El Palau de la Musica is one of the most important concert halls in the world.
It was designed by the architect LLuis Domenech i Montaner, and its construction lasted from 1905 to 1909.
The Palau is the result of Orfeu Catala's desire to create a concert hall dedicated to Catalan art.
Founded in 1891 by Luis Millet and Amadeus Vives, the Orfeu has been an institution at the forefront of Catalan culture for over a hundred years.
The Palau is superb. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take pictures inside, but the guided tour is interesting.
It begins with a documentary on the origin of the Palau and its architecture. There are groups in Catalan, English and Spanish.
If you go directly to a concert you will surely be surprised by the small size of the stage.
It is in fact reserved for choirs and certain dance performances.
The little space available to Montaner did not allow him to create a pit for the orchestra.
When an orchestra and a choir give a concert, the singers sit above the stage.
For ballets, the stage can also be enlarged by gaining on the pit: it sometimes covers the first three or four rows of seats!
The decoration is typically modernist, natural elements are everywhere in the decoration: the ceiling is covered with flowers, a tree borders the stage, the large circular stained glass window is a skylight.
If you look at the ceiling carefully you will discover a multitude of small holes between the flowers.
These are not missing decorative elements but an ingeniously camouflaged ventilation system between the moldings.
When you are in the pit, you cannot imagine that the Palau de la musica can contain 2000 people. It is by discovering the large balcony that one embraces the full scale of the building and all the ingenuity of Montaner.
A few years ago the benches of the "popular" balcony were made of wood and very uncomfortable. They were finally changed because the creaking of the wood was so loud that it distracted the musicians!
Useful information
Guided tours
Schedules
Monday to Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 15:30 p.m.
Tours every 30 minutes, English, Spanish, Catalan
Duration of the visit: 50 minutes including a very interesting film on the history of the Palau.
Individual: 8 Euros.
Groups (25 people): 7 Euros.
Students, retirees, unemployed: 7 Euros.
Palace of Catalan Music
C / de Sant Francesc de Paula, 2, 08003 Barcelona
Tel: (+902) 442 882 XNUMX
