La Trobada de la Mare de Déu to feature a Symphonic Suite, enhancing a key moment in Benidorm’s Festes Majors Patronals
The piece was composed by maestro Francisco José Rovira and recorded at the Cultural Centre Auditorium by the symphony orchestra of the Societat Musical La Nova
Mayor Toni Pérez has welcomed the introduction of this new musical composition, which will be performed for the first time on Saturday 7 November at Poniente Beach, as part of the re-enactment of the Hallazgo (the discovery of the Virgin Mary)
This year, the staging of La Trobada de la Mare de Déu, the central event of Benidorm’s Festes Majors Patronals, will feature a new addition designed to enhance the impact and distinctive character of a theatrical tradition that has been performed by the Associació Cultural i Recreativa La Barqueta for the past 50 years.
In just over 60 minutes, the performance recreates the events that took place in Benidorm on 16 March 1740, along with those that unfolded in the days and weeks that followed.
The new addition is a symphonic suite composed by maestro Francisco José Rovira Peretó, entitled Arribada d’una Imatge de la Verge a Benidorm (‘The Arrival of an Image of the Virgin Mary in Benidorm’), the same title as the work by Pere Maria Orts i Bosch. It is the result of a “highly exciting” project involving the active participation of La Barqueta, the Societat Musical La Nova and Benidorm City Council’s Department of Culture, headed by Councillor Jaime Jesús Pérez.
Mayor Toni Pérez, La Barqueta president Francisco Llorens, and composer and La Nova conductor Francisco José Rovira presented details of the composition this Thursday, accompanied by Councillors for Culture and Fiestas, Jaime Jesús Pérez and Mariló Cebreros. The suite will be performed for the first time on Saturday 7 November at Poniente Beach, as part of the re-enactment.
The suite comprises eight movements that follow the performance’s storyline in chronological order, “thus transforming the different episodes that make up this historical account into music”, the Mayor explained.
The musical narrative will be interwoven with the live performance by actors from the Associació Cultural i Recreativa La Barqueta and with a previously recorded narration by the much-missed Pepe Bayona, known as la veu del temps (‘the voice of time’). This adds another layer of complexity to the production, as every element must be precisely timed, virtually to the second.
Toni Pérez recalled that La Trobada de la Mare de Déu del Sofratge has been recognised as a Festival of Regional Tourist Interest since 2015, several years before the wider festivities received the same distinction. The celebrations are now seeking to achieve national recognition.
The Mayor praised the initiative undertaken by the two cultural organisations, with the support of the Department of Culture, and highlighted that it “will undoubtedly help strengthen our case for obtaining this recognition, enhancing an event that expresses who we are and how we feel as a community. It is the cornerstone and starting point of our Festes Majors Patronals.”
The festivities revolve around the image of Benidorm’s patron saint and its discovery, intact among the ashes of a boat that had been drifting at sea. Local fishermen towed the vessel ashore, but in 1740 the authorities ordered it to be burned for fear of possible contagion.
La Barqueta president Francisco Llorens expanded on this point, explaining that the idea of commissioning the piece arose from the desire to enhance the performance as part of the application for National Tourist Interest status. He also noted that, alongside adding the musical score, the historic recording used during the performance had been cleaned up to improve its sound quality.
Composer Francisco José Rovira explained that writing the suite had been “a major project, with a great deal of work behind it”, but expressed his confidence that audiences would both enjoy and be moved by the piece.
He explained that the work is divided into two parts. The first is “more adventurous”, depicting the opening sequence in which Antonio Bayona and the men accompanying him put out to sea in search of the boat, uncertain of what they will find. The second is “more historical and emotional”, combining different sections of the original recording and paying tribute to Benidorm’s seafaring heritage and its fishermen. Together, the two parts comprise a total of 40 minutes of music.
The eight movements are entitled: N’és l’hora de l’alba; El llagut; El llondro; Varant el llondro; La cremà del llondro; Pregària; Vocació marinera; and Trobada de la Mare de Déu.
Special Concert and CD Launch
Although the musical piece will be performed for the first time in the setting for which it was composed, accompanying the live re-enactment of the Hallazgo on the Saturday of the festivities, audiences will have the opportunity to hear its individual movements a few days earlier at a special concert by the Societat Musical La Nova. The concert will take place on Friday 30 October at the Rafael Doménech Auditorium in Benidorm’s Cultural Centre.
The event will also feature the launch of a CD recorded last July at the Cultural Centre Auditorium. The album includes the suite Arribada d’una Imatge de la Verge a Benidorm, performed by La Nova, along with other festive pieces performed by La Barqueta’s plucked-string orchestra. The cultural association will make the CD available for purchase from the day of the concert.
The Mayor and representatives of both organisations involved in the project have invited the public to attend either the special concert, which begins at 9 pm and is free of charge, subject to available capacity, or the performance of La Trobada de la Mare de Déu, where audiences can experience the new musical composition, on which Rovira Peretó has been working for more than a year.
