[Jaime Laredo] “He has everything a virtuoso violinist needs. But he has more than that. he is a violinist of profound musicianship.”
—The New Yorker 

The friend Eugene 

Eugene Istomin (1925 - 2003)  Visit to Israel August 15, 1951 Public domain

Frasquita was the fifth of twelve children: Flora (who died shortly after birth), Mercè, Lluïsa, Júlia, Maria, Frederic, Marta, Carlota, Claudi, Rosina, and Teresa. Her parents had very clear ideas about the education they wanted for their daughters: they would raise them to be global citizens and to be artistically inclined. To achieve their ideal, they chose good schools. As young girls, they attended the Les Corts Parish School, and as teenagers, they went to the Irish Ladies' School, also known as the Sisters of Loreto, in Sant Gervasi, one of the most prestigious schools in Barcelona. For both family and personal reasons, music was one of the most cultivated arts in the Vidal i Puig household, and all the children received a very solid musical education. Although the foundations of musical training in Barcelona were beginning to be established with the creation of the Liceu Conservatory and the Municipal School of Music, Vidal i Puig preferred private lessons for their children. Isaac Albéniz, a friend of their father, Enric Granados, and Josep García Jacot, among others, were teachers at the Vidal i Puig home. Their mother was also a skilled pianist and taught her daughters. The eldest daughter, Mercè, loved the piano and studied with Isaac Albéniz, Enric Morera, and Enric Granados, among others; she became an excellent pianist, music teacher, and composer. The second daughter, Lluïsa, had a natural talent for drawing and became a notable painter. The third daughter, Julia, dedicated herself to the violin.

From a very young age, Frasquita, like her sisters Mercè and Júlia, showed a great aptitude for music. She was sensitive, intelligent, and kind. As a child, she studied piano and violin, but the instrument she excelled at was the cello, which she studied with Josep García Jacot, who was also Pau Casals's teacher at the time. At that time, few women played the cello because society considered it an unseemly instrument. Adding to the difficulty of handling the large instrument was the fact that women were expected to maintain proper posture while playing, placing the instrument in front of their knees with their legs together or at their side. This strained their bodies, resulting in exhausting contortions that men did not have to endure.

Unlike other parents, Francesc Vidal wanted to prepare his daughters to earn a living if necessary, but above all, he dreamed of enjoying music at home. As young girls, Mercè, Júlia, and Frasquita formed the Vidal Trio and often played for their parents and friends. In 1893, when Frasquita was only thirteen, the trio gave a successful concert at the inauguration of the Palau Güell.

In January 1896, Pau Casals began teaching cello in Barcelona after spending time with his family in Madrid, studying with the Count of Morphy. Frasquita Vidal was one of his first students. She was fifteen and already played very well; he was nineteen and already a great artist, although not yet internationally recognized. Thanks to his lessons, she progressed remarkably. She felt a great devotion to the teacher, as she herself explained many years later. The first time Casals visited them, she listened to him from behind a door and couldn't go in to greet him because she was crying with emotion. Soon their teacher-student relationship deepened into a friendship that extended to both their families. Over time, Frasquita fell in love with Pau Casals, but the cellist didn't reciprocate her feelings at that time.

From 1896 onwards, the entire Vidal i Puig family began spending their summers in Sitges, where they actively participated in the Modernist Festivals promoted by the painter Santiago Rusiñol. The cultural events in Sitges were a great success: theater, exhibitions, lectures, and music filled the town's days and nights, and the Vidal i Puig family enjoyed themselves in the company of other prominent summering families. On several evenings, amateur musicians and friends, including Enric Morera, gathered at the family home for chamber music concerts; musical evenings in which the Vidal sisters participated and which were enjoyed by a segment of the town. During their stays in Sitges, the sisters took long excursions with the Belgian violinist Mathieu Crickboom and his wife, who had moved to Barcelona. From 1897, Crickboom became the director of the Barcelona Philharmonic Society and played in a quartet with violinist Josep Rocabruna, violist Rafael Gálvez, and Pau Casals, as well as in a trio with Casals and Enric Granados.

