Laura Almerich i Santacreu

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Laura Almerich i Santacreu

Laura Almerich i Santacreu (born July 3, 1940 in Barcelona ; † June 14, 2019 there ) was a Catalan classical concert guitarist. She became the guitar accompanist of the songwriter Lluís Llach and achieved great attention and appreciation in the Nova Cançó Catalana area . Llach dedicated the two songs "Laura" and "Roses blanques" (White Roses) to her.

life and work

As a child, Laura Almerich made her first experiences in music with a neighboring piano teacher. Then, when she was nine or ten years old, this piano teacher advised her to go to the Barcelona Conservatory. She became a student of Gracià Tarragó at the Conservatori del Liceu . As a trained concert guitarist, Almerich completed a lute training in London. She then joined the chamber music guitar ensemble Quartet Tarragó . For some time she also gave concerts of medieval and renaissance music with the ensemble Ars Musicae de Barcelona under Enric Gisbert .

On December 19, 1969 she played under Gispert in a concert at the Palau de la Musica Catalana , where Lluís Llach also performed. This singer from the Empordà had already performed some songs that were banned under the Franco regime . The audience demanded the chanson L'Estaca (The Stake) , which was absolutely forbidden by the censorship . Llach just began to hum the song. Laura Almerich was one of the first to sing the lyrics. Almerich's manager Joan Molas suggested after the concert that Almerich should generally accompany Lluís Lach. Laura Almerich had previously accompanied Maria del Mar Bonet on her record "Cançons de Menorca" on the guitar.

In this new environment of Nova Cançó Catalana and the songwriter and chansonnier Lluís Llach, Laura Almerich gained increasing popularity. In 1977 during rehearsals for a concert in Ripoll , Llach Almerich presented the score of the piece "Laura", which was dedicated to her, and was signed by all the musicians in the group. Llach performed the piece in public for the first time. From this point on, Almerich was indispensably integrated into the group, just as the song "Laura" was integrated into their repertoire. Llach also performed "Laura" in 1985 in a concert at the packed Camp Nou in Barcelona. Almerich ended her guitar solo early, emotionally overwhelmed. The concert-goers acknowledged this moment with long applause.

In 1994 Llach dedicated another song to his guitarist: "Roses blanques" or "White Roses" was created in collaboration between Llach and the poet Miquel Martí i Pol . In this poem set to music, Llach recalled the human hopes he shared with Laura Almerich. Even after retiring from the music business, the two remained close friends. Almerich acted as patron of the Lluís Llach Foundation and as a juror for the award of the culture prize, which was awarded annually by the Vall-Llach winery. Almerich publicly supported Llach when he became a member of the Catalan parliament for JxSí .

Laura Almerich died on June 14, 2019 after a long illness. Lluís Llach led the funeral service in Barcelona musically with the wishes of the deceased: The Adagio for strings by Samuel Barber , the piece "Aprendre" from the Llach CD "Testimo" from 1989, "Roses blanques" now by the actress Sílvia Bel performed and "Laura" played on the piano by Lluís Llach himself while Sílvia Bel recited the verses "Lletra a Dolors" by Martí i Pol.

The classical guitar was Laura Almerich's main instrument. As a thoroughbred musician, she also used the accordion , keyboard and piano as well as marimba and viola in public concerts and also used her singing voice .

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Web links

Individual references and comments

  1. ↑ The article is based on the article of the same name on the Catalan language Wikipedia. The version history of the Catalan article is integrated into the German article.
  2. ↑ VilaWeb: S'ha mort la guitarrista Laura Almerich (The guitarist Laura Almerich has died.). June 14, 2019, accessed August 8, 2019 (Catalan).
  3. ↑ El Temps. 2019. Laura Almerich.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Xavier Aliaga (El Temps): Laura Almerich, la guitarrista i l'eternitat. June 24, 2019, accessed August 8, 2019 (Catalan).
  5. ^ Enciclopèdia Catalana: Quartet Tarragó. In: Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana . Retrieved August 7, 2019 (Catalan).
  6. ↑ a b Enderrock: Mor Laura Almerich, acompanyant eterna de Lluís Llach. June 14, 2019, accessed August 8, 2019 (Catalan).
  7. ↑ Lluís Bou (elnacional.ca): Mor Laura Almerich, la guitarrista de Lluís Llach. June 14, 2019, accessed August 8, 2019 (Catalan).
  8. ↑ ara.cat (cultura): Comiat emocionat de Lluís Llach a Laura Almerich. June 16, 2019, accessed August 8, 2019 (Catalan).
  9. ↑ Lluís Llach (blog): Laura Almerich. Retrieved August 8, 2019 (Catalan).
personal data
SURNAME Almerich i Santacreu, Laura
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catalan classical concert guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd July 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Barcelona
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 2019
Place of death Barcelona