It is difficult to write about a concert that was not one as such. The second ‘concert’ of the monograph malherian it became a syncopated reading, or something similar, of Alma Mahler's memoirs. Paragraphs that did not contextualize the music that followed nor contributed anything interesting about either composer, except for the moment where it tells how Mahler forbade Alma from composing again. Although, without clarifying that he later rectified it, nor why he did so, which would have become a Sálvame deluxe in D minor. In any case, if tempo is a fundamental pillar of a composition, someone did not measure it at all. Furthermore, the tedious talk, read in fits and starts, was not in the program, just as there was no mention of the name of the person who became the protagonist of an evening that could have been a good concert. It was already surprising that it began with the reading of a text that did not fit with what would follow, by the string quartet and piano formed by Fabiola Tedesco (violin), King Wojdalska (viola), Zuzanna Sosnowska (cello) and Magí Garcías, at the piano. Promising was the first intervention of the ensemble with the interpretation of the only movement of the Piano quartet in A minor, by Gustav Mahler. A true example of the powerful solidity with which the group exhibited the essential cohesion to be able to enjoy so many and such solid elements in perfect harmony. It is proof that Mahler is very much Mahler, despite being only as a test, as a sketch from when he began his studies at the conservatory.Just after, another philippic arrived, in an exercise of coherence as decontextualized as the previous one, which gave way to the mezzo-soprano Begoña Gómez to perform two Lieder by Alma and two others by Gustav: Die stille Stadt and Bei dir ist es traut, by the former, and Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen and Es sungen drei Engel einen süßen Gesang by the latter. Impeccableperformance, colorful, with volume and consistency, well accompanied by Magí Garcías. We could say it was a brilliant moment, characteristic of the mezzo's voice, if between one Lied and the other, which have a duration of more or less two minutes, they had not included the corresponding bore, of much longer duration, eternal, which eliminated and dynamited any possibility of properly enjoying the subtle compositions.The ‘concert-reading’ concluded with the performance of the Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, by Johannes Brahms. Forty magical minutes, without words, a mirage. The quartet once again showed its excellences, which were not few, but overlapped by a structure that did not hold up. It was not that.

The Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, led by its principal conductor, Sir Mark Elder, was responsible for setting off the grand finale of the fireworks display that marked the latest edition of the Pollença Festival. Sixty-five editions stand testament to it, and its momentum only serves to enhance its legend. The full capacity of each and every one of the seven concerts that made up the program could serve as a sufficiently eloquent summary of what it has been, with this festive closing of a magnitude that merely anticipates the next edition.

The Orquestra de Cambra de Mallorca seems, for a long time, since the day it was born, that growing is part of its character, of its DNA. The latest test by fire is, without a doubt, the challenge of facing Gustav Mahler in the monographs that each year they dedicate to a composer, behind the Pollença Festival and in the same enclave. But this is another story that we will have time to talk about, but which in some way has to do with the concert with which Bellver Castle rounded off the summer season. A farewell, on the one hand, and a presentation card, on the other. A great prelude and a program that to call demanding is an understatement, a great understatement.

Second to last concert of an edition, by Muffati-Brussels Baroque Orchestra, until then immaculate and with one of the concerts that for some was almost the cherry on top of a magnificent cake. An evening entirely dedicated to the one who was everything, Johann Sebastian Bach, with a tasty and rich program, like a small great demonstration of the undisputed condition of the great capoper of music history. For example, with the first piece, the "Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major BWV 1050, which treasuresa first majestic and original movement, the impeccable combination of the different solo instruments, harpsichord, flute, and violin crowned by an innovative sixty-four-bar cadence by the harpsichord, which until that moment in history only served as a fundamental but not very ostentatious basso continuo. Only with this Allegro initially we had enough ingredients to enjoy thoroughly. It wasn't like that. Just when it had barely started, a gust of wind blew away Frank Theuns's sheet music and perhaps here the elements allied against any possibility of enjoyment. Hope was placed in the cadence, but not even that. Violaine Cochard, at the height of her performance, seemed to be chasing the notes as if it were an obstacle race to align them with those coming from the original; a task that was almost impossible without the adequate (over)dose of virtuosity. It is easy to imagine that it was not simple to sort out the mess.

