Commemoration of the start of the Battle of the Ebro
ESQUERDA I: CRIT (CREVICE I: CRY)
Swan Ensemble Quartet formed by Cristina Morell and Colli Chan (violin), Jordi Morell (viola), and Natalie Hancock (cello).
Mireia Andreu and Jaume Martínez, art direction
Crit is not a performance: it is an open wound of indifference, driven in by a hammer made of strings. Video art in five scenes, segued by the shrill sobbing of Shostakovich’s Quartet no. 8 —music that is not played, but that bleeds. Crit is part of the event held to commemorate the start of the Battle of the Ebro on 25 July 1938, a battle in which Tortosa collapsed into burning remnants of rubble and memories. The cry became cemented under the city’s skin like a fissure that never heals. An artistic experience held in Plaça dels Dolors, a special location in Tortosa that suffered the ravages of the Civil War, on the date of the start of struggle that was to mark the country forever.
Composed in just three days in Dresden in 1960, after a visit to the ruins of the city destroyed by allied bombing in World War Two, String Quartet no. 8 in C minor, op. 110 by Dmitri Shostakovich is a piece dedicated to the victims of fascism and of the war. It is considered one of the major chamber symphonies of the 20th century. It is often performed as both an individual and group intimate requiem. With this soundtrack at the core of the performance, Crit will combine music and audiovisuals to provoke an open wound of indifference, driven in by a hammer made of strings. Video art in five scenes, segued by the shrill sobbing of Shostakovich’s Quartet, music that is not played, but that bleed.
PERFORMERS
The Swan Ensemble is a chamber music ensemble that was established in 2023 to offer a captivating blend of classical elegance and contemporary innovation. With a repertoire ranging from the refined compositions of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods to the bold sounds of contemporary music, the ensemble plays a wide range of styles and periods. Its musical journey is the result of dedication and years of musical education at prestigious schools in London, such as the Royal Academy, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Trinity Laban, along with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in Glasgow.
ART DIRECTION
Mireia Andreu studied dramatic arts and stage direction at the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. She joined the Rodrigo García’s company La Carnicería Teatro in 2001, where she was an assistant to direction and production in works that were performed at theatres and festivals throughout Europe. In 2004, she received the UBÚ theatre award for the best contemporary production performance and, in 2009, the UNESCO award for the best contemporary theatre production. She began her own artistic career in 2005, in the field of video art and experimental film. Since then, she has created performances that could be seen in locations such as the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, the Lo Pati Art Centre, the Pensa Festival of Philosophy in Barcelona, and A Cel Obert in Tortosa.
Jaume Martínez is a designer whose work includes graphic design, stage design and plastic art, always with a strong connection to Tortosa and its surroundings, and particularly sensitive towards interior spaces and the ties with architecture and urban memory. Martínez has shown an interest in creating poetic stages that encourage the audience to delve into memories and imagination, using the city’s architectural elements and being inspired by areas of silence that are often desolate of human activity. This approach shows a deep reflection of the city’s evolution, the mutation of the urban network, and the meaning of human existence.