Sandra Monfort opens the second season of the Nits de Libèl·lula Contemporary Music Festival in the garden of Can Prunera

Sandra Monfort is a modern sibyl. With her guitar over her shoulder and a silky voice that caresses the soul, she delivered, with naturalness and sensitivity, a performance to remember. With that gentle passion so characteristic of self-taught musicians, Sandra began the concert in harmony with the garden’s jasmine. The subtle scent of this flower had already captivated Pedro Salinas when he wrote:

White star of mother-of-pearl,
guardian of the evening,
silver caress.

Monfort’s music shares with jasmine the heady spell of Mediterranean summer sunsets. Eternal moments in which the sound of the waves lulls us, as if, for a moment, we could return to the cradle where we were first born. Following this thread, Sandra adapted a beautiful poem by Vicent Andrés Estelles entitled Cançó de bressol, published in his 1956 collection La Nit. A lullaby that rocked us all like a peaceful boat anchored off the coast.

Ballads, folk songs and pasodobles intertwined with enviable harmony. From León to Asturias and from Valencia to Mallorca, all the songs selected by Sandra were imbued with the gift of precision. Even the blackbirds and pidgeons seemed to enjoy the concert, actively joining in with their songs. The polyphonic sequence of Ramo Verde, Solar and the exquisite rendition of New Order’s ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ simply unleashed a wave of admiration from the audience.
And this is where we must highlight, with great enthusiasm and admiration, the subtle blend of genres that Sandra so skillfully adapted for voice, guitar and… saxophone. The sensual saxophone of Carles Medina, whose notes permeate everything, also burst into the garden, casting beautiful bluesy and jazzy hues. A delight for the senses. With Eugenia and her mischief, the audience’s laughter mingled with the musical notes, in time with Sandra’s eternal smile. Sincere smiles are also partitures that can be read.

The final song arrived, and with it the tears of emotion from many of us. Moreneta, dedicated to Sandra’s grandmother in 2023, took us back to that primordial origin, where life seemed simpler; where the queens of spring were our grandmothers and our mothers, the eternal companions of the dawn.

A sibyl sang at Can Prunera:

Look, look how beautiful she is,
look at her as she goes
with her work done,
leaving a trail of scent,
of fennel and laurel.
Look at her, how beautiful she is,