Palau de la Musica Catala

I ended my cultural day with Gran Festival Flamenc de Bar at the fabulous Palau de la Musica. An evening of Catalan song, dance and guitar.  The performance began with three male soloists. To my nuanced ear, each one sounded as though he was being violently stabbed, and then suspended over a high bridge.  To quote John L's fabulous description of another culture's music, I found it somewhat inaccessible.  The women though were wonderful. Sensuous stances, intricate and fluid hand gestures and too fast to be real footwork. There was obviously some story to the whole event, and understanding this would no doubt have aided my appreciation of the performance.  Without an interpretation I was left wondering.  Why did the men take it in turn to sing to the women, what were they saying?  Why did the women respond with thunderous footwork and alternating expressions of sadness, despair and anger?  Was it because of the men's singing?  I guess I'll never know.
I consider myself to have wide range in musical tastes and styles.  Perhaps the head cold was kicking in, leaving me in less than good humour.
It was however nice to dress up for the event, and the actual theatre was simply gorgeous.