Pollença, the festival, is experiencing a time of monographic tributes. It was the case with the Ébène Quartet's dedication to Ludwig van Beethoven. It will be the case with Les Muffati-Brussels Baroque Orchestra's tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach. And it was the case with the Freiburger Barokorchester's performance on Saturday, exclusively featuring pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Three composers who share a common denominator: they are unfathomable. One could dedicate infinite monographic concerts to any of them and they would never cease to be of maximum interest. The one we are concerned with is not an exception, but rather a small, great selection that demonstrates the versatility of someone who made music almost unintentionally. Thus, the chamber orchestra, with twenty-four musicians, conducted by Éva Borhl on violin, began the task with the overture of The gardener's trick, early work, simple, with a lot of rhythm and prioritizing melody, where a gem arises from almost nothing. It was a prelude that in some way became a declaration of principles of what the concert would be, in which, once again, the cloister of Sant Domingo presented an unbeatable appearance, or what is the same, a full house.

Continue the tradition. The Pollença Festival, more orchestral than ever this year, has once again incorporated the presence of the Balearic Islands Symphony Orchestra into its programming. It is the golden culmination of a always dense season, like a well-deserved gift of prestige. The occasion featured the direction of Patrick Hahn and the cellist Alban Gerhardt as soloist performing the "Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85 by Edward Elgar. A mature work, his last orchestral piece, like a testament, that of an old and ill man who is figuring out the end of his existence and wants to explain his state with this intense and painful cry. Not a hint of enthusiasm from the initial lament of the solo instrument, which does nothing but foreshadow and confirm all that will follow, when the violas accompany him on this first, somber, and deep walk. A moderato adagio. Alban Gerhardt, a great protagonist, managed to draw out the immense melodic richness the composition holds from his instrument, with a very introspective reading that, in some way, brought fidelity to the spirit of the original. Patrick Hahn, the young Austrian conductor, on the one hand, and the Symphony, on the other, offered the essential balance and circumspection to achieve the ideal equilibrium of a score that concentrates beauty and sadness in equal measure. With a Prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach, Alban Gerhardt acted as if he had finished his performance.It wasn't like that. A detail that honors him, and it is not small. Significant. Alban Gerhardt joined the orchestra to perform the piece that crowned the function, the luminous Scheherazade op. 35 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, based on some of the tales of The Arabian Nights, which the protagonist who gives title to the composition recounted to Sultan Shahriar to appease his anger. But that is another story. The composition is a whole display of delicacies with which some of the instruments show off their best virtues. Thus, Spahiu, Bleuse, Miralles, Arnal and Fortea —violin, cello, flute and oboe— displayed many of their skills in a small great wonder that, being so colorful, never ceases to shine, just as it happened in this second concert of the Festival de Pollença. A second concert that began with a Prelude of Tristan and Isolde, which, in a way, suffered from the ailment of references, but which in any case served as a good prologue to the piece by the British. A German, a British, and a Russian... offered us another good concert of the level and prestige of the event that concerns us and will concern us all month of August.

Kick-off to the 65th edition of the Pollença Festival with the Sant Domingo Cloister packed to the rafters and a few extra chairs. Those responsible for this situation came with names and surnames of proven prestige, Daniel Harding conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniil Trifonov on piano. But for contrasts, those they offered us in the first piece of the program, the "Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15. A monumental and careful musical combat between the soloist and the ensemble of major subtlety and a modest reading, as if wanting to transmit with absolute fidelity all that was going through the composer's mind and heart. It was not spectacular, for the simple reason that it was not the author's purpose or intention – he took five years to finish it – but there was the contained tension to convey a whole series of subtle sensations that Trifonov's piano distilled with such a deep and gigantic Majestic. A first movementthat begins the orchestra with ninety energetic bars, until the solemn entrance of the soloist. Permanent, unfading communion, between the protagonists of a concert more symphonic than anything else, but which in some way draws from the sources of chamber music and with a duration that exceeds that of theEmperor of Beethoven. The collaboration between Trifonov and the Hardings was exemplary, reaching its peak in the exciting and moving Adagio which was so well received by the intended recipient, Clara Schumann. An introspective Trifonov displayed great, meticulous sensitivity, where each touch, each phrase, each silence, opened up a whole spectrum of emotions and numerous interpretations. Nor did the third movement, Allegro non troppo, increased the dose of vehemence, and the Rondo sounded with a more subdued tone than usual. It is a choice that somehow gave even more solidity to the whole. Strange the encore, mournful, gloomy, it can be a bit too much for a summer night. A tu cantem, by Pàvel Txesnokov.

