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Raixa
Worldmuxxic, 2001
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The album Raixa was recorded live on the nights of the 25th to 29th of July within the setting of the 25th anniversary, almost uninterrupted, of concerts by Maria del Mar Bonet in the Plaça del Rei. Raixa also aimed at being a dedication and defence of an old Mallorca garden which at the time was under threat of destruction. As she herself said “All the songs have been chosen because they have a sense of contemplation about a garden, like the one we carry inside“. Maria del Mar Bonet was accompanied by the Ars Ensemble directed by Joan Valent as well as her regular musicians Javier Mas, Dimitri Psonis and Feliu Gasull. Stage direction was by Rosa Vergés.

Raixa represents the show with most international projection until that time. The change of record company, Worldmuxxic from Madrid, which guaranteed her a good live recording of the album. However, the new record company had to close in mid-promotion of the album. This meant buying the licences and promoting it themselves: in 2001 she sang in Sibiu (Rumania), Turin (Italy) and Philadelphia (USA); in 2002 in Istanbul (Turkey), AthensLondon and Beziers (France); in 2003 she toured the USA (New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Indianapolis, Purchase, Los Angeles)Canada (L’Assomption, Montreal, Le Borse Rideau, Toronto, Beloeiel), Italy (Naples, Bologna, Scandiano, Castelnovo Monti, San Remo), Holland (Nijmegen, Amsterdam, Utrecht) as well as performing in Tokyo (Japan)Moscow (Russia)Damascus (Syria)Naxos (Greece)Andorra and Corsica.

It should not be forgotten that Raixa was also presented in Mallorca, in the Raixa gardens that give the album its name. She toured Catalonia Festival de Torroella de Montgrí, Música Viva in Vic, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and other cities) and in the Spanish State (Lugo, Madrid, Tudela, Vitoria, Alicante, Getafe, Mallorca, Sagunto, Granada, San Sebastian, Pontevedra, Chiclana, Valencia, Collioure, among others).

With this busy agenda Maria del Mar Bonet still had time to work on several collaborations and have diverse shows in progress on the billing.

In 2002 she premiered the literary show with Biel Mesquida and Joan Manresa Tocats de lletra in Felanitx, Mallorca. In May she performed with George Moustaki to celebrate Europe Day in the Auditorium in Palma, in June in the Festival Medfest, in September in Llíria with Lluís Llach, in October in Manresa with Kepa Junquera. In 2003 she took part in the celebrations of Verdaguer Year in Folgueroles; the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya booked her and she presented a new show, Caloma, between the 27th and 30th of March that year, also under the stage direction of Rosa Vergés.

With Raixa she received the following awards:

Music Prizes (2002) for the best album of traditional Folk and best album in Catalan; the Arc Prize (2003) and the prestigious Premi Tenco per l’operatore culturale de San Remo (2003) along with Jane Birkin and Patti Smith.

In 2009 the album Raixa was reissued with Harmonia Mundi/World Village in a format designed for an international setting.

Photographs to Raixa, Juan Miguel Morales
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Graphic Documentation
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Concert Raixa, Palau de la Música Catalana
January 18, 2002 (Part I)
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Concert Raixa, Palau de la Música Catalana
January 18, 2002 (Part II)
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