Palau de la Música de València

One of the perks of knowing at least some people in this city is that once in a while I get invited to things at the last minute. OK, OK, that doesn’t happen all that often, but it’s definitely nice when it does. Ewa met some people on a trip she took to Altea/Benidorm last month (one I was going to go on but decided to bow out of because of Covid fears) and one of them had a couple of (albeit free) tickets to a concert at the Palau de la Música de València. I didn’t really care what type of music it was going to be because I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. The question was more about who I was going to go with. Ewa ended up not being able to, her classes have become much more demanding lately, so after the long walk to Parc de Benimaclet, Sagrario and I got to spend some more one-on-one time in the evening as well. We took the bus this time, though … I think we were both feeling we had enough steps in today.

Palau de la Música de València isn’t as striking and unique as Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, but it is no less worthy of attention. I had taken the bus by it numerous times but had yet to visit so I was very excited about the concert being there. Unfortunately for me, however, it was not in the main concert hall, or even any hall at all. Rather, the glass “orangerie” part of the building had been transformed into a beautiful “under-the-stars” sort of venue. We got there a little early so I had time to snoop around a bit though I didn’t manage to sneak into the main hall. The photos of it look interesting but I will have to wait for another concert to be able to enjoy it.

The concert itself was … well, how do I put it … interesting. It began with a solo flute piece with the musician off the stage, to the side by some stairs. That was probably the best bit of the whole evening. The rest was conducted on the stage but there were only three musicians and they weren’t always visible. Sometimes they’d just walk off and the sound would come from behind or under or wherever. I guess this sort of makes sense since the performance was “experimental” and now I know that “experimental” also means free. These types of concerts are offered gratis and in beautiful spaces such as this one because the governments of València, both city and Comunidad, support arts to a very high degree. As they should. So, even though the music itself wasn’t exactly my thing, I did appreciate the ability of this group to perform. I will still accept any free tickets anyone offers me, however weird the art is.