Nobody who attended the concert that on May 23, 2019, the Balearic Islands City Auditorium offered, will forget the voice of the Norwegian soprano who had come to replace the American Lise Lindstrom. The name Lise Davidsen began to be spoken of in earnest, in a dazzling ascent, while she captivated everyone, without exception. Even those responsible for the Wagnerian oracle, where in the same year, two months later, she debuted with the role of Elisabeth in Tannhäuser with a tremendous success. From here, the possibility of a return was not even remote. Once again the predictions that more than a few soothsayers had made were shattered when the Cap Rocat Festival announced that we would have the opportunity to once again enjoy the immeasurable talent of Lise Davidsen, moreover in her Spanish debut as Floria Tosca. This circumstance alone made the semi-staged version of Puccini's opera an event of the highest possible caliber. 

Fourth and final concert of the Bellver Festival with the Orquestra Simfònica Illes Balears as the protagonist of this now consolidated event. Like an encore of the season, even though it is a different audience, this circumstance arises depending on where the activities take place. In any case, the four concerts by the ensemble at the emblematic castle are already a tradition and the venue is filled day after day. The last one was no exception and, while soloists had been the protagonists until now, for this occasion it was the British conductor Michael Francis who was in charge of putting his stamp on the concert. A British stamp, as was that of the program, made up of three composers of the same nationality and almost the same generation, such as Edward Elgar, Benjamin Britten and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The chosen pieces were performed in chronological order, so that one could discern a small evolution of classical music in the former empire in a short period of time.

End of the festival, major festival, with a truly luxurious Falstaff, which, moreover, we will surely never forget, because it is the last opera directed by Josep Pons as artistic director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu. Therefore, a heartfelt farewell to someone who for 14 seasons has given us many memorable evenings. One of them, without a doubt, this third performance, the second of the first cast of Giuseppe Verdi's last opera. He said he was writing it just for fun. His librettist, the indispensable Arrigo Boito, said that Requiem and the previous opera, Othello. Now we will not enter into the diatribe of rankings, which go against the essence of art, but it is no less true that it does not have the appeal of many others by the master of Busseto in everyone's memory. In any case, more or less commercial, what is not in doubt is that it is an indisputable masterpiece. A good proof is the production of the Teatro Real, of La Monnaie de Brussels, of the Opéra National de Bordeaux and of the Tokyo Nikkita Opera Foundation, directed by Laurent Pelly, which we were able to see in Madrid six seasons ago.It is, without a doubt, a real privilege to be able to enjoy it with the best possible Falstaff, Luca Salsi, and without forgetting that it is Ambroggio Maestri who is also responsible for interpreting the famous character, so celebrated that he makes an appearance in three of Shakespeare's plays, in the two of Henry IV and at The Merry Wives of Windsor, immortalized by Orson Welles in cinema. Although it is a character as comical as it is pathetic, the simplest thing would be to turn him into a caricature, but Pelly hits the right tone and his characteristics become a very accurate portrait with much more depth and substance than could be guessed at first glance. Salsi, immeasurable, from beginning to end, from head to toe, brilliant with the declaration of principles of the braggart, Honor! Thieves!, an explosion of contrasts with which the function opens. The bar, set very high. The others did not lower the level, such as Lucas Maechem's Fenton, with the same dose of stage presence as his “opponent”. Serena Sáenz's Nannetta and Carolina López Moreno's Alice, impeccable and with the grace that both characters need. All compensated, they all become the perfect complement to each other, but it must be said that Daniela Barcelona's Quickly had added value. With each intervention, she was funnier than the previous one. A choral work with an almost perfect distribution of protagonism and with a production in which everything was just right. As expected, Josep Pons, had already tidied up any possible small imbalance from the opening night, offering an impeccable reading of a score with a lot of harmonic diversity, which concludes with the presence of the choir, as minimal as it is effective.

