Liceu
Encyclopedia
The Gran Teatre del Liceu (ˈɡɾan teˈatɾə ðəɫ ɫiˈsɛw), or simply Liceu in Catalan
and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera
house on La Rambla in Barcelona
, Catalonia
, Spain
. The Liceu opened on April 4, 1847.
In contrast with other European cities, where the monarchy took on the responsibility of the building and upkeep of opera houses, the Liceu was funded by private shareholders of what would become the Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Great Liceu Theater Society), organized in a similar way to a trading company or societat. This is reflected in the building's architecture; for example, there is no royal box.
) and organize scenic representations of opera performed by Liceu students. A theater was built in the convent building — named Teatro de Montesión or Teatro del Liceo de Montesión — and plays and operas performed: the first was Bellini's Norma (February 3, 1838). The repertoire was Italian with the most performed composers being Donizetti and Mercadante
as well as Bellini
and Rossini. The Barcelona premiere of Hérold's Zampa was held here.
In 1838 the society changed its name to Liceo Dramático Filarmónico de S. M. la Reina Isabel II (Dramatic Philharmonic Lyceum of H.M Queen Elisabeth). Lack of space, as well as pressures brought to bear by a group of nuns who were old proprietors of convent that had recovered rights lost and we protesting to return, motivated the Liceu to leave its headquarters in 1844. The last theatre performance was on September 8.
The Trinitarian convent building located in the centre of the town at la Rambla was purchased. The managers of the Liceu entrusted Joaquim de Gispert d'Anglí with a project to make the construction of the new building viable. Two different societies were created: a "building society" and an "auxiliary building society". Shareholders of the building society obtained the right of use in perpetuity of some theatre boxes and seats in exchange for their economic contributions,. Those of the second society contributed the rest of the money necessary in exchange for property of other spaces in the building including some shops and a private club called the Círculo del Liceo.
The queen did not contribute to the construction, which is why there is no royal box, and the name of the society was changed to Liceo Filarmónico Dramático, deleting the queen's name from it.
Miquel Garriga i Roca was the architect contracted; construction began on April 11, 1845. The Theatre was inaugurated on April 4, 1847.
The inauguration on April 4, 1847, presented a mixed program including the premiere
s of José Melchor Gomis' musical ouverture, a historical play Don Fernando de Antequera by Ventura de la Vega, the ballet La rondeña (The girl from Ronda) by Josep Jurch, and a cantata
Il regio himene with music by the musical director of the theatre Marià Obiols. The first complete opera, Donizetti
's Anna Bolena
on April 17. At this point Liceu was the biggest opera house in Europe with 3,500 seats. Other operas performed in the Liceu during the first year were (in chronological order): I due Foscari
(Verdi), Il bravo (Mercadante), Parisina d'Este (Donizetti), Giovanna d'Arco
(Verdi), Leonora (Mercadante), Ernani
(Verdi), Norma
(Bellini), Linda di Chamounix
(Donizetti) and Il barbiere di Siviglia
(Rossini).
The building was severely damaged by fire on April 9, 1861, but it was rebuilt by the architect Josep Oriol Mestres and opened on April 20, 1862, performing Bellini
's I puritani
. From the old building only the façade, the entrance hall and the foyer
(Mirrors Hall) remained.
by Rossini
, two Orsini bomb
s were thrown into the stalls of the opera house. Only one of the bombs exploded and some twenty people were killed with many more being injured. The attack was the work of the anarchist
Santiago Salvador and it deeply shocked Barcelona, becoming the symbol of the turbulent social unrest of the time. The Liceu reopened its doors on January 18, 1894, but the seats occupied by those killed by the bombs were not used for a number of years. The second bomb was put on display in the Van Gogh Museum in 2007 during an exhibit on Barcelona around 1900.
In 1909 the auditorium ornamentation was renewed. Spanish neutrality during World War I allowed the Catalan textile industry to amass enormous wealth through supplying the warring parties. The 1920s were prosperous years and the Liceu became fully established as a leading opera house welcoming better singers, the orchestra leaders of the time and companies such as Sergei Diaghilev
's Ballets Russes
.
When the Second Spanish Republic
was proclaimed in 1931 political instability meant that the Liceu suffered a severe financial crisis which was only overcome though subsidies from Barcelona City Council and the government of Catalonia
. During the Spanish Civil War
the Liceu was nationalized
and took the name the Teatre del Liceu – Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (Liceu Opera House – the National Theatre of Catalonia). The opera seasons were suspended. After the war it was returned to its original owners in 1939.
was staged away from its normal venue. Performances of Parsifal
, Tristan und Isolde
and Die Walküre
with innovative stage sets by Wieland Wagner
were enthusiastically received.
In the 1970s an economic crisis affected the theatre and the privately-based organization was not able to afford the increasing budgets of modern opera productions and general quality declined.
in 1980 revealed the need for the intervention of the official bodies if the institution was to remain a leading opera house. In 1981 the Generalitat de Catalunya
with Barcelona's City Council and the Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu created the Consorci del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Consortium of the Great Liceu Theater) responsible for the theater's management.
The Diputation of Barcelona and the Spanish Ministry of Culture joined the Consortium in 1985 and 1986 respectively. The Consortium managed to quickly attract the public back to the Liceu owing to a considerable improvement in its artistic standard. This included a more complete and up-to-date perspective of the very nature of an opera performance, a great improvement in the choir and orchestra, careful casting, and attracting the interest of the public to other aspects of productions besides the leading roles alone. This approach, coupled with the new economic support and a more demanding and discerning public, resulted in a high standard of productions.
The seasons organised by the Consortium maintained high standards in casting, production and public loyalty, as measured by public attendance, but all this came to a halt with a fire on January 31, 1994. The building was destroyed by a fire caused by a spark that accidentally fell on the curtain during a routine repair. At this time Paul Hindemith
's Mathis der Maler was performing at the theatre and the following opera to be performed was Puccini
's Turandot
.
Public and institutional response was unanimous on the need to rebuild a new opera house on the same site with improved facilities. The new Liceu is the result of a series of actions to preserve those parts of the building unaffected by the fire, the same ones as had survived the 1861 fire. The auditorium was rebuilt with the same layout, except for the roof paintings which were replaced by new art works by Perejaume
, and state-of-the-art stage technology.
In order to rebuild and improve the theater, the theater became public. The Fundació del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Liceu Great Theater Foundation) was created and the Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu handed over owners of the building to the Foundation. Some owners didn't agree with the decision which was challenged unsuccessfully in court.
arena (only some massive performances in 1994), Palau de la Música Catalana
and Teatre Victòria. The rebuilt, improved and expanded theater opened on October 7, 1999, with Puccini's Turandot
as previewed in 1994 before the fire. The new venue had the same traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium as before but with greatly improved technical, rehearsal, office and educational facilities, a new rehearsal hall, a new chamber opera and small performances hall, and much more public space. Architects for the rebuilding project were Ignasi de Solà-Morales
and Xavier Fabré i Lluís Dilmé.
Surtitles, projected onto a screen above the proscenium, are used for all opera performances and some lieder concerts. Also, the electronic libretto system
provides translations (to English, Spanish or Catalan, as you choose) onto small individual monitors for the most of the seats.
Some parts of the first building remain:
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The auditorium is huge. Rebuilt after the 1994 fire it is a faithful rebuilding of the 1861 auditorium with some improvements. With 2,292 seats it is one of the biggest opera houses in Europe. It is a typical Italian horseshoe-shaped theatre. Maximum length and width are 33 and 27 m. There is a platea (main floor) and five tiers (or balconies). Boxes, with small rooms attached, are in the forestage, in the platea and in the some of the galleries. There is no significant physical divisions among boxes: only a low screen separates one box from another. No columns are in the theatre apart from inside the platea giving the appearance of the galleries of a golden horseshoe without visual interruptions. Another peculiarity is in the first gallery where the amfiteatre ubicare is located. This is a projecting part of this gallery, with a less pronounced horseshoe shape, that allows three ranks of seats to be located there and are considered the best in the theatre.
