For this second event marking the 150th anniversary of Manuel de Falla, La Cité Bleue is hosting an exceptional collaboration: harpsichordist Benjamin Alard and choreographer-dancer Israel Galván, alongside soloists from the Geneva Chamber Orchestra.

At the heart of the program is the Concierto para clavicémbalo (1923–1926), an emblematic work of the modern harpsichord renaissance. In de Falla’s hands, the instrument regains a rhythmic intensity, an incisive clarity, and an almost ascetic density that engage in dialogue with the colors of Spanish music. In parallel, José María Sánchez-Verdú’s Las ínsulas extrañas extends this exploration through a contemporary style characterized by textures, resonant silences, and suspended lines. Works by Tomás Luis de Victoria, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Domenico Scarlatti complete this journey through a Spain that is both real and imagined.

But Espagne intime is more than a chamber music concert: with Israel Galván, the unclassifiable master of contemporary flamenco, the choreographic gesture becomes a true partner to the harpsichord. His dance embraces its rhythms, reveals its angles, and shifts its perspectives. An evening of concentrated intensity, where the harpsichord meets the oldest and most contemporary art form there is: dance.