Hearing Fullana play the Guarneri's Mary Portman is always an indescribable pleasure. Thursday, at the third concert of the Bellver Festival, it was no exception, quite the contrary. Francisco Fullana, once again, put on an exhibition of talent, gratitude, and commitment to what, in a way and undoubtedly, is also his orchestra and his audience. He demonstrates this time and time again. The truth is that, very probably, even those of us who have been listening to him for years in all and each of his performances at home are not sufficiently aware of his stratospheric level. Perhaps it is because it is in our DNA, but that is another story.

Second concert in Bellver. Unusual. Special. Affectionate. For various reasons. The first we find in the soloist, Josep Colom, the one in charge of interpreting the Piano Concerto No. 27 K. 595, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. An extraordinary musician in many ways, who is not legend, but history of music in print. An excellent and peculiar pianist, so much so that each of his interpretations has its own seal without betraying the original. Thursday evening was no exception, with a trademark cadence. Tireless. He would never stop playing. But, in addition, he has been a teacher about whom all his students speak wonders, with both affection and admiration. Pablo Mielgo, from the podium, explained that at 11 years old he had played in front of him and that, therefore, it was an honor to be able to accompany him. His interpretation of this late Mozart, although he was only 35 years old and had less than a year left to die, was careful, but when the best Colom emerged it was with the encore, the Rondo in A major K. 485, also by Mozart. It was as if the first intervention was a preparation. He certainly would have raised the level if he had continued playing. It is clear that seeing and hearing Josep Colom is always a luxury and, of course, a pleasure.Another of the reasons that the adjectives proclaim we find in the formation. Some members of the Symphonic accompanied by others from the Little Symphonic, formed by students between 10 and 16 years old, to whom, in addition to the prize of sharing the stage with the already professionals, Mielgo inoculated the first dose of the poison of applause. All of them showed that they were there on their own merits, with some solos that, with their eyes closed, we would not have figured out who was responsible. A success for Mielgo and an incentive for them, as in the second part the number of participants had increased. A second part that began with a selection of themes from La boutique Fantasque, by Ottorino Respighi, an orchestral suite from the ballet inspired by Rossini's music. Fun, cheerful, ideal. Next, a classic, The Moldau. Descriptive, suggestive, sweet. Everything in order, even a little surprising, the level of the concert. To end the party, rhythm, of quality, the Danzón No. 2, by Arturo Márquez. It goes without saying that the castle was once again full to the brim.

The Tchaikovsky-Dogadin tandem was in charge of inaugurating this new edition of the Bellver Festival, as an appendix to the season of the Illes Balears Symphony Orchestra, in the incomparable setting, which is a cliché, but undeniable. Pablo Mielgo conducted the performance, who once again showed good chemistry with the soloist of the day. Sergei Dogadin had already played with the same accompanists on two previous occasions. In the 23/24 season, he performed the Concerto for Violin, by Alexander Glazunov, and the following season he was in charge of opening the Symphony's season with the Concerto for Violin. In Memory of an Angel, by Alban Berg. On Thursday, I want to suppose that with the Domenico Montagnana, from 1721, he offered us a more recognized piece than those mentioned, but with a higher degree of difficulty, as immense as it is excellent, with the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major op. 35, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the only one that the Russian, who often didn't seem like it, composed for this instrument.

