Marcial AV (2016)

Origin of the project

Producers Jaime Ballada and Daniel Torres met by chance the members of the Joan Manén Association in 2012, following a conference on the Catalan violinist and composer. Immediately seduced by the uniqueness and genius of the musician, the producers of Marcial AV decided to embark on a long adventure by recording everything that the Association generated with their cameras. "Joan Manén, variacions sense tema" makes a faithful x-ray of what the Association is, a group of musicians fascinated by an artist who achieved great prestige around the world with her art, a fascination that pushes them day by day to generate activities that allow fair recognition of someone who has undoubtedly been one of the country's greatest musical figures.

Synopsis

The documentary is a follow-up over four years of the activities that the Joan Manén Association carries out to recover the historical importance of this great figure through the dissemination of his work, interviews with people who knew him, the search for sheet music, recordings, restoration of the musician's instrument, organization of concerts, etc. The true protagonist is therefore not Joan Manén, but the people behind the Association and the motivations, enthusiasm and continued effort to value the legacy of this great musician. Through them, their research and the milestones they are reaching, we draw the musical and biographical profile of Joan Manén, trying to understand the reasons for his oblivion.

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Actiovisual (2012)

The documentary analyzes the figure of Joan Manén, considered one of the best violinists of the first half of the 20th century and a great unknown to most people. Born in Barcelona, this universal Catalan performed from a young age before the best world aristocracy, and in the best venues, such as the Hochschule in Berlin or the Carnegie Hall in New York. Composer of an extensive catalog that includes operas, symphonies, concerts and numerous sardanas, he rubbed shoulders with musicians of the stature of Albéniz, Richard Strauss, Rimski-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Granados and Pau Casals. His strong and demanding character, his "Don Juanism", and his rather indolent attitude during the Franco regime, transformed him into a character loved and hated at the same time by the society of his time.
His memoirs, written by himself, as well as multiple articles and interviews about him, allow us to reconstruct the most interesting aspects of his life and investigate the reason for his oblivion.

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