On 22 October 2024, Josep Pons received the Ópera XXI Award for Best Musical Direction for Richard Wagner’s Parsifal during the sixth Ópera XXI Awards ceremony, held at Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela. The distinction recognised his musical direction of the Gran Teatre del Liceu production presented during the 2022/23 season.
The Ópera XXI Awards are Spain’s leading national honours dedicated to opera and lyric theatre. Josep Pons’s award recognised an interpretation distinguished by its architectural coherence, expressive depth and the artistic work achieved with the Gran Teatre del Liceu Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
Directed by Claus Guth, the production was performed between 25 May and 7 June 2023, with a cast led by Nikolai Schukoff, Elena Pankratova, René Pape, Matthias Goerne and Evgeny Nikitin. Critics particularly praised Josep Pons’s ability to shape Wagner’s vast musical architecture while maintaining exceptional balance between stage and orchestra.
The award also acknowledged more than a decade of artistic work with the Liceu’s resident ensembles and reaffirmed Josep Pons’s reputation as one of today’s leading interpreters of Wagner’s operas.