Frasquita, Júlia, and Mercè continued working, perfecting their instruments, and eagerly awaited Saturday nights to play at home for family and friends. The trio's first major performance in Barcelona took place at the Sala Estela on December 11, 1899, a concert organized by the Barcelona Philharmonic Society. In the recital, they performed Beethoven's Trio in D major and Saint-Saëns's Trio in E minor, and Frasquita and Mercè also played Grieg's Sonata for Cello and Piano. La Vanguardia, on December 17th, reported: “Misses Mercedes, Julia, and Francisca Vidal made their public debut, performing a full concert. The concert was so successful that they were invited back to play on January 11, 1900, by the Society itself. On that occasion, they performed Beethoven's Cello Sonata in A major, Schumann's Trio in D minor, and a Trio by Mendelssohn. Regarding this latter concert, the newspaper La Publicidad wrote: “The aforementioned artists gave further proof of their assured technique, interpreting with great sensitivity the most culminating passages of these compositions, especially Schumann's delicate and deeply felt Andante, Beethoven's Sonata, which was accented with confidence and purpose, and the Andante.”

In 1899, Pau Casals returned to Paris, where he achieved great success and began his international career as a soloist. Frasquita maintained her friendship with him, and they met again in Sant Salvador, where the maestro spent Christmas and summers. During the 1900-1901 season, Frasquita was invited by the Philharmonic Society to perform as a soloist with an orchestra conducted by Mathieu Crickboom. In the fifth concert of the season, she performed Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto, Popper's "Tarantelle" for cello and orchestra, and Handel's Concerto Grus in D minor, accompanied by Emilio Meriz and Crickboom himself as violin soloists. Meanwhile, her sisters Julia, Merced, and María fell in love. It was from this moment onward that events occurred in the Vidal i Puig household that clouded the family atmosphere and deeply affected Frasquita emotionally. The father, a man of very conservative leanings, refused to adapt to the changing times in his business, and little by little, due to the emergence of a new generation of artists, he began to experience significant financial difficulties. Furthermore, the entire family had to endure his extremely uncompromising nature. The philologist and writer Manuel de Montoliu asked for his daughter Julia's hand in marriage three times, and the father refused each time. Finally, she accepted him without his permission, but from that day forward, she was forbidden from visiting the family home. Other sisters decided to leave home: Luisa went to Paris to study painting, María went to Germany, and Mercè eventually married the painter Victoriano Amell.

Gradually, Frasquita became a leading figure on her instrument and was highly regarded by great musicians who had witnessed her musical evolution firsthand from a young age. Granados, Albéniz, Crickboom, and Casals were the four great performers who supported her throughout her artistic development. From 1901, Frasquita began teaching at the Granados Academy, where she sometimes performed duets with Pau Casals at musical evenings. On February 23, 1902, she participated in another concert by the Philharmonic Society, where she again played Beethoven's Sonata in A major, this time accompanied by Isaac Albéniz on piano, and Beethoven's Trio in B-flat major "Archduke" with Albéniz and Crickboom. Regarding this concert, El Diluvio, on March 5th of that year, said: "Miss Vidal, a disciple of the illustrious Casals, plays like her master, and that says it all; but we can still say more, and that is that we like her more than her master, […] because her artistic content and virginal attitude captivate the senses and the intelligence of the spectators." In 1903 and 1904, she performed again on several occasions with the Philharmonic. In November 1903, she gave two concerts. The first was with Granados and Crickboom, thus replacing Casals in the trio that had already given several highly successful recitals in previous years. This fact is very noteworthy since it demonstrates the complete artistic confidence of these two musicians in the young cellist. They performed trios by Haydn, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn, and Franck's Andante and Scherzo. The critic Geroni Zanné of the newspaper Juventud, on November 26, said: "We have no words to praise the work of these three highly deserving artists. They all performed marvels of expression and execution, the voices of the instruments blending together in a prodigious way. The entire concert was an avalanche of feeling, vigor, and richness." On November 27, he participated in another concert with the same two musicians, joined by violinist Mariano Perelló and violist Juan Forns, to perform Schumann's Piano Quintet. In that recital, the audience had the opportunity to hear Frasquita and Granados perform Boëllmann's "Symphonic Variations" and Saint-Saëns's "Allegro Apassionato." The Crickboom-Vidal-Granados Trio gave at least three more concerts in Barcelona during 1904, performing works by Grieg, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Lalo, among other composers. The Calasanzian Academy's diary of June 16, 1904, commented: "Regarding Miss Vidal, whom we have applauded so many times in the Philharmonic, it must be noted with the greatest satisfaction that in each concert she gives new proof of her perfection in the art to which she is dedicated; she interprets the compositions with the most correct diction, the feeling of true masters."