Forty editions and sold out for many years is a good reason for joy and, of course, to crown the season with a Rigoletto is one of the best ways to do justice to the event. It also carries a certain risk. To achieve a good result, high-level voices are needed. Damiano Salerno as Rigoletto and Génesis Moreno as Gilda were in charge of doing so and solemnizing the anniversary. Undoubtedly, they shone far above the rest of a cast that was not bad at all. But the pivotal moments of the performance were generated when they were the great protagonists. Their duets were anthological. They began their recital with the emotional and delicate Figlia! Mio padre! They continued with the colossal Mio padre!…Tutte la feste al tempio. They elevated the tragedy with the final duet, V’ho ingannato, colpevole fui and Lassú in cielo. These three moments alone would have been enough to satisfy an audience that bid farewell to the protagonists standing, after Rigoletto's desperate lament, 'La maledizione'. This was the title Giuseppe Verdi wanted. A detail of no importance for an impeccable and implacable piece. Structurally perfect, which forces both protagonists into a detailed, meticulous, and, of course, very demanding existential metamorphosis. Both Rigoletto and Gilda, the hunchback and the daughter, evolve, both vocally and dramatically, as circumstances arise and change. Salerno and Moreno more than fulfilled their task. Génesis Moreno, two seasons ago, had already shown many of her virtues at the Teatre Principal, playing Gounod's Juliet. Therefore, her choice to star as Gilda could not have been more fitting. If the entire performance was memorable, a tremendous and colossal display of warmth, expressiveness, coloratura, breath... it left everyone more or less stunned with an unforgettable Caro nome. Nothing to say, but quite the opposite, about the interventions of Damiano Salerno, with a resounding and full voice, who with an emotional and powerful Cortigiani, vil razza dannata, rich in nuances and full of difficulties, did not make us miss any of the great singers who have interpreted the most convoluted and complex character in Verdi's production. His projection, the complicated alliance of virulence and subtlety, and impeccable diction and vocalization stand out.The diction was a small hindrance for Filip Filipovic as Duke of Mantua, considerable in volume, but uneven overall, leaving the canzonetta that has remained as the symbol of the piece, La donna è mobilie, as an anecdote. The complicated piece is, always and much more so, Ella mi fu rapita! Filip Filipovic was correct, although regarding his character, I think he was too angry in the conception of a seducer, as if he were Gualtier Maldé. On another level, but adequate, was the local performance, with Begoña Gómez as Maddalena, Irene Mas as the Duchess's page, and Cristòfol Romaguera as Count Ceprano. On the other hand, Toni Marsol was an efficient and expeditious Monterone, while for Niall Anderson's Sparafucile, one did not need to go so far. The orchestra, conducted by Oliver Díaz, and the male choir of the Teatre Principal performed well, while Elena Barbalich's staging, in the production that arrives from Pavia, Como, Brescia, Cremona, Bergamo, and Toulon, combined period costumes with very contemporary metallic structures, aesthetically effective, but which above all served to delineate with great effectiveness each space where the action takes place at each moment. A great opera evening.

The Orbitans continue on their alternative theatrical path. If their usual haunt has been and is the bar counters of many city streets, they recently explored another territory for another type of dramaturgy and, undoubtedly, for their already consolidated audience. The first test took place in a hotel room, the Ars Magna, with the title Píccolo. A success. Hence a second rehearsal, in the same place and with no few guarantees, which with the title Estranyes visites written and directed by Javier Gato Matesanz, starring Mariona Hauf and Joan Manel Vadell.

Los Estunmen arrive at the Teatros del Canal after passing through the Lliure de Barcelona with all the blessings and approval of the Liceu and the Real, but with reticences as if a product of these characteristics did not yet have enough guarantees to be performed in the ancestral homes. Perhaps they are only prejudices, which is not understood after having seen in the grand house, in both and in many more, some operatic creation that was “amazing”. It is clear that the progenitors of the creature, Nao Albet and Marcel Borràs, have played the role - which is also a game that fits perfectly with this baby - of transgression and they announce it from the title. Els estunmen is nothing more than the pronunciation of the stuntmen, the specialists, the doubles of the protagonists, those who are there and pretend to be. The capos, Albet and Borràs, say it is an opera and they are surely right and have reasons to classify it within this genre, where contemporaneity always finds almost insurmountable barriers. The music is by Fernando Velázquez, who instead of transgressing creates a precise and fitting alloy of quite a few operatic eras, although if the story speaks, among many other things, of heroes, who better than Wagner as a great source of inspiration. For this, and for many other things, we are facing a guesamcunstverq, which is how the total work of art preached by the gentleman of Bayreuth is pronounced.

This 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.