Building expenses were covered by the sale of boxes and seats. Boxes were lavishly decorated by their owners but all them disappeared in the 1994 fire. Upper balconies (4th and 5th tiers) are the cheapest seats and are is called the galliner (literally "henroost").
The forestage, or proscenium, reproduces the old one which was rebuilt in 1909. It has a big central arch with two Corinthian columns on both sides and, among the columns, four tiers of boxes parapets with the wider and more luxurious boxes in the theatre being called banyeres (literally "bathtubs").
The auditorium ornamentation reproduces that of 1909: sumptuous with golden and polychromed plaster moldings, as usual in 19th century European theatres. Lamps are of brass and glass in the shape of a drake. Armchairs on the main floor are made of strained iron and red velvet.
In the rebuilding some modern features were introduced. The eight circular paintings in the roof, and the three in the forestage, were all lost in the fire and have been re-created by contemporary artist Perejaume
. The stage curtain is a work of the Catalan designer Antoni Miró. The new hemispheric lamp in the center of the roof is a platform for technological facilities (lighting, sound and computer).
Other technological facilities are control and projecting cabins in some balconies, a "technical floor" over the roof, and high-tech equipment to record and broadcast performances. With computerized cameras the auditorium could also be used as a TV set. Stage facilities are among the most modern and allow quick scene changes and to perform four different sets simultaneously.
A new foyer has been built under the main auditorium. It is a room where is the main bar and the restaurant are located and is used also to stage concerts, small format performances, lectures, cultural activities, and meetings etc.
and producing house
as it also produces its own productions (two or three new productions a year). The Liceu company consists of a permanent orchestra
and choir
and some singers for the supporting roles. Leading roles are usually sung by guest singers. Stagecraft
is in part produced internally by the theatre (alone or together with other opera houses) and also rented from other external houses. Until the 1990s Liceu had its own ballet company which was at its best in the 1920-1930s under Joan Magriñà.
Most of the performed operas were from the Italian and German schools of 19th century: Verdi, Wagner, belcanto authors and in more recent times Puccini, Richard Strauss
and Mozart are included.
The history of Liceu premieres is a good instance of the evolution of European opera tastes. At first opera was only a part of the artistic activities and opera alternated with other forms of performance such zarzuela
(Spanish light opera), classical dance (Giselle
was given its first Barcelona performance in 1847), theatrical performances, magic shows and a large number of activities which today might appear more appropriate for a variety concert or a music hall.
The first performed operas, Donizetti's Anna Bolena
and Verdi's I due Foscari
, are symptomatic of the taste for belcanto and Italian romantic melodrama: Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini
, and Verdi etc. They are still in the repertory
and Verdi is by far the most performed composer.
The first operas by non Italian composers which were put on in the Liceu were Ferdinand Hérold's Zampa (1848), Carl Maria von Weber
's Der Freischütz
(1849), Giacomo Meyerbeer's Robert le diable, Auber's La muette de Portici (1852) and Fra Diavolo (1853). All of these were sung in Italian as was the custom of the time.
The first performances of Il trovatore
(1854) and La traviata
(1855) led to the crowning of Giuseppe Verdi
as the king of opera. In 1866 Mozart was staged at the Liceu for the first time with Don Giovanni.
1883 is a landmark when Wagner's Lohengrin
is first performed. From there, and especially from 1880s to 1950s, Wagner become one of the most beloved and highly regarded composers at Liceu. The theatre had the first staged performance of Parsifal
outside Bayreuth on December 31, 1913, after the Bayreuth monopoly ended (although performance started 30 minutes before the deadline of 00:00 on January 1, 1914) with Francesc Viñas in the title role and conducted by Franz Beidler. In 1955 the Bayreuth Festival
company visited the theatre and performed three operas.
Verismo
, especially Puccini, is an esteemed school from the end of 19th century. The first Russian opera was given in 1915 with a great success. Mussorgsky
, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky being often performed. The first years of the 20th century saw Richard Strauss
conducting his own works. In 1904, Siegfried Wagner
conducted a concert and a year afterwards Pietro Mascagni
conducted a work.
In 1915 impresario
Mestres Calvet broadened the repertory and introduced composers such as Mozart, Richard Strauss
, de Falla, Stravinsky, etc. It was a golden age for Russian and German operas which were now sung in their original language. Mestres also was closely associated with the success commencing in 1917 with the ballets of Diaghilev, with Nijinsky, Massine, Lopokova, Chernicheva and other great figures. Years later another famous dancer, Anna Pavlova, was also to perform here.
In 1947 the directing company changed and came into the hands of Arquer and Pàmias. In contrast with the preceding years, which had been marked by the almost exclusive programming of the great repertory works, the first season of the new directorship saw a special renewal of the repertoire featuring the first performances in Barcelona of some 100 works by a large number of composers. Various revivals featured Donizetti's Anna Bolena
, which had first been staged in the Liceu one hundred years earlier. For 33 years, Pàmias was the leading figure of the Liceu's activity during a period when it seemed that it would be impossible to maintain the opera house without any official aid.
From the 1950s to now, the repertory has largely comprised the most performed titles in the world, including practically all the great 20th-century composers: Bartók, Honegger, Gershwin, Berg, Janáček, Weill, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Britten, Schönberg
, Hindemith, etc., along with Baroque
and classical
composers Monteverdi, Handel
and Gluck.
Ballet seasons are an important part of the theatre's activities with some of the best known companies in the world performing, including Diaghilev and Béjart
.
The Liceu has also been the location for the Spanish premieres of prominent operas. Amongst them are:
(empresari o administrador). From 1980 there is also an art director
(director artístic).
Empresaris:
Artistic directors:
. It is the oldest still working orchestra in Spain. Its first conductor was Marià Obiols.
Orchestra musical directors and head conductors:
Previously the orchestra invited conductors rather than having the position permanently filled.
, the leading scenographer was Francesc Soler i Rovirosa, working in the 1880-1900s. The style was very realistic using painted paper flats and curtains. Settings and costumes were made in the theatre workshops. From the 1900s to 1930s thw school is represented by scenic painters including Maurici Vilomara, Fèlix Urgellés, Salvador Alarma and Oleguer Junyent. The last of these painters was Josep Mestres Cabanes who painted sceneries in the 1930-1950s.
, visiting the Liceu talking about the public said: "Ils aiment trop the ténor" (They [the public] love tenors too much).
In brackets are the dates of his/her premiere and his/her last performances at Liceu:
, a music college founded in 1837 which is part of the same corporation.
The Círculo is an exclusive private club located in the Liceu building but it is an independent society. Only men or the widows of members could be club members. After the fire of 1994 a strong polemic was started for denying to any woman membership of the club, and the society statute was changed. In 2001 two Catalan businesswomen, Adela Subirana and Magda Ferrer-Dalmau, were formalizing their inscriptions becoming the first women to join the club. Nevertheless, the rest of the 10 women who applied were rejected including Montserrat Caballé. At present there are 1,100 associates.
As recreational club it was the first social club of the city. The history of the Círculo has allowed that it should have a phenomenal art heritage. It has a library which is more than notable and a majority of its dependences have Art Nouveau
decoration. There are four large windows in the low foyer that they are a direct testimony of the strong influence of Wagnerism
in the Catalan culture during the beginning of the 20th century.
Besides the furniture and the decoration the club is a vivacious and splendid sample of sculptures, marquetry
, enamels, engravings, etchings and paintings of the best Catalan artists of the epoch: Alexandre de Riquer
, Santiago Rusiñol
, Modest Urgell Inglada and Francesc Miralles, among others. The most famous work of the club is the wall set of twelve oils on fabric, commissioned to Ramon Casas and installed in the rotunda of the club. Each of twelve paintings, Casas' most ambitious work, is inspired by a musical topic.
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
house on La Rambla in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. The Liceu opened on April 4, 1847.
History
Origins
In 1838 a battalion of the Spanish army, commanded by Manuel Gibert Sans, was created in the secularized convent of Montsió (next to the present Portal de l'Àngel), the Liceo Filodramático de Montesión (Philodramatic Lyceum of Montesión). Its purpose was to both promote the musical education (hence the name "Liceu", or lyceumLyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...