At that time, Frasquita was offered the opportunity to tour Europe with Mathieu Crickboom and Enric Granados. She decided not to participate due to moral scruples, given her status as a woman. This conservative attitude, inherited from her father, was not understood by her sisters Luisa, María, and Julia. At that point, she was probably very consciously choosing not to pursue a performing career. Other major reasons for this change of course included the difficult family situation that arose from 1905 onward, and the dissolution of the Barcelona Philharmonic Society that same year, 1904. From then on, Frasquita dedicated herself almost exclusively to teaching, and her public appearances were very rare.

In 1905, Frasquita's sister, Carlota, died of smallpox. Her father felt guilty for her death because he had not allowed her to be vaccinated and fell into a state of deep despondency that led to a severe depression lasting two years. At that time, Frasquita learned of Pau Casals's relationship with the great Portuguese cellist Guilhermina Suggia; she wept, lost her appetite, and fell into a depression. Francesc Vidal left the business, and one of his sons, Frederic, decided to run it. The father left home to live in a farmhouse near Olot, and Frasquita, with the help of some of her sisters, spent several months caring for him. From the beginning of 1905, the situation in the Vidal i Puig family was dire, and tension steadily increased; with drastic budget cuts, no one in the household or the workshop would be financially independent. At the end of 1905, the father returned to Barcelona and decided to separate from his wife. A year later, recovered, he resumed his work in the workshop.

n 1908, at one of the gatherings held at Pau Casals's house, Frasquita struck up a friendship with Felip Capdevila, a close friend of the cellist. They soon became engaged and married the following year. Capdevila was a pleasant man, from a good family, honest, and a Catalan nationalist. He owned a heating business and was a member of the Chamber of Commerce. A cultured man, well-connected in the cultural world, he always supported his wife's musical career, as he was her greatest admirer. At the Granados Academy, where Frasquita taught cello, the students were children of wealthy families: among them were Miguel Bertran de Quintana and Carles Vidal i Quadras, as well as Granados's children. The tradition of summer recitals at the home of Dr. Andrés, a good friend of the family, continued. On occasion, Frasquita gave concerts in a trio with violinist Mariano Perelló and pianist Ricard Vives, both professors at the Academy. Also, on December 21, 1913, the cellist gave a concert in the Granados Hall with Perelló and Granados, performing trios by Beethoven and Schubert. In 1912, Pau Casals ended his relationship with Guilhermina Suggia, and two years later, in April 1914, he unexpectedly married the American singer Susan Metcalfe. In October 1914, Frasquita's father died.

On March 24, 1916, Enric Granados died, and Frasquita lost a great friend and colleague. Frasquita continued teaching at the Granados Academy, and she spent her summers with her husband in Sant Salvador, with the Casals family. The permanent and lasting friendship over many years with Els Casals leads to a mutual relationship of full trust and intimacy, in which they are treated as two other members of the family.

