Ute Lemper: the star of April’s Guitar BCN
Over the coming weeks, the festival will also feature performances by La Shica, Pantaleó + Coriolà, Joan Colomo, Caetano Veloso and Rick Astley
The Guitar BCN Festival is still bringing some top figures in music in a wide variety of styles to the stages of Barcelona. What started as a guitar-focused festival has now branched out to include everything from folk-pop to piano music, cabaret, rock and jazz. The long list of performances stretches out until 6 June, and April promises to be particularly intense, opening with the renowned German artist Ute Lemper.
Technically speaking, the first concert of the month is by rapper Paula Domínguez, who will be performing at 12 noon on Sunday 1 April at The Wittmore, but these start in earnest with Lemper’s take on the legacy of German cabaret and composers like Kurt Weill. Lemper will be presenting “Last Tango in Berlin”, one of her most consolidated works, full of poetry, big band sounds from the 1920s and the cream of the repertoire of musical theatre. She will be appearing at Sala Barts on 7 April. Later in the month it will be time for people like Scott Bradley who will be transforming pop and rock classics into 1930s swing with his big band at the Auditori at the Fòrum, La Shica with her blend of pop and flamenco (The Wittmore on 19 April), Pantaleó + Coriolà (Luz de Gas, on 21 April), singer-songwriters Joan Colomo (Barts Club on 20 April) and Bigott (Bikini, 27 April), and two unique events: the first with a Brazilian flavour when Caetano will be appearing with samba singer Teresa Cristina at Palau de la Música (28 April), and the second with echoes of the 1920s when Rick Astley reviews hits like “Together Forever” and “Never Gonna Give You Up”.
You will find more information and the complete programme on the festival website, together with concert times and tickets sales.