) and organize scenic representations of opera performed by Liceu students. A theater was built in the convent building — named Teatro de Montesión or Teatro del Liceo de Montesión — and plays and operas performed: the first was Bellini's Norma (February 3, 1838). The repertoire was Italian with the most performed composers being Donizetti and Mercadante
Saverio Mercadante
Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...
as well as Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
and Rossini. The Barcelona premiere of Hérold's Zampa was held here.
In 1838 the society changed its name to Liceo Dramático Filarmónico de S. M. la Reina Isabel II (Dramatic Philharmonic Lyceum of H.M Queen Elisabeth). Lack of space, as well as pressures brought to bear by a group of nuns who were old proprietors of convent that had recovered rights lost and we protesting to return, motivated the Liceu to leave its headquarters in 1844. The last theatre performance was on September 8.
The Trinitarian convent building located in the centre of the town at la Rambla was purchased. The managers of the Liceu entrusted Joaquim de Gispert d'Anglí with a project to make the construction of the new building viable. Two different societies were created: a "building society" and an "auxiliary building society". Shareholders of the building society obtained the right of use in perpetuity of some theatre boxes and seats in exchange for their economic contributions,. Those of the second society contributed the rest of the money necessary in exchange for property of other spaces in the building including some shops and a private club called the Círculo del Liceo.
The queen did not contribute to the construction, which is why there is no royal box, and the name of the society was changed to Liceo Filarmónico Dramático, deleting the queen's name from it.
Miquel Garriga i Roca was the architect contracted; construction began on April 11, 1845. The Theatre was inaugurated on April 4, 1847.
Opening, fire and rebuilding (1847–1862)
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
s of José Melchor Gomis' musical ouverture, a historical play Don Fernando de Antequera by Ventura de la Vega, the ballet La rondeña (The girl from Ronda) by Josep Jurch, and a cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
Il regio himene with music by the musical director of the theatre Marià Obiols. The first complete opera, Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
on April 17. At this point Liceu was the biggest opera house in Europe with 3,500 seats. Other operas performed in the Liceu during the first year were (in chronological order): I due Foscari
I due Foscari
I due Foscari is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on a historical play, The Two Foscari by Lord Byron....
(Verdi), Il bravo (Mercadante), Parisina d'Este (Donizetti), Giovanna d'Arco
Giovanna d'Arco
Giovanna d'Arco is an operatic dramma lirico with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera....
(Verdi), Leonora (Mercadante), Ernani
Ernani
Ernani is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Hernani by Victor Hugo. The first production took place at La Fenice Theatre, Venice on 9 March 1844...
(Verdi), Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
(Bellini), Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
(Donizetti) and Il barbiere di Siviglia
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
(Rossini).
The building was severely damaged by fire on April 9, 1861, but it was rebuilt by the architect Josep Oriol Mestres and opened on April 20, 1862, performing Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's I puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
. From the old building only the façade, the entrance hall and the foyer
Foyer
A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...
(Mirrors Hall) remained.
From 1862 to Civil War
On November 7, 1893, on the opening night of the season and during the second act of the opera Guillaume TellWilliam Tell (opera)
Guillaume Tell is an opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller's play Wilhelm Tell. Based on the legend of William Tell, this opera was Rossini's last, even though the composer lived for nearly forty more years...
by Rossini
Gioacchino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...
, two Orsini bomb
Orsini bomb
An Orsini bomb is a spherical bomb which instead of a fuse or timing device, is surrounded by many small "horns" filled with mercury fulminate. On impact at any angle, these would ignite or detonate the main charge. The bomb was invented by the Italian nationalist Felice Orsini, who, with...
s were thrown into the stalls of the opera house. Only one of the bombs exploded and some twenty people were killed with many more being injured. The attack was the work of the anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
Santiago Salvador and it deeply shocked Barcelona, becoming the symbol of the turbulent social unrest of the time. The Liceu reopened its doors on January 18, 1894, but the seats occupied by those killed by the bombs were not used for a number of years. The second bomb was put on display in the Van Gogh Museum in 2007 during an exhibit on Barcelona around 1900.
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
's Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
.
When the Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
was proclaimed in 1931 political instability meant that the Liceu suffered a severe financial crisis which was only overcome though subsidies from Barcelona City Council and the government of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
. During the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
the Liceu was nationalized
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
and took the name the Teatre del Liceu – Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (Liceu Opera House – the National Theatre of Catalonia). The opera seasons were suspended. After the war it was returned to its original owners in 1939.
"Silver Age" and crisis: from 1940 to 1980
From 1940 to the 1960s the seasons were high quality ones. The year 1955, thanks to the creation of a special board, saw a historic event when for the first time since its foundation the Bayreuth FestivalBayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
was staged away from its normal venue. Performances of Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
and Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
with innovative stage sets by Wieland Wagner
Wieland Wagner
Wieland Wagner was a German opera director.- Life :Wieland was the elder of two sons of Siegfried and Winifred Wagner and grandson of composer Richard Wagner....
were enthusiastically received.
In the 1970s an economic crisis affected the theatre and the privately-based organization was not able to afford the increasing budgets of modern opera productions and general quality declined.
New direction and 1994 fire
The death of Joan Antoni PàmiasJoan Antoni Pàmias
Joan Antoni Pàmias i Castellà was a Catalan theatre businessman and lawyer. He was the chief of the Great Theatre of Liceu enterprise from 1947 until his death in 1980...
in 1980 revealed the need for the intervention of the official bodies if the institution was to remain a leading opera house. In 1981 the Generalitat de Catalunya
Generalitat de Catalunya
The Generalitat of Catalonia is the institution under which the autonomous community of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Catalonia....
with Barcelona's City Council and the Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu created the Consorci del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Consortium of the Great Liceu Theater) responsible for the theater's management.
The Diputation of Barcelona and the Spanish Ministry of Culture joined the Consortium in 1985 and 1986 respectively. The Consortium managed to quickly attract the public back to the Liceu owing to a considerable improvement in its artistic standard. This included a more complete and up-to-date perspective of the very nature of an opera performance, a great improvement in the choir and orchestra, careful casting, and attracting the interest of the public to other aspects of productions besides the leading roles alone. This approach, coupled with the new economic support and a more demanding and discerning public, resulted in a high standard of productions.
The seasons organised by the Consortium maintained high standards in casting, production and public loyalty, as measured by public attendance, but all this came to a halt with a fire on January 31, 1994. The building was destroyed by a fire caused by a spark that accidentally fell on the curtain during a routine repair. At this time Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
's Mathis der Maler was performing at the theatre and the following opera to be performed was Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
.
Public and institutional response was unanimous on the need to rebuild a new opera house on the same site with improved facilities. The new Liceu is the result of a series of actions to preserve those parts of the building unaffected by the fire, the same ones as had survived the 1861 fire. The auditorium was rebuilt with the same layout, except for the roof paintings which were replaced by new art works by Perejaume
Perejaume
Pere Jaume Borrell i Guinart, known as Perejaume, , is a contemporary artist.Of self-taught formation he takes clear influences of authors like Joan Brossa, with he will share work mixing the painting and the poetry.His work covers a discursive plane of subject matter that includes humans'...
, and state-of-the-art stage technology.
In order to rebuild and improve the theater, the theater became public. The Fundació del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Liceu Great Theater Foundation) was created and the Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu handed over owners of the building to the Foundation. Some owners didn't agree with the decision which was challenged unsuccessfully in court.
