On 11 July, Ludovic Morlot led 180 musicians from the OBC and the Orfeó Català in front of a 24,000-strong audience on Sant Sebastià beach in Barcelona, for the first concert of Clàssica a la Platja.

Morlot was joined by Catalan singers soprano Serena Sáenz and baritone Josep Ramon Olivé, as well as mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham and tenor Freddie de Tommaso, for a night of music celebrating the anthems of major sporting events. The programme included the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the aria Nessun dorma from Puccini’s Turandot, and Orff’s O Fortuna. In addition, soprano Serena Sáenz and singer Arnau Tordera performed the legendary theme Barcelona, composed by Freddie Mercury for Montserrat Caballé and the 1992 Olympic Games. Another 30,000 people tuned into the concert broadcast on television and radio.

Clàssica a la Platja is an initiative from the Teatre del Liceu, the Palau de la Música Catalana, and L’Auditori, under the umbrella of Barcelona Obertura and in collaboration with the Barcelona City Council. The initiative, which also has the collaboration of the La Caixa Foundation, aims to continue bringing symphonic music to society as a whole and making it accessible to all audiences, with the sea as a beautiful backdrop.

You can watch the full concert here.