In 1919, the Casals Musical Institute was founded. Frasquita was the cello teacher and, for many years, trained a number of great cellists, including Ernest Xancó, Lluís Millet i Farga, and Pilar Casals (the maestro's niece, daughter of Enric Casals), among many others. In 1920, the Pau Casals Orchestra was created in Barcelona, ​​fulfilling one of the musician's long-held dreams. Pau Casals created the orchestra so that Barcelona could be on par musically with the world's great cities. Frasquita and her husband became fully involved in the project and, along with Joaquim Pena and Carles Vidal i Quadras, became two key figures in its development. Felip Capdevila was the treasurer, and Frasquita was in charge of organization. In 1921, during his extensive tours, Casals fell ill with a serious eye condition. When Felipe arrived in Barcelona, ​​Frasquita helped him in every way they could and encouraged him throughout his illness. But at the beginning of August, Felipe fell ill and died suddenly from a lung infection. Felipe Capdevila was a selfless, kind, and much-loved person. The entire Vidal i Puig family held him in high esteem; he advised and helped the family, even financially, on more than one occasion.

Once widowed, Frasquita continued her work with the orchestra, perhaps even with greater dedication. She attended every rehearsal, continued managing the score archive, and was always ready to resolve any problem. Very soon, she began visiting San Salvador more frequently, and her stays there were long. The correspondence between Pau Casals's mother, Pilar Defilló, and Frasquita became increasingly intimate. The letters speak for themselves, revealing the high regard the mother had for Frasquita, in whom she found a friend who listened and comforted her, and whom she trusted to care for her son. Enric Casals recalls that Frasquita was very much a part of the family and was like another aunt. His brother Carlos called her Tití when she was little, and later even Pablo would call her Tití in private.

Casals spent increasingly longer periods in Barcelona, ​​whenever his tours allowed. In 1928, he ended his relationship with Susan Matcalfe. Casals wanted a divorce, but she refused twice. Deeply upset, he didn't ask for one again. From then on, Frasquita naturally became the person who accompanied Pau Casals, with her usual love and attention. Enriqueta Casals, the cellist's niece, recalls that they lived as a couple, although each had their own room. Frasquita was less feminist and more conservative than her sisters; perhaps that's why she always called herself Mrs. Capdevila. By 1930, Pau and Frasquita were already mature; he was fifty-four and she was fifty, and they felt very comfortable with each other. People became accustomed to seeing them together, and many assumed they were a couple. Frasquita managed Casals's estate and organized his life.

A few years later, Pau Casals bought the entire building at Rambla de Catalunya, number 94. From 1935 onwards, they lived in the front part of apartment 2A on the second floor. The rear part housed the Casals Music Institute. In one room, Enric Casals taught violin; in another, Frasquita taught cello; and in a third, piano lessons were given. There was also another space for the Pau Casals Orchestra's office, where Frasquita also worked. The Orchestra was one of the musician's most fruitful and important projects. Thanks to the Orchestra, Barcelona became a meeting point for the best composers, conductors, and performers of the time. Contemporary music, the great works of the international repertoire, and the music of Catalan composers coexisted in the engaging programs of the more than three hundred concerts that took place in the city. It was a far-reaching cultural and social project, led and financed by Pau Casals himself, with the support of Frasquita, who was always his right-hand woman. With the outbreak of the Civil War in July 1936, this extraordinary project was cut short forever.

