Enjoy Local Art at Pablo Casals Museum in Old San Juan
If you are a keen supporter of classical music you will definitely want to stop at the Pablo Casals Museum or Museo de Casals in Puerto Rico. The Museum, which is centered on musical instruments, can be found in San Jose Plaza in Old San Juan in a building that dates back to the 18th century. The museum is devoted to the famous Spanish cellist Pablo Casals who passed away in the early 1970's and it is full of memorabilia that originated with him. Nearly forty years later Pablo's music and his humanist crusades against political oppression still live on.
When you enter the Pablo Casals Museum you will start to explore Pablo’s life and his incredible music career. You can go to the second floor of the museum where you will find the main music room that displays hundreds of recordings of Pablo’s performances at the Casals Festival. His legacy also affected other shows in a positive way, like the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra where he was conductor and the Children’s Special String program and the Conservatory of Music where he was president.
Visitors to the museum will be entertained thoroughly when they watch two hours of video featuring Casals performing live as a soloist and conductor in performances that were recorded while he was alive. Other performances that can be viewed while on the museum tour are from other Maestros like Serkin, Horszowski, Rose, Perlman and Istomin.
When you enter the building you will see all Pablo Casals’ original manuscripts that he used when playing either his cello or piano in the main hall. Many of the visitors that come to this museum are students who are serious about classical music and who want to learn from one of the greatest cellists of the twentieth century. You can also view the different decorations and medals Casals received from various heads of government. Other objects on display are letters, photographs and diplomas that are related to the cellist’s music career or his personal life.
In 1956 Pablo Casals moved to Puerto Rico, the place where both his mother and wife were born. After living in other countries for a short while, he once again made Puerto Rico his home – this time staying for another sixteen years until his death. After his death, King Juan Carlos and his wife Queen Sofia opened the small museum in his memory.
