A New Year’s concert in which they will live together happily promiscuity the Slavic dances of Dvořák, the polkas of Strauss and the waltz of the Mallorcan composer Joan Martorell. The Messiah of Handel directed by Xavier Puig, with voices like that of the Tarracon soprano Maria Hinojosa. The popular dances of Rossini, Eduard Toldrà or Ruperto Chapí performed by the Vallès Symphony Orchestra. The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky with the voice of Luis Posada and the dose of magic injected by the sand dreams of the artist Borja González. Broadway classics reinterpreted in a vibrant and festive key by Marc Timón. The baroque orchestra Vespres d’Arnadí recreating the light storms of The four seasons, by Vivaldi.
This Christmas offers unbeatable excuses to visit the Palau de la Música Catalana. The modernist auditorium in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997, has been one of the main music-loving temples of the city since its inauguration in February 1908. The splendid building designed by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, a balanced symphony of stained glass, ornamental mosaics and wrought iron pieces speckled with statues (there they are, among Doric columns and stone willows, those of Richard Wagner, Ludwig van Beethoven or Josep Anselm Clavé), once hosted the debut of the legendary cellist Pau Casals or the first concerts in Barcelona of Arthur Rubinstein, Ígor Stravinsky, Enric Granados, Claudio Arrau , Andrés Segovia, Montserrat Caballé or Daniel Barenboim among other greats of local and international music. Also within the walls of this beautiful and unique building, which exudes history and culture from all its pores, the public performed in chorus and stood the Song of the flag, of Millet and Maragall, while clandestine leaflets against the Franco dictatorship were distributed in the spring of 1960.
The modernist auditorium in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997, has been a music lover’s reference in the city since its inauguration in February 1908.
Waltzes, polkas and sardanas
The Palau has multiple attractions that justify a visit, from the mosaics of the master Lluís Bru to the sculptural altarpiece by Miquel Blay, passing through its lavish balcony or the spectacular skylight of its concert hall. These days, in addition, the Palau is flooded with magic and Christmas spirit with a complete musical offering at affordable prices that includes access to concerts and the possibility of exploring the building at a leisurely pace. A unique opportunity opens fire on Saturday the 21st, that of rocking to the rhythm of the voice of the soprano Martha Mathéu, who will recreate waltzes, polkas and other popular dances that have survived intact the relentless test of time, of On the beautiful blue Danube to the overture of The magpie o June, the legendary sardana by Juli Garreta.
On Sunday, December 22, he takes over The Messiah, by Georg Friedrich Händel, which will allow you to enjoy in a fascinating environment what is perhaps one of the most celebrated religious hymns of the baroque tradition, the Hallelujah, brought closer to contemporary sensibility by the voices of Marta Infante, Marc Sala, Guillem Batllori, the Bruckner Choir of Barcelona and the aforementioned Maria Hinojosa. Handel premiered his oratorio in Dublin in April 1742 to a lukewarm reception and condescending criticism. But time has proven right in this astonishing musical epic inspired by the Gospels, described by critic Alex Ross as “a carousel of torrential feelings that takes us from lightning bolts of euphoria to paralyzing melancholy.”
Also arriving on the 22nd, in a morning session ideal to enjoy with the family, is the first opportunity to tune in to three of the most outstanding pieces from Antonio Vivaldi’s always suggestive repertoire (String Concerto and continuo in G minor, Concerto for violin and organ in D minor y The four seasons). Farran Sylvan James and Dani Espasa direct this live recreation of a work that takes us in to the sudden storms of spring, the winter wind or the ecstatic singing of birds.
Broadway, skaters and sand castles
Three days later, on Christmas Day, the first of three performances of The nutcracker, an opportunity for children and adults to tune in again with this classic steeped in fantasy, an exceptional universe inhabited by toy soldiers, bellicose mice, unfading dances and the enchanted hands of illustrator Borja González tracing fragile daydreams of sand on glass.
On December 29, another of the highlights of this substantial Christmas menu arrives. This is the first of six screenings of a New Year’s Concert that will last until January 4. Isabel Rubio will conduct the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès in this intense journey through music filled with humor, warmth, wit and optimism, of the joyful celebrations of life in which the Strauss family specialized. Tico Tico, that popular Brazilian delight composed by Zequinha de Abreu, without forgetting the agile and festive Skaters Waltz by Émile Waldteufel or the bold, contemporary and enthusiastic Vals de na Martinawith which a Balearic composer of barely 40 years old, Joan Martorell, claims his place among the incipient classics.
The last to join the Barcelona Advent party at the Palau will be Marc Timón, the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès and the trio of singers that make up Albert Bolea, Ana San Martín and Sylvia Parejo. On January 4 and 11, this music-loving alliance will give a bold twist to some of the great classics of Broadway musical theater. There will be unforgettable melodies rescued from The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Misérables, la la land o West Side Story. A swift, intense and fast journey through some of the most traveled corners of the American songbook of the 20th and 21st centuries. A parade of neatly recreated hits that will serve as an apotheotic closing to a Christmas program rich in expectations and promises.