ClàssicAnd 4th Edition Unveils Star-Studded Classical Lineup in Andorra

The fourth edition of ClàssicAnd, Andorra's premier classical music festival, features an impressive lineup headlined by French actress Fanny Ardant, Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanča, and Spanish dancer and choreographer Nacho Duato. Running from May 29 to June 7, the event follows a prelude concert tomorrow at the Auditori Nacional with flamenco singer Carmen Linares performing Falla's *El amor brujo*.

Artistic director Joan-Anton Rechi has assembled a programme as ambitious as last year's, including Carl Orff's *Carmina Burana*, Monteverdi's *Combattimento*, and a farewell tour stop by German pianist Christian Zacharias. Local highlights feature a visit to the recently restored Casa de la Vall with Bach's Passion fragments, and a performance by the overall winner of the Sax Fest, to be announced on April 4.

Venues include the Parc Central sail, Santa Coloma, the returning Auditori Nacional and Casa de la Vall—absent last year for renovations—and potentially the Radio Andorra gardens, Andorra Congrés Centre, and Consell General lobby, pending final confirmation.

The festival opens on May 29 at the Auditori with Garanča, accompanied by pianist Matthias Schulz. Her recital spans Mozart to verismo, including Wagner and dramatic works, following recent roles in *Ariadne auf Naxos*, *Aida*, *Carmen*, and *La damnation de Faust*. She has performed at Salzburg, Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and Covent Garden.

Ardant makes her debut on June 7 at the Parc Central sail in *Cassandre*, Michael Jarrell's operatic monologue based on Christa Wolf's novel. A spoken opera rather than sung, it premiered with her at the 2015 Avignon Festival.

Nacho Duato's company takes the stage on June 5 at Parc Central with excerpts from *Duende*, *Na Floresta*, and *Cantus*, performed by young dancers.

On May 30 at Parc Central, Rechi directs *Combattimento*—recently staged in Seville after its 2016 Peralada premiere—with conductor Fausto Nardi, mezzo Anna Alàs, tenors Francisco Fernández Rueda and Víctor Sordo, soprano Rocio Martínez, and the Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla.

Zacharias, 75, brings his farewell tour to the Auditori on June 6 with the Leipziger Streichquartett, likely featuring Gade, a Schumann, Dvořák or Schubert quintet, and Brahms quartet in a Romantic programme.

The grand finale on May 30 at Parc Central is the Andorran premiere of *Carmina Burana*, led by Josep Caballé Domènech. It unites the ONCA orchestra, Joven Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Coro de la Sinfónica de Galicia, and the children's choir of Amics de la Unió de Granollers.