By LOU ANN CRISLER
Day 17 — Sunday, June 28
We enjoyed breakfast in the Aranjuez room at the hotel, a prelude for our guided tour of the Prado, the Spanish national museum which houses over four thousand universal masterpieces, most of which have been acquired over the years by art-loving Spanish monarchs.
The works are not limited to Spanish painters but include major pieces by Fra Angelico, Boticelli, Rapheal, Correggio, Titian, Tintoretto, Bosch, Rubens and many others.
After just a few moments, I was overwhelmed by the immensity of the collection, which would take months to describe fully.
We returned to the hotel for lunch and sacrament meeting. After lunch we changed into concert dress and departed for El Escorial, the monastery, summer residence and mausoleum of Philip II. This religious complex also includes a church, two palaces, a school and one of the most important libraries in Spain. We have been given the opportunity to present a concert in its central chapel.
This is a very important concert. Since one of the selections we sang this evening was written for the funeral of the father of the current king, Juan Carlos de Borbon, we were anxious to perform well. We arrived at the complex and were directed to the Basilica for rehearsal.
The acoustics are truly phenomenal and suit our sacred numbers well. After dinner in the garden and cloisters, we performed at 9 p.m. The Spirit was felt by many singers and audience members, and we were pleased with the results.
Day 18 — Monday, June 29
This is our last Monday in Europe. This morning we were treated to a guided tour of Madrid, including the LDS temple site, on a hill overlooking part of the city.
The city is divided into barrios (neighborhoods) fanning out from old Madrid of the Plaza Mayor. It is a melange of styles, colors and trends: Celtic stongholds, Romanesque monastaries, Gothic cathedrals, Renaissance palaces.
It is a city where art and culture have flourished, giving substance to such luminaries as painters Velaquez, Goya, Picasso, Miro and Dali, writers Cervantes and Lorca, and musicians past and present, such as Vitoria, Falla, Albenez and Caballe.
We returned to the hotel for lunch and boarded buses at 1:15 p.m. for transfer to the Auditorio Nacional, where tonight’s concert will be held. This concert hall has a huge stage which will seat us all, for a change. After last evening’s all sacred concert, we are glad to be able to sing some of our lighter selections tonight.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the hotel, changed into performance attire and arrived at the Auditorio about 6:30 p.m. It was a fine evening, well received and satisfying.
The tour has been very tiring, especially the long bus rides, since we have had to cover long distances between cities. There is a virus making the rounds, but most singers have not missed a performance. The last couple of days I have heard some talk of homesickness, missing family and familiar surroundings.
Day 19 — Tuesday, June 30
We are up very early so we can leave for Lisbon this morning. We will be traveling west-southwest for a little over 300 miles. We breakfasted in the hotel and departed at 7:30 a.m.
On the way we are stopping at Toledo, one of the richest historically, culturally and monumentally endowed cities in Spain. This is a farming region studded with vineyards, wheat, cotton and tobacco fields, and sheep and goat herds.
Another city on our route to Portugal is Badajoz, four miles from the border, and the most populous city in Extremaura. It was once the most important Moorish stronghold in Western Spain … (and) now, it is an amazing example of Moorish style and Mediterranean ambiance.
We arrived in Lisbon in time to check into the Hotel Penta, have dinner and see a bit of the city before bed.
Day 20 — Wednesday, July 1
This morning, following (a) breakfast of fresh fruit and rolls at the hotel, we have been treated to a tour of Lisbon, a city founded by the Phoenicians about 1200 B.C.
Our tour ended at the San Geronimo Monastary and Belem, a river-front area from which several of Portugal’s most important voyages were launched, and where the Monument of Discoveries commemorates the 500th anniversary in 1960 of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator.
The Monastery, dating from 1502, memorializes the successful return of Vasco de Gama. I have been constantly awed by the history of the cities which we have visited.
We in the United States must work hard to understand a heritage measured not in hundreds but in thousands of years. It is difficult to keep in perspective that when Lisbon became an international capital, America was inhabited only by native tribes, and western settlement was still more than four hundred years away.
We were taken to the Coliseu at 6:45 p.m. for reheasal. Our concert this evening was very late, 9:30 p.m., and, since this was our last, we all were determined to make it our very best.
The tour has rubbed off all the rough edges of each selection, and we were able to make beautiful music together. We arrived back at the hotel after 11:30 p.m., exhausted but fulfilled.
Tomorrow we fly home, and the 1998 tour of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir will be relegated to journals, archives and memories. We have made many friends, magnified our callings and, hopefully, planted many seeds which will eventually bear fruit.