From reopening to now
From 1994 until the reopening in 1999 the opera seasons in Barcelona took place in: Palau Sant JordiPalau Sant Jordi
Palau Sant Jordi is an indoor sporting arena and multi-purpose installation that is part of the Olympic Ring complex located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
arena (only some massive performances in 1994), Palau de la Música Catalana
Palau de la Música Catalana
The Palau de la Música Catalana is a concert hall in Barcelona. Designed in the Catalan modernista style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891 that was a leading force in the Catalan cultural movement...
and Teatre Victòria. The rebuilt, improved and expanded theater opened on October 7, 1999, with Puccini's Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
as previewed in 1994 before the fire. The new venue had the same traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium as before but with greatly improved technical, rehearsal, office and educational facilities, a new rehearsal hall, a new chamber opera and small performances hall, and much more public space. Architects for the rebuilding project were Ignasi de Solà-Morales
Ignasi de Solà-Morales
Ignasi de Solà-Morales Rubió was a Catalan architect, historian and philosopher.He was professor of Architectural Composition at the School of Architecture in Barcelona, and also taught at the universities of Princeton, Columbia, Turin, and Cambridge.Among his most notable architectural works are...
and Xavier Fabré i Lluís Dilmé.
Surtitles, projected onto a screen above the proscenium, are used for all opera performances and some lieder concerts. Also, the electronic libretto system
Electronic libretto
The Electronic libretto system is used primarily in opera houses and is a device which presents translations of lyrics into an audience's language or transcribes lyrics that may be difficult to understand in the sung form....
provides translations (to English, Spanish or Catalan, as you choose) onto small individual monitors for the most of the seats.
The opera house building
The theatre is in la Rambla, in downtown Barcelona. The building has only two façades as the other two sides were limited, until 1994, by dwelling buildings.Some parts of the first building remain:
- the main façade in la Rambla (1847)
- the hall and the staircase (1861), with a Vallmitjana's statue of the Music (1901)
- the foyer (Saló de Miralls or Mirrors Hall) (1847). It preserves romantic ornamentation with round paintings of musicians, singers and dancers from that time of PastaGiuditta PastaGiuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta , born in Saronno, Italy, was a soprano considered among the greatest of opera singers, to whom the 20th-century soprano Maria Callas was compared.-Studies and career:...
, RubiniGiovanni Battista RubiniGiovanni Battista Rubini was an Italian tenor, as famous in his time as Enrico Caruso in a later day. His ringing and expressive coloratura dexterity in the highest register of his voice, the tenorino, inspired the writing of operatic roles which today are almost impossible to cast...
, Donizetti, BelliniVincenzo BelliniVincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
, Gluck, Marie TaglioniMarie TaglioniMarie Taglioni was a famous Italian/Swedish ballerina of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance.-Biography:...
. It was partially redecorated in 1877 by Elies Rogent and the roof painting, with the Parnassus, is from this period.
Building expenses were covered by the sale of boxes and seats. Boxes were lavishly decorated by their owners but all them disappeared in the 1994 fire. Upper balconies (4th and 5th tiers) are the cheapest seats and are is called the galliner (literally "henroost").
The forestage, or proscenium, reproduces the old one which was rebuilt in 1909. It has a big central arch with two Corinthian columns on both sides and, among the columns, four tiers of boxes parapets with the wider and more luxurious boxes in the theatre being called banyeres (literally "bathtubs").
The auditorium ornamentation reproduces that of 1909: sumptuous with golden and polychromed plaster moldings, as usual in 19th century European theatres. Lamps are of brass and glass in the shape of a drake. Armchairs on the main floor are made of strained iron and red velvet.
In the rebuilding some modern features were introduced. The eight circular paintings in the roof, and the three in the forestage, were all lost in the fire and have been re-created by contemporary artist Perejaume
Perejaume
Pere Jaume Borrell i Guinart, known as Perejaume, , is a contemporary artist.Of self-taught formation he takes clear influences of authors like Joan Brossa, with he will share work mixing the painting and the poetry.His work covers a discursive plane of subject matter that includes humans'...
. The stage curtain is a work of the Catalan designer Antoni Miró. The new hemispheric lamp in the center of the roof is a platform for technological facilities (lighting, sound and computer).
Other technological facilities are control and projecting cabins in some balconies, a "technical floor" over the roof, and high-tech equipment to record and broadcast performances. With computerized cameras the auditorium could also be used as a TV set. Stage facilities are among the most modern and allow quick scene changes and to perform four different sets simultaneously.
A new foyer has been built under the main auditorium. It is a room where is the main bar and the restaurant are located and is used also to stage concerts, small format performances, lectures, cultural activities, and meetings etc.
Performed works
The Liceu is, at present, both a receivingReceiving house
A receiving house is a theatre which does not produce its own repertoire but instead receives touring theatre companies, usually for a brief period such as three nights or a full week...
and producing house
Producing house
A producing house is a theatre which produces its own shows in-house. Theaters which do not produce their own material are known as receiving houses....
as it also produces its own productions (two or three new productions a year). The Liceu company consists of a permanent orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
and choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and some singers for the supporting roles. Leading roles are usually sung by guest singers. Stagecraft
Stagecraft
Stagecraft is a generic term referring to the technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, procurement of props, stage management, and...
is in part produced internally by the theatre (alone or together with other opera houses) and also rented from other external houses. Until the 1990s Liceu had its own ballet company which was at its best in the 1920-1930s under Joan Magriñà.
Most of the performed operas were from the Italian and German schools of 19th century: Verdi, Wagner, belcanto authors and in more recent times Puccini, Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
and Mozart are included.
The history of Liceu premieres is a good instance of the evolution of European opera tastes. At first opera was only a part of the artistic activities and opera alternated with other forms of performance such zarzuela
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
(Spanish light opera), classical dance (Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
was given its first Barcelona performance in 1847), theatrical performances, magic shows and a large number of activities which today might appear more appropriate for a variety concert or a music hall.
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
and Verdi's I due Foscari
I due Foscari
I due Foscari is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on a historical play, The Two Foscari by Lord Byron....
, are symptomatic of the taste for belcanto and Italian romantic melodrama: Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
, and Verdi etc. They are still in the repertory
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
and Verdi is by far the most performed composer.
The first operas by non Italian composers which were put on in the Liceu were Ferdinand Hérold's Zampa (1848), Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
's Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
(1849), Giacomo Meyerbeer's Robert le diable, Auber's La muette de Portici (1852) and Fra Diavolo (1853). All of these were sung in Italian as was the custom of the time.
The first performances of Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
(1854) and La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
(1855) led to the crowning of Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
as the king of opera. In 1866 Mozart was staged at the Liceu for the first time with Don Giovanni.
1883 is a landmark when Wagner's Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
is first performed. From there, and especially from 1880s to 1950s, Wagner become one of the most beloved and highly regarded composers at Liceu. The theatre had the first staged performance of Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
outside Bayreuth on December 31, 1913, after the Bayreuth monopoly ended (although performance started 30 minutes before the deadline of 00:00 on January 1, 1914) with Francesc Viñas in the title role and conducted by Franz Beidler. In 1955 the Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
company visited the theatre and performed three operas.
Verismo
Verismo
Verismo was an Italian literary movement which peaked between approximately 1875 and the early 1900s....
, especially Puccini, is an esteemed school from the end of 19th century. The first Russian opera was given in 1915 with a great success. Mussorgsky
Mussorgsky
Mussorgsky can refer to:*The Mussorgsky family of Russian nobility;*Modest Mussorgsky, a Russian composer belonging to that family.*Mussorgsky , a 1950 Soviet film about the composer...
, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky being often performed. The first years of the 20th century saw Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
conducting his own works. In 1904, Siegfried Wagner
Siegfried Wagner
Siegfried Wagner was a German composer and conductor, the son of Richard Wagner. He was an opera composer and the artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival from 1908 to 1930.-Life:...
conducted a concert and a year afterwards Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
conducted a work.
In 1915 impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
Mestres Calvet broadened the repertory and introduced composers such as Mozart, Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
, de Falla, Stravinsky, etc. It was a golden age for Russian and German operas which were now sung in their original language. Mestres also was closely associated with the success commencing in 1917 with the ballets of Diaghilev, with Nijinsky, Massine, Lopokova, Chernicheva and other great figures. Years later another famous dancer, Anna Pavlova, was also to perform here.
