The Palau de la Música Catalana was built in the early 1900s, restored/remodelled in the 80s and named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. This concert hall has seen the best choirs and musicians. Ranked 1st on the list of attractions in Barcelona by Tripadvisor, it was definitely a place I had to visit.
I know an opera house and a concert hall is slightly different, but after not having the opportunity to enter the gorgeous opera house. Palais Garnier, in Paris, I was all the more determine to not let this chance slip by.
In order to visit the Música Catalana, we had to purchase tickets for the guided tour. The tour guide talked about how the money we paid for the tour was part of the funding to maintain the building, and how its maintenance is largely funded by the society/wealthy people who have an interest in the cultural art scene.
The architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner designed everything from the exterior, to the interior, down to the statues and carvings on the stage and on the outside of the building. To be able to design something like that in the early 1900s and have it built, just blows my mind.
On the stage, there were individual statues each playing a different instrument, and this represented that the concert hall welcomed all types of musical artist. Looking at how intricate the structures were, you know how much effort and detail was put in to designing this concert hall.
The tour guide also mentioned that the architect infused elements of nature into his design, as well as designed the windows and ceiling such that there would be a maximum amount of natural light pouring into the concert hall. It was like a garden that would never sleep.
Most of the time, concerts are held at night, so the people who would benefit from the special way the room was lighted up, would be the performers and artistes during their rehearsals. Anyone who has done performances would know that the days for bump-in and venue rehearsals are always... somehow intimidating. That is because you would be rehearsing to an empty hall - sometimes pitch black, and that is just somehow cold, and uninviting.
I could just imagine how beautiful it would be being on stage rehearsing while facing such a gloriously designed concert hall. Our tour guide said: "The statues here have seen the greatest artistes of time." Performing in a place like this, or just rehearsing in the day, will definitely instil in the performers so much warmth, pride and joy. Its would be so surreal.
Ok, back to earth. This post really made me miss performing on stage and working hard for a performance. (Actually, just dancing itself in general!)
The Concert Hall is indeed a work of art. It was amazing just being able to be in it and to have let my imagination run wild - I imagined I was actually watching a concert whilst a short piece was played from the organs, so as to let the visitors have a mock experience of what an actual performance would sound like.
There is no denying the beauty of this place!
There is no denying the beauty of this place!
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