Item 12 - Letter from Pau Casals to Elizabeth Trevelyan

Prades. - Was very happy to see Engelbert [Röntgen] again after so many years: he is just the same as always. Hopes that Lugano will be a good place for Engelbert and his wife; the surroundings are very beautiful, and there is decent music there, which he could influence, perhaps he could direct an orchestra. Has been busy with the organisation of the 1955 [Prades] Festival; the programme is not totally fixed yet but he thinks half will be Bach, with the cantatas played by the Bach Group of New York, the violin sonatas by Menuhin, the cello suites by himself and the concertos for piano by Serkin, Horszowski and Istomin. Thinks of dedicating the other half of the festival to chamber music by Schubert and Brahms. All this promised joy, though, is obscured by the sad things in life, particularly the grave state of health of Madame Capdevila.