Gran Teatre del Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu is the largest opera house in the Catalan capital of Barcelona and is located on the Rambles in the center of the city.
The opera and concert hall was opened on April 4, 1847 and reopened in 1999 after a fire on January 31, 1994.
Performances
Performances take place almost every day. The repertoire covers the entire spectrum from classical opera to operetta, Broadway dance and modern concert music.
The first director of the opera's symphony orchestra was Marià Obiols. In the long history of the house, famous conductors such as Albert Coates , Antal Doráti , Karl Elmendorff , Franco Faccio , Engelbert Humperdinck , Manuel de Falla , Alexander Konstantinowitsch Glasunow , Joseph Keilberth , Erich Kleiber , Otto Klemperer , Hans Knappertsbusch , Franz Konwitschny , Clemens have worked here Krauss , Mark Gibson , Joan Lamote de Grignon , Joan Manén , Jaume Pahissa , Ottorino Respighi , Josep Sabater , Max von Schillings , Georges Sebastian , Richard Strauss , Igor Stravinski , Hans Swarowsky , Arturo Toscanini , Antonino Votto , Bruno Walter , Gerd Albrecht , Alexander Anissimov , Richard Bonynge , Sylvain Cambreling , Paolo Carignani , Frédéric Chaslin , Franz-Paul Decker , Romano Gandolfi , García Navarro , Lamberto Gardelli , Armando Gatto , Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez , Cristóbal Halffter , János Kulka , Peter Maag , Riccardo Muti , Woldemar Nelsson , Václav Neumann , Josep Pons , David Robertson , Antoni Ros Marbà , Julius Rudel , Pinchas Steinberg , Pet he tailor , Silvio Varviso and Sebastian Weigle worked. The current music director has been the Catalan Josep Pons since 2012.
Many well-known singers such as Roberto Stagno , Rosina Storchio , Enrico Caruso , Gemma Bellincioni , Titta Ruffo , Birgit Nilsson , José Carreras , Edita Gruberová and Rolando Villazón and Nina Stemme also performed here.
Musical premiere 2014
For the first time in the history of the opera house, a musical was performed here on July 25, 2014. The premiere piece was " Les Misérables ". The staging was a production by the Dutch company Stage Entertainment, whose Spanish subsidiary organized a tour through various cities in Spain on the occasion of the 28th stage anniversary of the play.
Rebuilding
After the second catastrophic fire on January 31, 1994 (the first occurred on April 9, 1861) it was decided to rebuild the Liceu "in the same place and as it was", albeit with the necessary improvements. A charitable foundation was established, the "Fundació del Gran Teatre del Liceu" and the private sponsoring company left the property to the public sector despite internal resistance from individual co-owners. The foundation started a large and successful fundraising campaign. Half of the reconstruction costs could be covered in this way.
After 5 years of “Liceu a l'exili” at various venues, the house opened its doors again on October 7, 1999. On the program was Turandot by Puccini, the work that should have been played on January 31, 1994. The facades and the hall of mirrors were preserved. The auditorium was reconstructed in the old way, but furnished with new paintings by the Catalan artist Perejaume between 1998 and 1999 . The stage and offices were modernized. A new small hall was also created and the break rooms were expanded. Ignasi de Solà-Morales, Xavier Fabré and Lluís Dilmé acted as architects of the reconstruction project.
facts and figures
With an area of 360 m², the large hall has a capacity of 2,286 theater-style seats. It is also used as a banquet hall, with an area of 530 m² and seating for 350 to 530 people. Events also take place in the Saló dels Miralls (Spanish: Salón de los Espejos , German: Mirror Salon , max. 280 people), in the foyer and in the vestibule . Since it reopened in 1999, the house has had an exceptionally complex stage technology that allows for quick and cost-effective changes to the stage sets .
sightseeing
A visit to the opera house outside of concert times is possible. Guided tours are offered daily and last around an hour. Unguided tours are also possible.
Web links
- official homepage (Catalan, Spanish, English)
- History of the Gran Teatre del Liceu (German)
- Friends of the Liceu
- Círculo del Liceo
- Conservatori del Liceu
Coordinates: 41 ° 22 ′ 49 ″ N , 2 ° 10 ′ 25 ″ E