Smells and bells .. but no flowers
Corpus Christi is a major religious festival in Majorca and the procession at the cathedral last year was an exciting event. Folk dancers and city guilds accompanied the religious procession and there were huge floral displays in the street. Initially I was disappointed that this year there would be no progression through the streets due to poor weather. This meant that there were no floral displays like the ones we enjoyed last year, and no folk dances. At the end of the mass, the priests processed around the cathedral. It was a different experience because it definitely had a more of a religious feel about it (which was its origin and should be the real intent of it). The priests with incense certainly did their job with fervour ; some of the older (or asthmatic) members of the congregation were headed for the exits to get fresh air. I particularly like the contrast between the small girl at the front of the procession in modest traditional dress and the one following who was wearing very tight white jeans and a mantilla.
Festes de primavera 2008 (Corpus a Palma)
The concert series for Corpus Christi was much reduced this year .. only 10 concerts and the opening electronic concert with rock and roll influences of no interest to me The second concert in the Corpus Palma series was at St Francesca Cloisters. I should have read the programme more carefully .. the first half of the programme was a children’s choir. Dreadful high voices in a programme that was too ambitious and therefore exposed the weak voices. It seemed to go on forever and doting parents (and grandparents) talked and chattered all the while.
The second half (which is what attracted my attention in the first place) featured Collegium Vocale ; an accomplished choral group that I heard last year. They were doing well known repertoire last year but this was something called Balearic Ensalades (salad??) which turned out to be medieval music with a drum and pipe ,, sort of Carmena Burana sounding. I tried to get into it, but the parents talked even more now that their little darlings were not front and centre, and then four of the little dears took over the foreground to the stage and larked about .. no amount of gestures, looks or clucking from the small serious audience did any good. Parents simply ignored them and when I saw that the children’s choir director was not 10 yards from where all this was taking place and in his full view, I gave up and left. Whoever selected this children's group in the first place was at fault but the fact that they spoiled the second half of the programme is unforgivable.
I thought there would be a small audience for the final Corpus Concert at St Felip Neri because it was re-scheduled and not well publicised. I got there at 8:15 to get a ticket for the 9pm concert and found the church ¾ filled. The ‘organisers’ had not even arrived with the (free) tickets and programmes, so they got a real shock when they rolled along an hour and 10 minutes late to find the church full. It became standing room by the time the concert started. This was a chamber music group (Camerata Sa Nostra) opening with Mozart Symphony No 29, then Lluis Claret joined them for Haydn’s Cello concerto. Second half was Mozart’s Coronation Mass in C Major with the choir and soloists from Capella Mallorquina. This was a first class concert and all the more exciting for being in this odd small church.
St Felip Neri seems to be a remnant of a cloisters which once spanned this quarter of the city. The present church is odd ; no stained glass windows, a truncated chancel but a lovely broad Romanesque arch at the rear of the nave.
La Miseracordia .. and that special tree
One of my favourite trees anywhere is the huge the Banyan in Miseracordia Gardens. I was told that this site was orginally intended to be a Botanic Garden (hence the nearby street of that name) but the hospital took priority. The Banyan tree (sign says it is 150 to 200 years old) is flourishing. It was looking forlorn for a few years because they were working on the small garden around it .. that work is now complete and the area is much improved.
The small garden at the front of the building has an interesting collection of sculpture, so this is a nice resting place after walking through the city.
The Miseracordia is a government building now, as far as I can tell, not open for sightseeing. The General Hospital behind it is an interesting complex and the ancient small church there can be visited.
The Patios and Placas of Palma
Tours of patios are one of the main features of the Corpus a Palma festival and I enjoyed the three hour walking tour of the old city because the guide not only had excellent knowledge, but access to patios which are normally closed to the public.
This year I supplemented that tour with my our tour of the Placas (plazas) of the Old
Town. Unfortunately many of them are clogged with parked cars. Some still stand out .. Placa St Eulalia is special and also the plaza of the craftsmen's quarter (Placa de L'Artesania). There are plenty of places to stop for a drink or lunch and as you move away from the cathedral area, you get a better sense of what everyday life is for the locals who live and work there.
Erection .......
and demolition...
There is construction all over Palma and some very worrying demolition in the Old Town for projects that seem to be out of character and scale. Here are photos of some of the demoplition with an emphasis on my special interest in scaffolding.
Es Baluard
I went to a concert at this museum of contemporary art (flute and percussion, unusual and exciting music). While waiting for the concert to start I explored the grounds of the museum and realised that it is a far more interesting place than I realised when I visited before. So on a goodish day, I went back to take photos of the museum and views from its ramparts. I particularly liked the fact that the construction cranes in the city and the masts of large yachts complement some of the sculpture.
The fine print
Date of travel : May 2008
Country information : Majorca guide