wednesday, June 3, and as part of the Palma Book Fair, in Plaça d’Espanya, Pere Estelrich i Massutí will present his collection of articles with a common denominator and a sufficiently eloquent title: Wagnerian Chronicles, published by Edicions Documenta Balear within the Menjavents collection. Estelrich needs no introduction. He is known on his own merits. A mathematician, he writes, disseminates and spreads wisdom everywhere: in newspapers, on the radio, wherever his knowledge is required. He writes as he speaks, clearly and entertainingly, as only someone who carries a wealth of many years and no little work, done with passion, which his words undoubtedly convey, can do.

These are ten articles, in which he recounts his comings and goings to Bayreuth, the musical homeland of Richard Wagner, the protagonist. He is accompanied by a masterful prologue by Joan Roca i Avellà that whets the appetite for all that will follow. A Prelude with which he opens the door wide to this world as sumptuous and unattainable as the gesamtkunstwerk of the incomparable Richard Wagner, although the book concludes with an epilogue that the author dedicates to Johann Sebastian Bach, his other musical totem. Nothing is a coincidence. Estelrich recounts that his father had two shellac records, one was Tannhäuser and the other, the Mass in B minor, by Wagner and Bach, respectively. Every Sunday, on that 1950s record player, he would alternate them. He summarizes it: “Therefore, I can be nothing other than a bachnerian”.

Intensity and obsession

of the fifties, I alternated them. He summarizes it: “Therefore, I can be nothing other than

“A long time ago I declared myself a Parsifalian. At that time it was like that. It has an explanation. When I studied in Barcelona I saw Parsifal, at least, three times, in different seasons and versions. Also the first time I went to Bayreuth I saw Parsifal, but little by little I have been expanding this horizon. You listen to more and more Wagner, and with each audition you realize his greatness, just as, little by little, you find other moments as anthological or more so, which you had not noticed before. For example, the first act of The Valkyrie is one of the greatest first acts ever written. And there are only three characters. And the last twenty minutes of Wotan. This monologue is brutal. A friend told me one day that it was impossible to die better than Isolde. And it is so, neither Lucia Lammermoor, nor Tosca nor so many others can compare. On stage, it is impossible to die better. Now the one that is costing me a bit is Götterdämmerung, but it is only a matter of time. Anyway, let it be clear that I have never stopped loving Parsifal. It was the first Wagner I saw performed, at the Liceu”.

And he continues his confessions in the first person: “My fondness for opera starts with zarzuela. My father accompanied us, my godfather Tomeu and me, to the Principal, to see Los gavilanes. From then on, even though I was a boy of ten or twelve, I began to understand that symphonic music was one thing and stage music was another. But undoubtedly what has marked this passion the most was my stay in Barcelona, while I was studying Mathematics. I am sure that if I had not spent those five years in Barcelona, my life would be different, just as my passion for music would be nothing like it is now. Nevertheless, from my father, who was the founder of the Felanitx choir and played the organ, I inherited two things from when he worked for a season in Sabadell. He subscribed to La Vanguardia

and went whenever he could to the Palau de la Música and the Liceu. A legacy that I have followed to the letter, both the subscription, now digital, and the attraction, weakness, and curiosity, whatever you want to call it, for music”.

, but it's only a matter of time. Regardless, let it be clear that I have never stopped loving Varied and numerous offer

“What is certain is that in Mallorca we have a varied, numerous, and undeniably high-quality offering. There are many days when it is not easy to decide where to go. There have been two moments here that mark a before and after, such as the creation of the Symphony Orchestra and the Superior Conservatory. They have been two undeniable revivals. The musicians of the Symphony Orchestra have conducted bands, taught at the Conservatory, and formed quartets. The experience is immense, even though at the time of its conception there were many people against it, who said that with that money they could bring the Berlin Philharmonic three times over. Anyway, an ‘anecdote’ that doesn't even need commenting on. We also cannot forget the role of the Pollença Festival. It is a marvel. Undoubtedly, the current programming in Pollença can be seen at any of the great and most important European festivals. Without exaggerating or being afraid of being wrong, it can be said that its level is comparable to Salzburg's, with the only difference being the number of concerts”.

To cap off the conversation, Estelrich rounds it off with a statement: “Wagner is Wagner, but perhaps if I had to choose only one opera, and let it be clear that it is only an impossible hypothesis, I would choose Il trovatore, or Don Giovanni, and at a stretch, I would also include Madama Butterfly”. These are the words of a music lover, wise, eclectic, and Wagnerian, probably in that order.u