At the end of December 1936, Pau and Frasquita traveled to Prades de Conflent, where their friend Lluís Guarro had taken refuge. During the journey, they were involved in a serious train accident, from which, fortunately, they emerged unharmed. Afterward, they returned to Barcelona, ​​and Casals resumed his concert tours. Frasquita spent more time in Sant Salvador, anxiously awaiting the maestro's return. Seeing that the situation in Spain was becoming increasingly difficult, Pau Casals and Frasquita decided to go into exile. They chose Prades de Conflent because it was Catalan territory and they knew the locals. They stayed at the Grand Hotel, and there Casals took in almost all of his nephews and nieces to protect them from the war. Pau and Frasquita visited the concentration camps together; witnessing the misery in which so many people lived was a very difficult experience. Casals received many letters from refugees asking for help, and he would send a letter with money and a few words of comfort. They also received constant visits because many people wanted to speak with him. Frasquita was the one who greeted them first and decided who could see the maestro. Seeing the situation, the cellist began a series of concerts to help Catalan and Spanish refugees, embarking on a constant task that would last many years: writing letter after letter asking for help. He wrote thousands of these letters. According to Josep Padró, a refugee from El Vendrell whom Casals rescued from being sent to German concentration camps, Frasquita was the person closest to the maestro. She was by his side with great discretion, always accompanying him but avoiding the limelight. He also emphasizes, as do all those who knew her, that she was a very elegant woman.

Once the Civil War ended, and after a failed attempt to emigrate to Argentina, they settled in a small house called Ville Collete in Prada de Conflent. In that house, they lived with the politician and writer Joan Alavedra and his family, who lived on the ground floor. With the outbreak of World War II, life in France became increasingly difficult, and everything was a struggle. Food was already scarce, more and more things were running out, and communication with Spain was becoming increasingly difficult. In November 1942, Germany took control of unoccupied France, and life for Pau and Frasquita became even harder. They felt threatened by Gestapo soldiers, who even paid a visit once, demanding that Casals go to Germany to join the Führer. He made every excuse he could think of, and fortunately, they ended up leaving. The decision to stay in France for so many years was clearly Pau Casals' own. He was committed to Spain and the Republicans, and in Prades de Conflent, he was close to the refugee camps, where friends and family could visit him. One of those friends was the poet and politician Ventura Gassol, who lived in exile near Cannes and whom they saw often.

The difficulties in obtaining food, clothing, or firewood only increased in 1944, leaving them no choice but to ask for help from relatives who had remained in Catalonia. Frasquita doesn't remember a winter as cold and long as that one. Finally, the war ended, and on the very first day, Casals received an invitation to perform in England. He gave his first concert at London's Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Orchestra on June 27, 1945, drawing a crowd of twelve thousand. Casals was a humanitarian hero. He later tried to use British influence against the Spanish fascist government; however, he realized his efforts were futile, became deeply disappointed, and lost the desire to continue performing. Between 1946 and 1947, he received several tributes in France, in which Frasquita accompanied him. In the spring of 1946, he toured Switzerland, until, at the end of the year, he decided not to perform in any country that recognized Franco's regime. Having withdrawn from public life, he began to dedicate himself to teaching and composing, thus allowing him to devote some of his energy to helping refugees for the next ten years.

After ten years in Ville Colette, Casals and Frasquista moved to a larger, more suitable house and named it “El cant dels ocells” (The Song of the Birds). The bicentenary of Bach's death (1950) was approaching. In those years, speaking of Bach meant thinking of Casals because he had rediscovered his six cello suites. Several initiatives arose to organize a commemorative festival with his indispensable presence. Alexander Schneider, a brilliant cellist living in the United States, proposed organizing a festival there and asked for Casals' participation. Casals declined, citing reasons of conscience. Finally, a dear lifelong friend of Casals, the pianist Mieczyslaw Horszowski, offered Schneider the solution: if Casals wouldn't go to America, America should come to Prada de Conflent. And that's how a festival was organized in the small village in the south of France. Frasquita was very enthusiastic about the project and once again dedicated herself to helping in any way she could. She had no shortage of work during the organization of the Bach Festival, which turned out to be a resounding success. The Festival offered seven weeks of intense and stimulating musical activity with renowned performers, during which several concerts were recorded.

