Only the demigods can go confidently on the way to the scaffold. And the members of the Berliner Philharmoniker went up perfectly calm this May 1 to the stage set up in Gaudí’s temple, together with the Orfeó Català and the maestro Kirill Petrenko, to offer a concert that will go down in history for having worked the miracle: that Mozart’s Coronation Mass will sound heavenly amid the fearsome reverberation of the Sagrada Família.

Sixty musicians and a hundred singers (counting the four solo voices) were captured by the nine cameras of EuroArt, the production company in charge of broadcasting the well-known European concert that, as every May 1, the Berlin Philharmonic celebrates in an emblematic place of the world. And unlike what happened in 2021, when the one in Vienna was ahead of the Berliners and celebrated its project of Bruckner symphonies right here for emblematic European cathedrals, the Mozartian beauty has expressed itself without the need for a baton to tame it. The Salzburg Genius Mass has made full sense in the cosmic space that Gaudí designed to converse with God.

“We have only been careful with some phrase endings. In the end, maestro Petrenko has been faithful to his rhythms and has not thought more about the public in the room than he has thought about capturing the microphones set up for the recording” , pointed out a posteriori the main cellist of the orchestra, Olaf Maninger, who is also responsible for the Digital Concert Hall of the Philharmonic, that is, its virtual concert hall.

The program began at 11 in the morning after speeches by Marta Otzet, director of Culture and Socio-Educational Action at the Sagrada Família, and auxiliary bishop Sergio Gordo, who in the absence of Cardinal Joan Josep Omella recalled that It was on May 1, 1882 when the Philharmonic began its journey, the same year that this basilica began to be built.

“Today’s party is providential,” he said. And also that this “expiatory temple has been promoted by thousands of people” and that everything in it has a meaning, the one that the visionary architect gave it to ensure that everyone who enters feels welcomed and “understands, through art and beauty, the essential message of life”.

Mozart’s music performed by the most renowned orchestras and one of the most internationally renowned amateur choirs was in charge of explaining “the reality of God” to which Bishop Gordo was referring. The program began with Symphony no. 25 by Mozart, in which Petrenko’s sharp tempos have not played, as expected, in favor of the ears of those present, although they clearly did for the viewers.

However, the intervention of the Orfeó in the Prayer for Ukraine by the contemporary pianist and composer Valentin Silvestrov (Kyiv, 1937) has begun to give clues to the magic that the vertical nave of the basilica works on human voices. Indeed, Gaudí thought that all prayers would rise to heaven within this space, and this was the case with that prayer that yearns for peace but does not demand it, which is so demonstrative and full of realism regarding war. The pianissimi seemed evanescent in the acoustic ocean of the basilica… something that accentuated the features of mystery and impotence of the work.

Kirill Petrenko linked this short piece with the Requiem for Strings by Toru Takemitsu, a famous composer of soundtracks that came to the West at the hands of filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa (Run, 1985), who has possibly experienced better auditions than what could be seen from inside the temple, especially by the public that was located in the second half of the nave.

But everything has returned to its course when the Orfeó has undertaken the Ave verum corpus, Mozart’s motet with which they have confirmed that the Sagrada Família is a place for voices and religious music. Especially when the vocal group -amateur- has the great work of Simon Halsey, its current ambassador to the world, and Pablo Larraz, its current director.

Before reaching the break, it was the vocal elegance of soprano Louise Alder who raised spirits with another Mozartian motet, Exsultate, jubilate, together with the Orfeó Català. The British singer’s coloratura – that is, the typical baroque vocal inflections – gracefully played with the reverberation. Something unexpected among the Gaudinian columns. Something never seen.

Petrenko has gone through the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus… up to the Agnus Dei, firmly, cutting the phrase endings of the orchestra and letting those of the voices fly, so that this dreaded acoustic mess found its divine paths. . delicious.

Long and well-deserved applause for the performance and perhaps also for the realization that was seen live on different screens arranged in each colonnade of the basilica. EuroArt showed taste and sobriety in handling the cameras during its walk through the modernist wonders of Gaudí. RTVE broadcast it in Spanish while the German public television RBP did it in their language, in addition to having the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Among the attendees were the Minister of Universities, Joan Subirats, the Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga, and the Minister of the Interior, Ignasi Elena, plus the Councilor for Tourism, Xavier Marcé. In addition to the president of the Fundació Orfeó Català-Palau de la Música, Joaquim Uriach, and his predecessor, Mariona Carulla, in turn vice-president of the Board of the Sagrada Família, the general director of the Palau, Joan Oller, met director of La Vanguardia, Jordi Juan, or the president of the Cercle del Liceu, Francisco Gaudier.