Although it has been fifteen years since Alexandre Ballester passed away, he will always be present in the memory of those of us who enjoyed his talent, grace, and insight. That the Teatre Principal Palma decides to make him accessible to all those who did not have our good fortune is, without a doubt, not only a success but also a well-deserved tribute. The production, on the other hand, is a top-tier one, with a grandiose set design, with the drawback of mobility so it can go to other stages on the island, and a stellar cast, led by Miquel Àngel Torrens, along with Luca Bonadei, Mariona Hauf, Sofía Muñiz, Maria Rosselló Josep Orfila, and Patxi Arostegui. The play, Un baül groc per a Nofre Taylor, which Joan Lluís Bozzo once put on the Catalan alternative stages, a little before the creation of Dagoll Dagom, had been left at the bottom of the trunk of forgotten plays. Marga López has been in charge of this rescue, of this hyperrealistic portrait of the human condition, because that is what Ballester's play is, and nothing else. All the traits of the rich and powerful have not changed a bit, because they were already like that since time immemorial. This would be a careful, but simple, reading, because the subjects of the emperors/businessmen also play the same role as always, that of submission. Even more so, we could give all and each of the characters who appear the first and last names of someone known, so well-known that perhaps they are our own. Ballester's brush never left any corner unpainted.

The program notes of Calidoscopi, the latest creation by Estudi Zero, state that “characters are moved by absurd, violent, or profoundly human situations”. True, but it would be even more so if the conjunction were copulative instead of disjunctive. If the situations are absurd and violent, it is clear that they are undeniably very human. The caricature does not distort reality but accentuates it, so that this bold, irrational, and bizarre point makes the metaphorical drawing of the human condition arrive with more effectiveness. That the performance is composed of different small stories brings the Sans seal, in such a way that it transports us to that journey that Karl Valentin was piloting in this very room. For the occasion, several authors are listed in the roster of Calidoscopi –Esteve Soler, Juan Mayorga and Joël Pommerat–, which makes the mood of the different sketches raise the heat of each one considerably. There is no white humor. All contain a high dose of venom, in the same proportion as causticity and sarcasm, and without fear of crossing red lines.The first story, that of the man run over by a bus, about which I will say no more because it would be a spoiler, sets the tone of the performance. Black humor in its purest form. Human cruelty or lack of humanity, which in this case is the same, shines with all its splendor. That of the couple who confess to their twenty-year-old son that he was not a desired child, exponentially increases the portion of inhumanity. That of the seller of anything you can imagine is a mirror directed towards the stalls. And so on. All in all, rounded off with a musical number performed by Dominic Hull, a My way in the purest crooner style, accompanied by the rest of the cast and dressed as Fortunio Bonanova and the Glamouramas were in their glorious American years. Naturally, in such a diverse ensemble it is not easy to find the ideal point of homogeneity, but, even so, the performance treasures enough uniformity, both in the different stories and in the interpretation of the seven protagonists, who in such a marathon performance become an immense crowd of characters, always dressed very differently. Only a small caveat, the wigs are not very necessary. With the different changes of register, which are there, it is enough.

The imposing cloister of Sant Bonaventura hosted the Ceremony of the Whirling Dervishes, organized by the Toni Catany Foundation, who, as the program states, was a lover of the cultures of the Mediterranean, which he traveled and of which he left artistic testimony in countless photographic series. It is not a spectacle, it isa whole liturgical experience, as Halil Bárcena, the director of the Institute of Sufi Studies of Barcelona, explained very well shortly before initiating this Sêma: The Sufi Journey, performed by the Neva Sufi Ensemble. A group composed, on the one hand, by four musicians with their traditional instruments, the ney, the qanun, the ud, and the bendir —more or less, a flute, a trapezoidal zither, an Arabic lute, and a drum— also responsible for voicing the selam, the greeting in Turkish. On the other hand, the semazens, dancing dervishes, another four, who repeat the turns, always from left to right, with their right hand turned towards the sky and the left towards the ground, the way to establish a link between the soul and the body, between the divine and the human.Robert Graves said in the preface toThe Sufis, by the foundational thinker Idries Shah, that “Sufism represented a current of inner illumination centered on love and self-knowledge, free from oppressive dogmas”. All this was evident in this representation of the music and dances of the classical Mevlevi Sufi tradition. The venue, full; the silence, absolute, reverential. As if it were a service with all its mystical weight. The ascetic movements of the dervishes were responsible for marking the spiritual idiosyncrasy of the performance, while at the same time exhibiting a cadence that was both aesthetic and sober and cenobitic.The music, emotional and profound, with the traditional melodic phrases of the maqamat, which, as the voices chanted the names of the prophets, brought to the performance the pure and transcendent alloy between one and another. It was the feeling that it was all much more than our senses could grasp at first instance. It was a fitting and emotional tribute, but also an open door to another way of seeing and living.