In 1947 the directing company changed and came into the hands of Arquer and Pàmias. In contrast with the preceding years, which had been marked by the almost exclusive programming of the great repertory works, the first season of the new directorship saw a special renewal of the repertoire featuring the first performances in Barcelona of some 100 works by a large number of composers. Various revivals featured Donizetti's Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
, which had first been staged in the Liceu one hundred years earlier. For 33 years, Pàmias was the leading figure of the Liceu's activity during a period when it seemed that it would be impossible to maintain the opera house without any official aid.
From the 1950s to now, the repertory has largely comprised the most performed titles in the world, including practically all the great 20th-century composers: Bartók, Honegger, Gershwin, Berg, Janáček, Weill, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Britten, Schönberg
Schönberg
- Germany :*Schönberg, Lower Bavaria, a town in the district of Freyung-Grafenau in Bavaria*Schönberg, Upper Bavaria, a town in the district of Mühldorf in Bavaria*Schönberg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, district Nordwestmecklenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
, Hindemith, etc., along with Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and classical
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
composers Monteverdi, Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
and Gluck.
Ballet seasons are an important part of the theatre's activities with some of the best known companies in the world performing, including Diaghilev and Béjart
Béjart Ballet
The Béjart Ballet Lausanne is a Swiss ballet company. It is based in the city of Lausanne, but tours other countries.The Béjart Ballet Lausanne was founded in 1987. It was established by Maurice Béjart, a well-known choreographer who had previously founded and managed the "Ballet du XXe Siècle" in...
.
Most performed operas
Most performed operas in the history of Liceu are (in January 2009):- Verdi's AidaAidaAida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, with 442 performances from 1877 to 2008. - Verdi's RigolettoRigolettoRigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
with 359 performances from 1853 to 2005. - Gounod's FaustFaust (opera)Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
with 297 performances from 1864 to 1988. - Donizetti's Lucia di LammermoorLucia di LammermoorLucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
with 274 performances from 1849 to 2007. - Donizetti's La favorita with 263 performances from 1850 to 2002 (last 10 performances are from the French version)
- Verdi's Il trovatoreIl trovatoreIl trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
with 259 performances from 1854 to 1993. - Wagner's LohengrinLohengrin (opera)Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
with 241 performances from 1883 to 2006. - Puccini's La bohèmeLa bohèmeLa bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
with 238 performances from 1898 to 2001. - Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia with 233 performances from 1847 to 1991.
- Verdi's La traviataLa traviataLa traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
with 231 performances from 1855 to 2002. - Meyerbeer's Les HuguenotsLes HuguenotsLes Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
with 228 performances from 1856 to 1971 (mostly in Italian version). - Bizet's CarmenCarmenCarmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
with 205 performances from 1888 to 1993. - Boito's MefistofeleMefistofeleMefistofele is an opera in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito.-Composition history:...
with 195 performances from 1880 to 1988. - Meyerbeer's L'AfricaineL'AfricaineL'africaine is a grand opera, the last work of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French libretto was written by Eugène Scribe. The opera is about fictitious events in the life of the real historical person Vasco da Gama...
with 191 performances from 1866 to 1977 (mostly in Italian version). - Wagner's Die WalküreDie WalküreDie Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
with 182 performances from 1899 to 2008.
Premieres at the theatre
As a prominent theatre the Liceu has been the location for the premieres of several works of theatre and music, and for the Spanish premieres of a lot of musical works. Among these premieres are:- 1847 (April 4) Ventura de la Vega's history play Don Fernando de Antequera.
- 1851 (June) El granuja, zarzuelaZarzuelaZarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
with music by N. Gardyn. - 1853 (January 8) Temistocle SoleraTemistocle SoleraTemistocle Solera was an Italian opera composer and librettist.He was born at Ferrara. He received his education at the Imperial College in Vienna and at the University of Pavia. Throughout his life he actively participated in anti-Austrian resistance. At one point, he was incarcerated for his...
's Spanish opera La hermana de Pelayo; La tapada del retiro, Nicolau Manent's zarzuela; Sueño y realidad, zarzuela with music by Felipe PedrellFelipe PedrellFelip Pedrell , was a Spanish Catalan composer. He worked as a musicologist and early music specialist and edited Victoria’s opera omnia and the requiem of Joan Brudieu. This and other of his writings fostered a keen interest in the early music of Spain...
. - 1854 (February 16) J. Freixas' opera La figlia del deserto.
- 1857 (May 23) Nicolau Manent's opera Gualtero di Monsonís.
- 1858 Pujadas' Catalan zarzuelaZarzuelaZarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
Setze jutges (Sixteen judges), the first all-Catalan language play performed at Liceu. - 1858 Juan Garín, o, Las peñas de Montserrat, music by Mariano Soriano Fuertes, Nicolau Manent and Francisco Porcell
- 1859 (May 12) Nicolau Guanyabéns' opera Arnaldo d'Erill.
- 1859 Josep Anselm Clavé's Catalan zarzuelaZarzuelaZarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
L'aplec del Remei. - 1867 (March 23) Francesc Sánchez Gavagnach's opera Rahabba.
- 1874 (January 28) Marià Obiols' opera Editta di Belcourt.
- 1874 (April 14) Felipe PedrellFelipe PedrellFelip Pedrell , was a Spanish Catalan composer. He worked as a musicologist and early music specialist and edited Victoria’s opera omnia and the requiem of Joan Brudieu. This and other of his writings fostered a keen interest in the early music of Spain...
's opera L'ultimo Abenzerraggio. - 1878 (November 27) Salvatore Auteri-Manzocchi's opera Il negriero
- 1885 (June 6) Manuel Giró's opera Il rinnegato Alonso García
- 1885 (June 12) Antoni Baratta's opera Lo desengany, first Catalan language opera sung at Liceu.
- 1889 (July 10) Francesc Sánchez Gavagnach's opera La messagiera.
- 1892 (May 14) Tomás BretónTomás BretónTomás Bretón was a Spanish musician and composer.-Biography:Tomás Bretón was born in Salamanca.He gained renown as a result of the success of his zarzuela La verbena de la Paloma, although other were well-received works, included his operas Los amantes de Teruel, based on the eponymous legend,...
's opera Garín. - 1895 (May 8) Isaac AlbénizIsaac AlbénizIsaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual was a Spanish Catalan pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms .-Life:Born in Camprodon, province of Girona, to Ángel Albéniz and his wife Dolors Pascual, Albéniz...
's opera Henry Clifford. - 1896 (January 5) Isaac AlbénizIsaac AlbénizIsaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual was a Spanish Catalan pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms .-Life:Born in Camprodon, province of Girona, to Ángel Albéniz and his wife Dolors Pascual, Albéniz...
's opera Pepita Jiménez. - 1902 (January 4) Felipe PedrellFelipe PedrellFelip Pedrell , was a Spanish Catalan composer. He worked as a musicologist and early music specialist and edited Victoria’s opera omnia and the requiem of Joan Brudieu. This and other of his writings fostered a keen interest in the early music of Spain...
's grand-opera Els Pirineus. - 1903 (December 3) Joan Manén's opera Acté.
- 1906 (January 20) Enric MoreraEnrique MoreraEnric Morera i Viura , was a Spanish Catalan musician and composer.Morera was born in Barcelona but moved with his father, a musician, to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1867, studying organ, trumpet, and violin there. He returned in 1883 to Barcelona, studying with Isaac Albeniz and Felipe Pedrell...
's opera Empòrium. - 1906 (April 21) Enric MoreraEnrique MoreraEnric Morera i Viura , was a Spanish Catalan musician and composer.Morera was born in Barcelona but moved with his father, a musician, to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1867, studying organ, trumpet, and violin there. He returned in 1883 to Barcelona, studying with Isaac Albeniz and Felipe Pedrell...
's opera Bruniselda. - 1907 (January 21) Joan Lamote de GrignonJoan Lamote de GrignonJoan Lamote de Grignon i Bocquet , was a Catalan Spanish pianist, composer and orchestra director.Joan Lamote de Grignon was born and died in Barcelona, the son of parents of French descent Lluis Lamote de Grignon and Elena Bocquet. In 1911 he founded the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, of which he...
