Can't believe this is the first post on Barcelona!

Barcelona is perennially one of my favourite cities in the world, and through years of travel and concerts in Spain I have stepped foot in this city countless number of times.  Its geography, history, culture, thriving artistic environment, and gastronomic delights have never ceased to excite and dazzle me.  

Barcelona is the capital of a larger region in north-eastern Spain called Catalonia, which carries its own language (Catalan). This may offend many Spaniards, but a huge chunk of what we call Spanish piano music are written by Catalan composers: from famous figures such as Soler, Granados, Albeniz, Mompou, Montsalvatge, to lesser known but equally great names such as Viñes, Blancafort, Malats, de Grignon, Morera, Massià, Garreta - all of whose music I have played and performed and I bet, if you are a pianist, you've got some of these music under your fingertips as well.  (Multiply the number of names on this list by 8 and you would have only touched on the surface of Catalan musical culture.)

Much can be said about this city but this is one of those places where you have to experience it yourself.  The scenery is just skin deep into understanding the depth of its people and language, its food and wine, its restaurants, its architecture and history, and its way of life.  Nevertheless, it's always good to lead with some photos, so here we are.

Note: I just realized that I have not actually taken many photos in and around Barcelona!  It is a city best seen with naked eyes, not through the lens, for fear of missing the bigger picture!

巴塞隆拿一直都是我心目中最喜愛的城市，而我多年來亦時常到這裏來旅遊及舉行了無數次的演奏會。巴塞隆拿的地理位置、風土人情、藝術背景、飲食文化等，從不間斷地令我對她著迷。

 

巴塞隆拿是西班牙東北部加泰隆尼亞省的首府，人們在這裏有自己的語言加泰隆尼亞語。其實大部份我們認識的西班牙音樂都是加泰隆尼亞作曲家的作品，這些作曲家包括世界知名的 Soler、Granados、Albeniz、Mompou、Montsalvatge 以至一些比較少人認識的。如果你也是一名鋼琴家，我肯定你也能隨手彈奏一些加泰隆尼亞作曲家的作品。

 

我可以用很大的篇幅去介紹巴塞隆拿這個城市，但如果要令你徹底明白這個地方的風土人情，你必需親自遊覧這個漂亮的城市，參觀她的建築物，品嚐當地餐廳的美酒佳餚，認識當地的人文及歴史。當然，在你步上飛機去巴塞隆拿之前，你可以先從下面的照片去認識這個多姿多彩的大都市！