Palau de la Musica Catalana
Barcelona’s Art Nouveau Concert Hall Celebrates its Centenary
A year of concerts & exhibitions will commemorate 100 years of the astounding building designed in 1908 by Domènech i Montaner, one of Spain's top Modernista architects.
February 2008 marks the anniversary of the opening of the Palau de la Musica Catalana, one of the most important cultural landmarks in Catalunya. Tucked away down a lane in the old town of Barcelona, the concert hall is not visible until you are almost right in front of it, which makes it an even more extraordinary sight.
The exterior is a swirling riot of red brick and colourful tiles, decorated with a vast array of extravagant architectural elements. Some of the most gifted craftsmen of the time worked on the building, including the mosaic artist Lluís Bru and the sculptors Pau Gargallo and Miquel Blay. There is a forest of mosaic columns topped with sculpted floral motifs, busts of Beethoven and Bach, and an allegorical frieze representing traditional Catalan music.
Inside, the decoration is even more ornate, with a vast stained-glass ceiling, and huge sculptures at the sides of the stage, one of which evokes Wagner’s Valkyries, with horses seeming to leap out into the audience. The curving rear wall of the stage is decorated with 18 mosaic figures of musical muses. Their clothes were painted brown in the 1920s, when there was a lot of opposition to this exuberant style, but the sculptures have now been restored to return them to their original natural stone. Stained-glass windows feature the coat of arms of Catalunya, the cross of Saint George, waterlilies and twisted masses of petals, leaves and tendrils.
In readiness for the centenary celebrations, the interior and façades have undergone a far-reaching restoration process. Rust has been cleaned from the iron and brick structure, returning it to its former glory, and the mosaic tiling has been repaired . Some of the original features, which had been lost or destroyed over the years, have been replaced. The scheme, devised by leading architects Oscar Tusquets and Carlos Díaz, also involved the demolition of a church that concealed one of the façades, and the construction of the Petit Palau, an underground chamber music hall.
Replicas of cauldrons have been installed to crown the corners of the building, which will emit red and yellow smoke, the colours of the Catalan flag, as the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner originally envisaged.
Now a World Heritage Site, this is a joyous building that is always full of life. It is used not just for classical music, but also for performances by jazz, folk, rock and flamenco artists, as well as for exhibitions, conferences and all sorts of special events. In 2007, 359 concerts were held there, attended by 420,000 people, while a further 180,000 took the guided tours which are available during the day in English, Spanish and Catalan.
