There are those who sing to entertain and those who sing to move. And then there is Joan Manuel Serrat, who does it all at the same time. With his unmistakable voice and his way of turning life into song, he has won over entire generations. Poet without ink, troubadour without an era, gentleman of the sung verse, he put music to Antonio Machado and Miguel Hernández as well as taught us that the Mediterranean is more than just a sea. From the Nova Cançó to the Olympus of Spanish music, his legacy is not measured in awards, but there is the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts awarded in 1995, to remind us that his was not luck, but pure history.
Barcelona and Serrat, Serrat and Barcelona
If Barcelona had a voice, it would probably be that of Joan Manuel Serrat. Born in the neighborhood of Poble-sec, he grew up in its streets and turned the city into the muse of his songs. One only has to listen to Barcelona i jo, his personal ode to the Catalan capital, to feel that each chord smells of the saltpeter we know so well.
But their bond goes beyond music. In 1992, Serrat was one of the privileged ones to carry the Olympic torch at the Barcelona Games, a gesture that symbolized what was already a fact: his name was engraved in the history of Barcelona. And although his career took him to stages all over the world, perhaps because “his childhood is still playing on his beach”, Barcelona will always be his home.
Serrat’s music finds a new port in Candlelight
There have been many tributes to Joan Manuel Serrat, but none like the ones Candlelight has prepared. The famous concert series reinvents his legacy with the elegance of a string quartet and the hypnotic glow of thousands of candles. Mediterráneo, Cantares, Penélope, Barquito de Papel and other hits by “El Nano” will be played at the Paraninfo of the University of Barcelona, the Real Círculo Artístico and the Recinto Modernista de Sant Pau in an evening as evocative as his lyrics. An encounter between nostalgia and musical beauty, where each note will open the door to a memory.
Joan Manuel Serrat (that noi de Poble-sec who is no longer a child) is the living history of music. An indelible legacy that in the coming months will shine even brighter on the stages of the Paraninfo of the University of Barcelona, the Real Círculo Artístico and the Recinto Modernista de Sant Pau, where Candlelight will pay tribute to him during an evening as intimate as it is unforgettable.