Palace of Catalan Music

We visited the Palau de Musica Catalana in 2010, and, despite its being one of the best sights we've seen, ever, anywhere, I would only have mentioned it this time in passing...except that now, in 2013, bucking a continent-wide trend, they are permitting photography within the great hall. So I have to post a few pix from our Tuesday visit. The Palau is a smallish music hall--so it appears, although it seats more than 2,000--built in the early 1900s, and it is one of the greatest jewels of Modernisme. Its architect, Lluis Monterer, is right up there with Gaudi. We'll see more of Montener's work this visit. Anyhow, the Palau was built originally for choral music, but nowadays one is apt to see most anything musical there, including some of the greatest of the contemporary greats. Barcelonans call it their little "box of light," and the best comparison I can draw, totally unmusical, is with Sainte Chappelle.

Exterior, the prow

Nice prominence for Wagner, whom the builders regarded as
contemporary, contrasted with the "classical" Beethoven

One of the intermission areas

The great hall

The great inverted dome

From the floor

With organ and sculptures

Valkyries flying by

Balcony seating

Detail; hardly a square centimeter not adorned

Side aisle

All through our tour this guy was tuning the piano for a
concert that evening (Brahms and Schumann; pass...); here
he has removed the entire keyboard; we hope he got it put
back together

End of tour: backside of Herr Wagner