Rapidly traversing the Alpes Maritimes, Napoleon and his rag-tag army entered the fertile Po valley.Īlready we hear the characteristic Napoléonic voice. Napoleon would command the southernmost one. The Directory planned to attack Austria on three fronts. On March 2, 1796, Paul Barras, one of the five directors who ruled France, bestowed the command of l'armée d'Italie, the weakest and worst-equipped of revolutionary France's five armies, upon young General Buonaparte. Two years later, on October 5,1795, this same individual, now a Général de division, dispersed an unruly pro-Royalist mob before the Church of Saint-Roch in Paris with what Carlyle, in a famous phrase, called a “whiff of grapeshot.” ( 23) That cannonade guaranteed that the gains of the Revolution would be preserved. According to Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the architect who designed the Palau, the aim was to create a “garden for music” – an objective he definitely managed to achieve.What might Beethoven, when he began the Eroica in 1803, have known of Napoleon? In December 1793 he might have heard about a young captain of artillery whose skill in deploying cannon enabled French forces to recapture Toulon from the British.

The centre of the Palau is the magnificent concert hall, entirely lit by natural sunlight due to the extraordinary skylight in the centre of the richly ornate ceiling, which is popular for symphonic and chamber music. The dusty red facade of the Palau is decorated with busts of great composers including Bach, Beethoven and Wagner, and colorful mosaics in floral patterns. The extensive use of glass in the construction of the venue creates stunningly radiant interiors. An architectural jewel of the Catalan Art Nouveau style, built between 19, its rich interior displays the work of the region's artisans in the form of stained‐glass windows, ceramics, sculptures, paintings and blacksmithing. The Palau de la Musica Catalana is a dazzling building situated in the northern part of Barcelona's Old Town. You will see the debut of the young Swiss cellist Nadège Rochat and we will be fortunate to have the conductor Thomas Rösner, chief conductor of the Beethoven Philharmonie in Vienna, a great expert in the works of the genius of Bonn. Nature at its best is the protagonist of this concert that will bring us closer to the essence of Viennese classicism.

In this highly‐anticipated concert, hear the mellifluous sounds of classical music by Beethoven, Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Haydn at Barcelona's treasured and world‐renowned Palau de la Música Catalana.

Beethoven bank bust