The Cathedral hosts a great tribute concert to Joan Alcover on the centenary of 'La Balanguera' set to music

PalmaThe Cathedral of Mallorca was the setting this Sunday for a grand concert in tribute to Joan Alcover, coinciding with the centenary of the first performance in Mallorca of La Balanguera set to music by Amadeu Vives. The event, organized by the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), was part of the commemorations of the Year Alcover, which marks the 100th anniversary of the death of the Majorcan poet.

The chosen date was not accidental. On June 28, 1926, the Teatre Líric in Palma hosted the first performance in Mallorca of the musicalized La Balanguera, a few weeks after its premiere at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona. Chronicles of the time report that the work was received with a long and enthusiastic ovation from the audience.

The concert began at 8:00 PM at the Cathedral. The first part of the program was dedicated to the symphony La serra de Tramuntana, by Antoni Mairata March, performed by the Jove Orquestra de les Illes Balears, the Orfeó Universitat de les Illes Balears, and the Coral de Sant Joan. Soprano Irene Gili also participated, under the direction of Joan Barceló Antúnez.

The second part of the evening revolved around La Balanguera set to music by Amadeu Vives. The Filharmònica Porrerenca, conducted by Joan Ramon Xamena Vidal, and the Xeremiers from the Escola de Música i Danses de Mallorca performed.

The Alcover Year

The concert continued the various events promoted by OCB during Alcover Year. The most crowded took place on May 29, when thousands of people simultaneously sang La Balanguera in Plaça Major in Palma and in dozens of municipalities in Mallorca, in an initiative that also reached educational centers, cultural entities, and various public spaces on the island.

That mobilization became the first major simultaneous performance of the anthem of Mallorca throughout the island and served to assert the validity of Joan Alcover's work a century after his death. The event brought together institutions, entities, and civil society in a commemoration that transcended the strictly cultural sphere.

With the concert at the Cathedral, OCB focused on the musical dimension of a poem that, with music by Amadeu Vives, would eventually become the official anthem of Mallorca and one of the most emblematic pieces of the island's popular culture.