Person
Moragas Maseras, Rafael (1883-1966)Alternative forms (other languages) Other forms
Barcelona (España) 1883-08-07 - Estrasburgo (Bajo Rin, Francia) 1966-01-22
Spanish journalist and music critic.
Son of lawyer Enrique Moragas Barret and Matilde Maseras de Rodríguez. His music education began with his father, who introduced him to Felipe Pedrell in 1893, and he later studied under Enric Morera.
Along with other Wagnerians, he founded the Asociación Wagneriana de Barcelona in 1901. He began writing for the daily "La Publicidad" in 1902, and regularly contributed to "La Noche" and "Pèl i Ploma", which published his first music review.
Moragas also collaborated with "Mirador" and was a staff writer at "Papitu" from 1912 to 1933, when the publication folded. He graduated from the Universitat de Barcelona in 1904 with a liberal arts degree.
From 1912 to 1939, Moragas was artistic director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. The theatre gave eighty-two productions during his term, including the Barcelona premieres of "La vida breve" and "El amor brujo" by Manuel de Falla. Moragas visited Falla in Granada in 1917 and considered the composer a close friend.
Thanks to his job at the Liceu, he met many of the leading artists and musicians of his time, including Albéniz, Pahissa, Granados, Malats, Turina, Miguel Llobet, José Cubiles and Fernández Arbós.
Moragas went into exile in France in 1939. After a time at Prades, he moved to Montpellier, and finally ended up in Strasbourg, where a family of Alsatian teachers took him in. During his exile, he worked as an artistic adviser in Nice and Monte-Carlo.
Under the pen name "Luis Cabañas Guevara", shared by Moragas and Màrius Aguilar, he published "Cuarenta años de Barcelona, 1890-1930" (1944) and "Biografía del Paralelo, 1894-1934. Recuerdos de la vida teatral, mundana y pintoresca del barrio más jaranero y bullicioso de Barcelona" (1945).
He passed away in exile in France, at the age of eighty-two.
Date of the event: 1936 - 1939
El Ayuntamiento de Barcelona adquirió su archivo en 1968. A destacar su correspondencia con la mayor parte de los intelectuales y artistas de sus tiempos, siendo especialmente significativa la mantenida con Pau Casals.
Molner, Eduard. El Paral·lel, 1892-1939: carrer i escena. 1ª edición. Barcelona: Viena. Ajuntament de Barcelona. 2012. 222 páginas. ISBN: 978-84-8330-707-6 (Viena) 978-84-9850-428-6 (Ajuntament de Barcelona) .