's opera Hesperia. - 1912 (January 17) Enric MoreraEnrique MoreraEnric Morera i Viura , was a Spanish Catalan musician and composer.Morera was born in Barcelona but moved with his father, a musician, to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1867, studying organ, trumpet, and violin there. He returned in 1883 to Barcelona, studying with Isaac Albeniz and Felipe Pedrell...
's Titaina, with libretto by Àngel GuimeràÀngel GuimeràÀngel Guimerà i Jorge was a Spanish Canarian writer, born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, to a Catalan father and a Canary islander mother...
. - 1913 (January 15) Jaume Pahissa's first opera Gal·la Placídia.
- 1913 Jesús GuridiJesús GuridiJesús Guridi Bidaola was a Spanish Basque composer, and is a key player in the Spanish and Basque music of the twentieth century. His style fits into what we might call the late romantic stamp, directly inherited from Wagner, and with a strong influence from the Basque culture...
's opera Mirentxu (premiered as zarzuela in 1910, at Bilbao, and revised as opera by the author) - 1916 (January 18) Enric MoreraEnrique MoreraEnric Morera i Viura , was a Spanish Catalan musician and composer.Morera was born in Barcelona but moved with his father, a musician, to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1867, studying organ, trumpet, and violin there. He returned in 1883 to Barcelona, studying with Isaac Albeniz and Felipe Pedrell...
's opera Tassarba. - 1919 (February 15) Jaume Pahissa's opera La morisca.
- 1920 (January 24) Joaquim Cassadó's Lo monjo negre.
- 1923 (March 31) Jaume Pahissa's Marianela.
- 1924 (December 20) A. Marqués' opera Sor Beatriu.
- 1927 (January 12) Facundo de la Viña's opera La espigadora.
- 1928 (February 28) Jaume Pahissa's La princesa Margarida.
- 1929 (February 12) Ricard Lamote de GrignonRicard Lamote de GrignonRicard Lamote de Grignon i Ribas , was a Catalan Spanish composer and orchestral conductor.Ricard Lamote de Grignon was born and died in Barcelona. He was the only son of the composer Joan Lamote de Grignon and Florentina Ribas...
's ballet Somnis. - 1929 ([December 14]) Jose Maria UsandizagaJose Maria UsandizagaJosé María Usandizaga was a Spanish Basque composer.A native of San Sebastián, Usandizaga began his musical studies in his hometown before moving to the Schola Cantorum in Paris. There, he was a composition pupil of Vincent d'Indy, and he took piano lessons from Gabriel Grovlez...
's opera Las golondrinas (premiered as zarzuelaZarzuelaZarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
in 1914 and revised as opera by Ramón Usandizaga) - 1932 (March 3) Joan Manén's opera Neró i Acté.
- 1935 (January 15) Joan Gaig's opera El estudiante de Salamanca.
- 1938 Salvador BacarisseSalvador BacarisseSalvador Bacarisse Chinoria was a Spanish composer.Bacarisse was born in Madrid and studied music at the Real Conservatorio de Música there, as a student of Manuel Fernández Alberdi and Conrado del Campo...
's ballet Corrida de feria. - 1948 (January 10) Xavier MontsalvatgeXavier MontsalvatgeXavier Montsalvatge i Bassols was a Spanish Catalan composer and music critic. He was one of the most influential music figures in Catalan music during the latter half of the 20th century.-Life:...
's children opera l gato con botas. - 1948 (January 10) Carlos SurinachCarlos SurinachCarlos Surinach was a Catalan Spanish-born composer and conductor.He was born in Barcelona, where he held conducting posts at the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona and the Gran Teatre del Liceu...
's opera El mozo que casó con mujer brava. - 1950 (December 14) Conrado del CampoConrado del CampoConrado del Campo was a composer, violinist and professor at the Real Conservatorio de Música in Madrid, who was the principal conductor of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra.His was works played in the Theathre Real of Madrid for José María Alvira. His opera Lola la Piconera made its debut at the Gran...
's opera Lola la Piconera. - 1952 (December 12) Joan Manén's opera Soledad; his ballet Rosario la Tirana.
- 1953 (May 21) Antoni Massana's Canigó, the first Catalan-language opera after the Civil WarSpanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. - 1955 (December 17) Ángel Barrios' opera La Lola se va a los puertos.
- 1955 (December 19) Joaquín RodrigoJoaquín RodrigoJoaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez , commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success...
's ballet Pavana real. - 1956 (April 28) Frederic Mompou and Xavier MontsalvatgeXavier MontsalvatgeXavier Montsalvatge i Bassols was a Spanish Catalan composer and music critic. He was one of the most influential music figures in Catalan music during the latter half of the 20th century.-Life:...
's ballet Perlimplinada. - 1959 (January 1) Joan Altisent's opera Amunt!.
- 1960 (February) Ricard Lamote de GrignonRicard Lamote de GrignonRicard Lamote de Grignon i Ribas , was a Catalan Spanish composer and orchestral conductor.Ricard Lamote de Grignon was born and died in Barcelona. He was the only son of the composer Joan Lamote de Grignon and Florentina Ribas...
's opera La cabeza del dragón (written in 1939). - 1960 (May 1)Cristóbal HalffterCristóbal HalffterCristóbal Halffter Jiménez-Encina is a Spanish composer. He is the nephew of two other composers, Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter.-Life:...
's ballet Jugando al toro; Matilde Salvador's ballet El segoviano esquivo - 1961 (November 24) Manuel de FallaManuel de FallaManuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
and Ernesto HalffterErnesto HalffterErnesto Halffter Escriche was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was the brother of Rodolfo Halffter....
's scenic cantata Atlàntida. - 1962 (December 11) Xavier MontsalvatgeXavier MontsalvatgeXavier Montsalvatge i Bassols was a Spanish Catalan composer and music critic. He was one of the most influential music figures in Catalan music during the latter half of the 20th century.-Life:...
's opera Una voce in off. - 1969 (February 1) Joan Guinjoan's ballet Els cinc continents.
- 1974 (January 19) Matilde Salvador's opera Vinatea.
- 1975 (November 29) J. Ventura Tort's opera Rondalla d'esparvers.
- 1986 (May 22) Josep Soler's opera Oedipus et Iocasta (premiered as oratorio at Palau de la Música CatalanaPalau de la Música CatalanaThe Palau de la Música Catalana is a concert hall in Barcelona. Designed in the Catalan modernista style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891 that was a leading force in the Catalan cultural movement...
, 1972). - 1988 (September 21) Xavier Benguerel's scenic cantata Llibre vermell.
- 1989 (September 24) Leonardo BaladaLeonardo BaladaLeonardo Balada , is a Catalan American composer, now teaching and composing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Life:...
's opera Cristóbal Colón. - 2000 (October 2) José Luis Turina's opera D.Q., Don Quijote en Barcelona, with settings by La Fura dels BausLa Fura dels BausLa Fura dels Baus is a Catalan theatrical group founded in 1979 in Barcelona, known for their urban theatre, use of unusual settings and blurring of the boundaries between audience and actor. "La Fura dels Baus" in Catalan means "vermin from the sewers"....
. - 2004 (November 3) Joan Guinjoan's opera Gaudí.
- 2006 (April 6) Josep Mestres QuadrenyJosep Mestres QuadrenyJosep Maria Mestres Quadreny is a Spanish Catalan composer.He studied sciences at the University of Barcelona, taking lessons in composition from Cristòfor Taltabull...
's camera opera El ganxo. - 2009 (April 20) Enric Palomar's opera La cabeza del Bautista.
Spanish opera premieres
The Liceu has also been the location for the Spanish premieres of prominent operas. Amongst them are:
- 1847 Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Giovanna d'Arco (1845). - 1848 Saverio MercadanteSaverio MercadanteGiuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...
