Denia music fest in July

Torrecremada Music Festival: Breezing through summer

SUMMER nights serenaded by great music in open-air gardens sound like the perfect after-work wind-down to us, and if you're in Dénia this month, you'll find it right on your doorstep.

The Torrecremada Music Festival costs just €5 per head per concert – all of which is for charity – and numbers are limited to 212 for each show (masks compulsory, of course).

Unfortunately, this year, there will be no food or drink stands, so you might want to eat out first or bring a snack with you, and access to the sole port-a-loo will be 'managed' by council staff; part and parcel of the 'New Normality' in times of pandemic, and a small price to pay for our freedom from lockdown and avoiding catching the virus.

For this reason, tickets are only available online, via www.instanticket.es, so as to limit the number of people touching them.

The full amount paid for each will go to Dénia's 'Mesa Solidària' ('Charity Table'), made up of the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Cáritas, and the association Extiende Tu Mano ('Reach out your hand').

Access to the venue – the Torrecremada Park, the Monday market site - is permitted from 21.00 via the main market gate.

Concerts are held every Friday in July from 22.30.

FRIDAY, JULY 17

Opera and zarzuela recital by Palau de les Arts graduates

Some of the region's most élite musicians, members of the 'Perfection Centre' at Valencia's iconic opera house, offer a pan-European repertoire with piano and vocals, combining major operatic pieces with the traditional Spanish zarzuela, a type of theatre or scene music similar to opera combining solos, duets, chorus pieces, instrumentals and even spoken parts.

José Miguel Román plays the piano, and Larisa Stefan,

Amber Fasquelle, Evgeniya Khomutova and Max Hochmuth put the voices to it, bringing to life works by Offenbach, Bizet, Poulenc, and hugely-famous Spanish composers such as Barbieri, Penella, Chapí, Serrano, Arrieta, duos Chueca and Valverde, Nieto and Giménez – the pair behind The Barber of Seville – and Sorozábal.

FRIDAY, JULY 24

Púrpura

Quartet

Reviving the best-loved tracks from the best-known musicals, this fabulous foursome brings you all the brilliance of Broadway with a touch a genius.

Pansa

Saxophone

Their dexterous virtuoso, sublime elegance and delicious dash of humour takes you tripping through your favourite shows spanning decades in the life of one of the world's top theatres – don't miss it.

FRIDAY, JULY 31

'Rhythms from North to South'

Stretching across an entire continent, the familiar musical milestones along the length of the Pan-American Highway carry you away on an exotic journey across thousands of kilometres and ever-changing scenery.

Carmen Paula Romero on the piano and Ángel Belda on the clarinet start at Cape Horn and work their way up towards the Big Apple, starting with the Argentinian take on the waltz, the milonga – a fastpaced dance music style from the heart of the Río de la Plata area on the ArgentinaUruguay border – and, of course, the tango, passing through the flamenco rhythms of North American composer Kenji Bunch, through to the most authentic blues and jazz melodies of New York and New Orléans.

Their extensive repertoire covers the works of Paquito d'River, Pablo Ziegler, Carlos Guastavino, and the unforgettable, legendary George Gershwin.