Canta al mar goes to Barcelona
International choirs discover and enchant the Catalonian metropolis
In these days, Barcelona is more than just fulfilling its reputation as a world metropolis. 49 choirs from 24 different countries are currently attending the 5th Canta al mar - Festival Coral Internacional in Catalonia and sing in competitions in both Calella and Barcelona.
Before the concerts started, the first choirs made their way to discover the Catalan metropolis. It quickly became clear that the city has a lot to offer. Never-ending streets, narrow alleys, monumental churches, countless small boutiques and cafes - Barcelona delights you with new delicacies and sights from Spain and beyond. With the international choral guests, the city was just a bit more colorful.
The people around the Cathedral de Barcelona looked surprised when the Swedish Sofia Motettkör unpacked its red choral dresses in the middle of the crowd and pushed them over. Their performance at the Friendship Concert in the church was just a few minutes away. Together with the singers of the LU FMF Jauktais Koris Aura from Latvia, they brought the sacred halls of Barcelona with secular and Christian choral works to light. More and more people followed the "Dona nobis Pacem" from the Latvians and stayed in the church to listen to the voices and get infected by the magic of the music.
Also in front of the Santa Maria del Pi, where thirteen choirs from Denmark, Indonesia, Italy, Suriname, Austria, Finland, Netherlands and Switzerland are going to perform in the evening, some choirs could not stop singing. The students of the LSPR Choir from Indonesia spent almost the entire afternoon in front of the church, attracting crowds of listeners. After all, one does not see Indonesian singers with wonderful pink dresses in the middle of a European metropolis every day.
While some cannot stop singing, the others are preparing for their upcoming competition performance. The singers from the mixed choir "Cor di Jëuni Gherdëina", who came from South Tyrol, formatted in a circle, warmed up their bodies from heads to toes. Their choral conductor, Samuel Runggaldier, gave them the last tips and spoke to them with the best wishes.
At 6:30 pm, it became serious in the Santa Maria del Pi. The competition in the categories "Sacred Choral Music" and "Mixed Chamber Choirs" began. The choirs presented very demanding choral literature, which was rated by the jury - consisting of Oscar Boada, Tommyanto Kandisaputra, Meng-Hsien Peng, Katie Thomas and Kari Turunen. One of the choral works seemed to be very popular this evening and was performed several times: "Denn er hat seinen Engeln" (Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy). The angels were also in Barcelona and brought a wonderful evening to the very interested audience.
A highlight was the performance of the Men's Chorus from Suriname, Mannenkoor Maranatha. Supported by a large fan community from the homeland and attracted choral lovers, they enthusiastically sang a competition program, of which the singers can be very proud. The long trip to Europe was worth it!
In the category Mixed Chamber Choirs, the artistic performance level was very high. One of the groups, the ensemble Vocal La Cantiléne Friborg from Switzerland, impressed with an absolute precision, intonation and an interesting program. Along with Monteverdi and Mendelssohn Bartholdy they sang Ola Gjeilo's "Serenity, o magnum mysterium", one of his most beautiful and demanding works for choral singing.
The competition evening lasted about four hours. Every single minute, in which choral music from all over the world sounded, was very worthwhile and an absolute pleasure.
Calella and Barcelona: two cities which welcome the Canta al mar festival with warm hearts every year.
The next chance to listen to international choral music in Barcelona will be today at 4:15 pm at the Cathedral de Barcelona as well as at the competition in the Santa Maria del Pi from 6:30 pm. Admission is free!