's Gli Orazii ed i Curiazii (1846). - 1849 Carl Maria von WeberCarl Maria von WeberCarl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
's Der Freischütz(1821); Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Alzira (1847); Gaetano DonizettiGaetano DonizettiDomenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's Les martyrs (1840, in Italian). - 1853 Daniel-François AuberDaniel AuberDaniel François Esprit Auber was a French composer.-Biography:The son of a Paris print-seller, Auber was born in Caen in Normandy. Though his father expected him to continue in the print-selling business, he also allowed his son to learn how to play several musical instruments...
's Fra Diavolo (1830). - 1854 Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Il trovatore (1853). - 1856 Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's I vespri siciliani (1855, 1856), in Italian; Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
's Les huguenots (in Italian) (1836). - 1861 Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Un ballo in maschera (1859). - 1862 Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Simon Boccanegra (1857). - 1863 Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
's Le prophète (in Italian) (1849). - 1864 Charles GounodCharles GounodCharles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Faust (1859). - 1868 Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
's Dinorah (in Italian) (1859). - 1870 Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Don Carlo (1868, Italian version 1869). - 1875 Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Requiem (1874); Ambroise ThomasAmbroise ThomasCharles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...
's Mignon (1866). - 1876 Carlos Gomes' Il guarany (1870).
- 1880 Arrigo BoitoArrigo BoitoArrigo Boito , aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito, pseudonym Tobia Gorrio, was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist and composer, best known today for his libretti, especially those for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello and Falstaff, and his own opera Mefistofele...
's Mefistofele (1868, rev. 1875). - 1883 Amilcare PonchielliAmilcare PonchielliAmilcare Ponchielli was an Italian composer, largely of operas.-Biography:Born in Paderno Fasolaro, now Paderno Ponchielli, near Cremona, Ponchielli won a scholarship at the age of nine to study music at the Milan Conservatory, writing his first symphony by the time he was ten years old.Two years...
's La Gioconda (1876). - 1885 Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Die fliegende Höllander (1843). - 1887 Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Tannhäuser (1845, 1861). - 1891 Pietro MascagniPietro MascagniPietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
's Cavalleria rusticana (1890). - 1894 Pietro MascagniPietro MascagniPietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
's L'amico Fritz (1891); Jules MassenetJules MassenetJules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Manon (1884). - 1897 Camille Saint-SaënsCamille Saint-SaënsCharles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
's Samson et Dalila (1877). - 1898 Giacomo PucciniGiacomo PucciniGiacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La bohème (1896); Umberto GiordanoUmberto GiordanoUmberto Menotti Maria Giordano was an Italian composer, mainly of operas.He was born in Foggia in Puglia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples...
's Andrea Chénier (1896). - 1899 Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Tristan und Isolde (1865); Jules MassenetJules MassenetJules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Werther (1892). - 1900 Umberto GiordanoUmberto GiordanoUmberto Menotti Maria Giordano was an Italian composer, mainly of operas.He was born in Foggia in Puglia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples...
's Fedora(1898); Pietro MascagniPietro MascagniPietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
's Iris (1898); Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Siegfried (1876); Christoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
's Iphigénie en Tauride (1779). - 1901 Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Götterdammerung(1876); Engelbert HumperdinckEngelbert HumperdinckEngelbert Humperdinck was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel. Humperdinck was born at Siegburg in the Rhine Province; at the age of 67 he died in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.-Life:After receiving piano lessons, Humperdinck produced his first composition...
's Hänsel und Gretel (1893). - 1903 Francesco CileaFrancesco CileaFrancesco Cilea was an Italian composer. Today he is particularly known for his operas L'arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur.-Biography:...
's Adriana Lecouvreur (1902). - 1904 Gustave CharpentierGustave CharpentierGustave Charpentier, , born in Dieuze, Moselle on 25 June 1860, died Paris, 18 February 1956) was a French composer, best known for his opera Louise.-Life and career:...
's Louise (1900). - 1905 Jules MassenetJules MassenetJules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Thaïs (1894); Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868). - 1907 Pietro MascagniPietro MascagniPietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
's Amica (1905). - 1908 Camille Saint-SaënsCamille Saint-SaënsCharles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
's Les barbares(1901). - 1910 Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
' Salome (1905); Eugen d'AlbertEugen d'AlbertEugen Francis Charles d'Albert was a Scottish-born German pianist and composer.Educated in Britain, d'Albert showed early musical talent and, at the age of seventeen, he won a scholarship to study in Austria...
's Tiefland (1903) (sung in Catalan). - 1911 Claude DebussyClaude DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
's L'Enfant prodigueL'Enfant prodigueL'Enfant prodigue was the first feature-length motion picture produced in Europe, running 90 minutes. Directed by Michel Carré, fils from his own three-act stage pantomime, the film was basically an unmodified record, filmed at Gaumont studio in May 1907...
(1884). - 1913 Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Parsifal (1883). - 1915 Giacomo PucciniGiacomo PucciniGiacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La fanciulla del West (1914); Modest MussorgskyModest MussorgskyModest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
's Boris Godunov (1869). - 1916 Ermanno Wolf-FerrariErmanno Wolf-FerrariErmanno Wolf-Ferrari was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as Il segreto di Susanna...
's Il segreto di Susanna (1909); Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Le nozze di Figaro (1786). - 1919 Jules MassenetJules MassenetJules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (1902); Pietro MascagniPietro MascagniPietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
's Guglielmo Rattcliff (1895) - 1920 Pietro MascagniPietro MascagniPietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
's Isabeau (1911). - 1921 Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
' Rosenkavalier (1911); Vincent d'IndyVincent d'IndyVincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age from his paternal grandmother, who passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and...
's L'étranger (1901). - 1922 Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
's Schnegouroschka (1885); Alexander BorodinAlexander BorodinAlexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...
's Prince Igor (1890); Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
Pikovaia dama (1890). - 1923 Modest MussorgskyModest MussorgskyModest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
's Khovanshchina (1886, 1913 first Western performance). - 1924 Antonín DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's Russalka (1900); Bedrich SmetanaBedrich SmetanaBedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
's Prodaná nevesta (1866, The bartered bride); Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's Les contes d'Hoffmann (1881); Jules MassenetJules MassenetJules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Hérodiade (1881). - 1925 Umberto GiordanoUmberto GiordanoUmberto Menotti Maria Giordano was an Italian composer, mainly of operas.He was born in Foggia in Puglia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples...
's La cena delle beffe (1924); Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
' Intermezzo (1924); Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Die Zauberflöte(1791). - 1926 Riccardo ZandonaiRiccardo ZandonaiRiccardo Zandonai was an Italian composer.-Biography:Zandonai was born in Borgo Sacco, Rovereto, then part of Austria–Hungary....
's Francesca da Rimini (1914); Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
's The legend of the invisible town of Kitege (1907), (first performance out of Russia), Pskovityanka (1873, 1892) and May night (1879). - 1928 Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's ballet La sacre du printemps (1913); Giacomo PucciniGiacomo PucciniGiacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Turandot (1926); Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (1782). - 1929 Jules MassenetJules MassenetJules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Don Quichotte (1910). - 1930 Italo MontemezziItalo MontemezziItalo Montemezzi was an Italian composer. He is best known for his opera L'amore dei tre re , once part of the standard repertoire....
's L'amore dei tre re (1913). - 1933 Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's Oedipus rex (1927). - 1936 Antonín DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's Jakobin (1897, rev.). - 1939 Enric Granados's Goyescas (1916).
- 1943 Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
' Ariadne auf Naxos (1912). - 1948 Giacomo PucciniGiacomo PucciniGiacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Il trittico (1918); Ottorino RespighiOttorino RespighiOttorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...
's La fiamma (1934); Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's Le rossignol (1914). - 1949 Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
' Elektra (1909); Édouard LaloÉdouard LaloÉdouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo was a French composer.-Biography:Lalo was born in Lille , in northernmost France. He attended that city's music conservatory in his youth. Then, beginning at age 16, Lalo studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Berlioz's old enemy François Antoine Habeneck...
's Le roi d'Ys (1888). - 1951 Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
' Die Frau ohne Schätten (1918). - 1952 Gian Carlo MenottiGian Carlo MenottiGian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
's The consul (1950). - 1953 Riccardo ZandonaiRiccardo ZandonaiRiccardo Zandonai was an Italian composer.-Biography:Zandonai was born in Borgo Sacco, Rovereto, then part of Austria–Hungary....
