Mastersingers in Barcelona — 2005

    Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Excursion Day

Our hosts had early on planned one full day of recreation for the visiting choruses, and this took the form of a bus trip to the mountain shrine of Montserrat, with a stop at the Cordoniu winery.

The winery came first, and included a movie and mini-lectures by our guide to give us a sense of the long and impressive history of the Cordoniu name and the cava for which it had become famous.  After a brief tour of the grounds, we entered the winery itself, where we observed the entire process of making wine, minus the crushing of the grapes.  We saw the vats for the “first fermentation,” the initial bottling for the “second fermentation,” the seemingly endless ranks of bottles with fermenting wine “in repose” (which we viewed on a whirlwind ride in open cars), the removal of the wine from the fermenting bottles, and the final bottling process.  Next, we were led to the tasting room, which nearly everyone in the group was most looking forward to.  Finally, of course, we were directed out through the gift shop.

By the time we reached Montserrat, we were hungry enough that the bag lunch provided by our hotel looked good enough to eat.  This we did, while taking in the truly spectacular view of the mountains and surrounding Catalan countryside.  (Only later did we find the nearby cafeteria, with much more appealing fare).  Montserrat includes a monastery, a museum, a library, a choir school (with a well-known boys’ choir), a national park that can be explored via many trails, and a basilica that houses the Black Madonna, a statue of the Virgin Mary with a history dating back to 880 AD or perhaps 50 AD.

The basilica was our destination, and we had very little time to eat and explore before we were to assemble there.  The idea was that all 3 choruses would have the opportunity to sing in that impressive space, with its excellent acoustics.  We took our seats in the pews, from which we could see people paying their respects to the Black Virgin, in a silver-framed window some 30 feet above the altar.

The Choral Society Saint Rafailo Banatsky went first, singing 3 pieces of their sacred repertoire that were perfect for this setting.  Their director (Nino Rajacič), then turned to the audience and invited the Mastersingers to join them in singing “Otche Nash” by Nicolai Kedrov.  Interestingly, this setting of the Lord’s Prayer by this Russian composer was in the repertoires of both singing groups.  We sang in a key that didn’t allow us to show off our low notes, but the effect was still stunning — another memorable cross-cultural experience of the many that marked this week.

Mastersingers USA (or Mastersingers “oo-sa,” as we were repeatedly introduced) kept our place on the steps below the altar to sing several selections:  “Thy Word Is a Lantern,” the Biebl “Ave Maria,” and “Soon-Ah Will Be Done.”  It’s safe to say that the 400-year-old walls of this historic church have never heard that latter spiritual, and one wonders, too, whether they ever even heard a ringing chord like the glorious one that ended that piece.

The Bonifantes choir sang an extended set of music after we finished, whereupon we all left the basilica and enjoyed the dramatic mountain scenery for the next half-hour as we made our way back to our busses and the trip back to Malgrat de Mar.