Everything you need to know for a first time at the Palau

Ernest Prana, musician, singer-songwriter, and social media content creator, and Mercedes Conde, deputy artistic director of the Palau de la Música Catalana, discuss their first experience at the Palau. Although the Palau hosts concerts of various musical genres, classical concerts are those that, by definition, have certain protocols,sometimes unfamiliar to those who have not yet experienced them for the first time. Dispelling taboos and highlighting the excellences of an unforgettable experience are some of the tips these two experts give the audience. The opening of the overture plays in the background. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, one of Richard Wagner's most popular operas.

Prana, who admits to not having yet attended any classical music concerts at the Palau, brings up the concerns of all those who still consider it an unfulfilled aspiration. "It's as if it's not on the menu or the list of things we can do. And it's strange, because when you go, it's impressive," he admits, after having attended modern music concerts.

Mercedes Conde, on the other hand, recalls the impact of her first visit to the Palau, when she was nine or ten years old, seeing a suite from the ballet Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev. Since then, and now as deputy artistic director of a venue she knows like no other —with rituals that are still maintained by tradition—, she relativizes certain codes, such as dress code. "Coming to the Palau nowadays is a much freer act, and you can perfectly come in jeans or dressed up," she explains. Nevertheless, she confesses that she is in favor of dressing up a bit, because she likes to "give value" to the experience.

The protocol: doubts and advice

Doubts about protocol are common. When should I clap? Can I go to the bathroom? What is the right thing to do and what isn't? "You've already been to a modern concert and are used to it or feel freer." Instead, adds Ernest Prana, at a classical music concert you are "in an environment that isn't yours." Despite everything, the opportunity to go is, as he says, "a great plan". This great plan translates, in his case, to coming down from Empordà where he lives to come with his wife, perhaps dressed up and, surely, combining it with gastronomy. "And if it can be a restaurant that, furthermore, fits with what we will go to see afterwards", even better.

In Mercedes' case, "taking time to arrive calmly" is a condition sine qua non". "If you come to a concert during the week, you might arrive very tight for time. But if it's possible to schedule it and plan it as something special, you enter the right atmosphere to access the concert hall." The modernist Foyer to have a drink, to be able to talk about the program, even to come alone, are indispensable things.

Mercedes Conde also talks about the "disconnection" that the Palau offers. "The act of turning off your mobile phone, being silent – which is very important in the world of classical music – and preserving the atmosphere in which time stands still, makes music take on a dimension that isn't even temporal," an experience that "in our days is increasingly difficult to find".

For the artistic director, it is essential to come prepared. Knowing the program and what will be heard can make the experience an even more enriching moment. For this reason, the Palau de la Música Catalana offers activities, conferences, and courses of all kinds to help understand everything that a classical music program offers, in addition to the educational capsules available on Palau Digital. The objective, she explains, "is to accompany the listener so that they can better delve into this world of the Palau." Despite this, she admits that, even without this prior preparation, the experience can be equally "wonderful and transformative".

Knowing how to choose and knowing how to behave

The success of the visit also depends on choosing well, so taking advice is the best option. "People buy a ticket to see Bad Bunny because it's what they listen to every day and they don't need to think about who they are going to see or how. On the other hand, you look at the program at the Palau and you say: I'm going to see Handel or whatever because it's what I know, but since you don't know any of this, you also don't know what will attract you," admits Prana.

Recommendations are, as Conde says, the basis for being able to get it right. With its own program of over 180 concerts a year, the choice doesn't seem like an impossible mission, considering, moreover, the variety of prices and promotions, such as the Young Stand for under 35s. It should also be borne in mind that the price of a concert ticket reflects the cost of production, the artists' fees, and all the elements that make the musical experience possible.

Once inside the concert hall, you need to know how to behave and the best attitude "is to observe what others are doing," comments Mercedes Conde. Applauding when others applaud, listening to how the orchestra begins to tune up, how the concertmaster gives the pitch and silence falls when the conductor comes out, will facilitate entering the concert's dynamic. "The dynamics are very established and although the first time it may surprise you, the second time it won't be so much." Faced with the risk of making a mistake, the best advice is prudence. You need to know, therefore, some of the basic rules. Such as that in an opera concert you applaud after the end of each aria and that at moments of great virtuosity there may be spontaneous applause. In symphonic concerts, this will rarely happen.

The expert also recommends remaining silent when the orchestra is tuning up. "It's a moment when it's good to maintain silence or minimize noise. Why? Because in the end it's hindering the orchestra musicians' ability to hear to find the right pitch." An idea that Prana confirms from her own experience when she has to tune her guitar.

How to connect and enjoy

With everything ready, the concert begins. And what should be done? Listening can be active or passive: analytical, paying attention to everything happening on stage, or sensory, letting yourself go. As Mercedes Conde explains, "if you connect, the music can take you to magnificent worlds, it can connect you with past memories that move you, it can make you cry, it can stir you, it can awaken your imagination and even give you a brilliant idea."

But should you get nervous when silence arrives? No. Because this silence "is wonderful". "I believe that silence is an indissoluble and essential part of music and that, moreover, when it occurs, it is a gift," she assures. Knowing how to enjoy a suspended ending is an unparalleled experience. "If people have managed to get deeply into the music, it makes them, even physically, unable to applaud. It's as if their hands had a repelling energy, because that silence fills as much as the music."

The applause, however, ultimately certified a complete evening.