Silvia Pérez Cruz Opens La Mar de Músicas Festival, Blending Tradition and Avant-Garde

Silvia Pérez Cruz kicked off the 31st edition of the La Mar de Músicas festival in Cartagena, Spain, on Friday, describing the event as "like my home." The acclaimed Catalan artist demonstrated her powerful vocals and virtuosity, seamlessly fusing genres and styles that bridge tradition and avant-garde.

This marks Pérez Cruz's fifth appearance at the festival, which this year spotlights Ecuador as its guest country. The festival will host 45 concerts in total, with 21 of them offered free of charge, running through July 25. Last year's scheduled performance with Portuguese artist Salvador Sobral was cut short by rain, a fact Pérez Cruz humorously referenced, joking about the current heatwave.

During the concert, Pérez Cruz encouraged audience participation, inviting them to sing along and create rhythms and melodies using their voices, clapping, and even fans. The performance began with an a cappella rendition of "Hierbabuena," an Argentine folk song. The impressive Parque Torres auditorium, overlooking Cartagena's bay, later welcomed a dozen string, wind, and percussion musicians, along with a ten-voice choir.

"Success is being surrounded by good people, and if that's the case, I'm succeeding immensely," she remarked before introducing her collaborators. The concert transitioned from an intimate first half with minimal instrumentation to a more vibrant second half featuring white staging and dreamlike moments. The finale embraced the color red with powerful renditions of 'L'amour reprand ses droits,' 'Gallo rojo,' and 'Mañana.'

Pérez Cruz also performed songs from her latest album, 'Oral_Abisal,' which she explained explores themes of the familiar, love, and the leap into the unknown. Her musical project is known for its ability to encompass and fuse diverse styles, from flamenco and Latin American song to jazz, bossa nova, and fado, with experimental and avant-garde elements. A particularly moving moment was her duet with her daughter, Lola Cruz, on the song 'E triste viver sem seu amor.'

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Hoy no parece que va a llover, aunque igualmente con la humedad acabaremos chorreando