Given the success of the first festival, in 1951 they wanted to repeat the experience, and thus the Pau Casals Festival was born, which enjoyed great success for many years. On December 8, 1953, Enriqueta Casals, the maestro's niece and a close friend of Frasquita, married Vicent Touron, a kind and friendly man who quickly won the family's trust. Enriqueta was one of the nieces who spent the most time with Frasquita and the cellist during those years, helping them with their daily lives. After her marriage, Enriqueta continued to spend much of her time with her aunt and uncle. In 1954, Enriqueta became pregnant and asked Frasquita if she would be the child's godmother. Frasquita happily accepted. The 1954 Pau Casals Festival was the last one Frasquita attended. Casals continued to teach throughout the rest of the year and traveled occasionally, especially to Switzerland. She dedicated her remaining time tirelessly to refugees, as, unfortunately, many still lived in poverty.

In October 1954, Frasquita accompanied Casals to Switzerland, where she fell ill. She had been experiencing abdominal pains for some time, but now she was so ill that she feared she would die there. After a few days, she returned to Prades de Conflent, and from then on, very ill, she received frequent visits from several of her nephews and nieces, the children of her siblings Frederic, Claudi, and Mercè. Some nieces stayed to help, and Teresa, wife of Lluís Casals (Pau's brother) and a close friend of Frasquita's for many years, stayed with them for an extended period. Despite her serious condition, Pau Casals refused to let Frasquita spend her final days in a hospital. Pau longed to marry his companion of so many years, but a civil ceremony was impossible, as he was still married to Susan Metcalfe. But what about a church wedding? Pau used every resource at his disposal to convince the priest of Prada de Conflent, and so, on October 30, 1954, Pau Casals was able to marry Frasquita, the woman who had been by his side in good times but especially in difficult times, "in articulo mortis" (on his deathbed). On January 18, 1955, Frasquita died at their home in Prada de Conflent. Pau was devastated and wanted to take his wife to Sant Salvador to bury her in the Casals family tomb in the El Vendrell cemetery, where his mother, Pilar Defilló, was laid to rest. In his own words, his mother and Frasquita were the two most important women in his life. Pau Casals returned to Catalonia for a few days to bury his wife. The Spanish authorities raised no objections. Casals made the journey in Vincent Touron's car, with an honor guard from the Spanish Civil Guard, from the border to El Vendrell. He stayed a week in Catalonia, where he was able to visit his home, his family, and his friends. In Barcelona, ​​he went to the apartment on Rosselló Street where Frasquita had lived before going into exile. She had arranged for Pablo to choose whatever he wanted from her belongings. Pablo became emotional as, wandering through the apartment, images of the past came flooding back to him. He chose paintings and other objects that were later taken to Prada de Conflent.

In a letter to a friend, Casals says of Frasquita that he likes to remember her as a part of his soul: "[...] the death of Tití (as he affectionately called her) has plunged me into a state of emptiness and turmoil that isolates me from reality. All my sensations and emotions have changed." On March 25, 1955, he wrote to María Teresa Vidal Canadell, Frasquita's niece: "[...] In each of you, I see and feel in my heart an echo of the one who was my beloved angel and, along with my mother, the greatest treasure of my life."

In the English newspaper The Strad, an article was published three months after Frasquita's death, signed by M. B. S.: "The news of the recent death of Mme. Francisca Vidal brings deep sorrow to all the many who knew her as the mistress of Canigó and for her presence at the Casals Festival. She was humble in her attempt to protect friends of any rank, age, or nationality. She was for everyone an integral part of the life of the Prada de Conflent cello circle of the Granados school and the secretary of the Pau Casals Orchestra [...]. The knowledge of her irreparable loss is of great significance as a unique and beloved figure is gone forever."

Associació Joan Manén

C/ de la Canuda, 6

08002 Barcelona

asociacio@joanmanen.cat

Saskia Hagemeijer de Vidal wrote the book "Francesca Vidal, la mujer a la sombra de Pau Casals" (Francesca Vidal, the Woman in the Shadow of Pablo Casals", which was published in 2018.   Saskia Hagemeijer de Vidal is the wife of Francesca Vidal's great-nephew.