's I cavalieri di Ekebù (1925). - 1954 Gian Carlo MenottiGian Carlo MenottiGian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
's Amelia al ballo (1937); Béla BartókBéla BartókBéla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
's Duke Bluebeard's castle (1919); Giacomo PucciniGiacomo PucciniGiacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La rondine (1920, 1924). - 1955 Ildebrando PizzettiIldebrando PizzettiIldebrando Pizzetti was an Italian composer of classical music.- Biography :Pizzetti was born in Parma in 1880. He was part of the "Generation of 1880" along with Ottorino Respighi and Gian Francesco Malipiero. They were among the first Italian composers in some time whose primary contributions...
's Debora e Jaele(1921); George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's Porgy and Bess(1935); Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's Eugene Oneguin (1879). - 1956 Henry PurcellHenry PurcellHenry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
's Dido and Aeneas (1689). - 1957 Ottorino RespighiOttorino RespighiOttorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...
's Maria Egiziaca (1932); Gian Carlo MenottiGian Carlo MenottiGian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
's The saint of Bleecker Street (1955). - 1958 Ildebrando PizzettiIldebrando PizzettiIldebrando Pizzetti was an Italian composer of classical music.- Biography :Pizzetti was born in Parma in 1880. He was part of the "Generation of 1880" along with Ottorino Respighi and Gian Francesco Malipiero. They were among the first Italian composers in some time whose primary contributions...
's Assassinio nella catedrale (1958); Carl OrffCarl OrffCarl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
's Die Kluge (1943). - 1959 Francis PoulencFrancis PoulencFrancis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
's Dialogues des carmelites(1959); Franco AlfanoFranco AlfanoFranco Alfano was an Italian composer and pianist. Best known today for his opera Risurrezione and above all for having completed Puccini's opera Turandot in 1926. He had considerable success with several of his own works during his lifetime.- Biography :He was born in Posillipo, Naples...
's Cyrano de Bergerac]] (1936). - 1962 Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
' Arabella (1932). - 1963 Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's La clemenza di Tito (1791). - 1964 Alban BergAlban BergAlban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's Wozzeck (1925); Georg Friedrich Haendel's Giulio Cesare (1724). - 1965 Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri ShostakovichDmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
's Katerina Ismailova (1956); Leoš JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's Jenůfa (1904). - 1966 José Pablo MoncayoJosé Pablo MoncayoJosé Pablo Moncayo García was a Mexican pianist, percussionist, music teacher, composer and conductor. "As composer, José Pablo Moncayo represents one of the most important legacies of the Mexican nationalism in art music, after Silvestre Revueltas and Carlos Chávez." He produced some of the...
's La mulata de Córdoba (1948); Luis SandiLuis SandiLuis Sandi Meneses , was a musician, teacher and composer.-Biography:The complete name is Luis Sandi Meneses. Born February 22, 1905 in Mexico City, the only child of Genaro Sandi and María Meneses. Sandi did not attend public primary school, but was privately tutored by his mother's sister,...
's Carlota; Salvador Moreno's Severino; Alfredo KeilAlfredo KeilAlfredo Cristiano Keil was a Portuguese romantic composer and painter.Keil was born in Lisbon, the son of Johann Christian Keil and wife Maria Josefina Stellflug...
's A serrana (1899); Francis PoulencFrancis PoulencFrancis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
's La voix humaine (1959); Henri BusserHenri BüsserHenri Büsser was a French classical composer, organist, and conductor.- Biography :Paul-Henri Büsser was born in Toulouse, of partly Teutonic ancestry. He entered the Conservatoire in Paris in 1889; there he studied organ with César Franck and composition with Ernest Guiraud...
's La carrosse du Saint-Sacrement; Ruggero LeoncavalloRuggero LeoncavalloRuggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.-Biography:...
's La bohème (1896). - 1969 Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's The Rake's Progress (1962); Alban BergAlban BergAlban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's Lulu (1938); Mikhail GlinkaMikhail GlinkaMikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
's The life for the Tsar. - 1971 Kurt WeillKurt WeillKurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's Mahagonny. - 1972 Bohuslav MartinuBohuslav MartinuBohuslav Martinů was a prolific Czech composer of modern classical music. He was of Czech and Rumanian ancestry. Martinů wrote six symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. Martinů became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic...
's A Greek Passion; Bedrich SmetanaBedrich SmetanaBedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
's Dalibor. - 1973 Leoš JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's Katia Kabanova; Gaetano DonizettiGaetano DonizettiDomenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's Caterina Cornaro. - 1975 Benjamin BrittenBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Billy Budd (1941); Nino RotaNino RotaNino Rota was an Italian composer and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti...
's Il cappello di paglia di Firenze; Gian Francesco MalipieroGian Francesco MalipieroGian Francesco Malipiero was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor.-Early years:Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gian Francesco Malipiero was prevented by family troubles from pursuing his musical education in...
's Il capitano Spavento; Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's Mavra. - 1976 Leoš JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's From the Dead House. - 1977 Sergei ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
's War and Peace; Hector BerliozHector BerliozHector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
's Benvenuto Cellini; Luigi CherubiniLuigi CherubiniLuigi Cherubini was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries....
's Medea. - 1985 Arnold SchoenbergArnold SchoenbergArnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
's Moses und Aaron. - 1987 Alban BergAlban BergAlban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's Lulu (Friedrich CerhaFriedrich CerhaFriedrich Cerha is an Austrian composer and conductor.-Biography:Cerha was born in Vienna.He received his education at the Viennese Music Academy and at the University of Vienna...
's completed version, 1979); Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Lucio Silla. - 1991 Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
' Capriccio (1942). - 1992 Philip GlassPhilip GlassPhilip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
' Einstein on the Beach (1976); János Vajda's Mario and the magician. - 1994 Paul HindemithPaul HindemithPaul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
's Mathis der Maler (1938). - 1999 Leoš JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's Vec Makropoulos. - 2000 Ermanno Wolf-FerrariErmanno Wolf-FerrariErmanno Wolf-Ferrari was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as Il segreto di Susanna...
's Sly. - 2001 Benjamin BrittenBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Gloriana. - 2002 Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri ShostakovichDmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
's Lady Macbeth de Msenk (original version) (1934); Gaetano DonizettiGaetano DonizettiDomenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's La favorite French version (1850). - 2003 Philippe BoesmansPhilippe Boesmans-Life:Boesmans was born in Tongeren and studied piano at the Conservatory in Liège, where he was also introduced to serial composing techniques by Pierre Froidebise. However, it was only after coming into contact with the "Liège Group" in 1957 that he began to write music, as a self-taught composer...
' WIntermärchen (1999). - 2004 Jules MassenetJules MassenetJules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Cléopâtre (1914). - 2005 Benjamin BrittenBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960); Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Il corsaro (1848); Gioacchino RossiniGioacchino RossiniGioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...
's La gazzetta (1816). - 2006 Erich Wolfgang KorngoldErich Wolfgang KorngoldErich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
's Die tote Stadt; Georg Friedrich Haendel's Ariodante (1735). - 2007 Hans Werner HenzeHans Werner HenzeHans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
's Boulevard Solitude(1952); Jules MassenetJules MassenetJules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Le portrait de Manon (1894); Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Don Carlos French original version (1868). - 2008 Benjamin BrittenBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Death in Venice; L'ape musicale (1789), pasticcioPasticcioIn music, a pasticcio or pastiche is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, or inauthentic.-Etymology:The term is first attested in the...
by Lorenzo da PonteLorenzo Da PonteLorenzo Da Ponte was a Venetian opera librettist and poet. He wrote the librettos for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's greatest operas, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and Così fan tutte....
with music by Mozart, Vicente Martín y SolerVicente Martín y SolerVicente Martín y Soler was a Spanish composer of opera and ballet. Although relatively obscure today, in his own day he was compared favorably with his contemporary, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as a composer of opera buffa. He has been called the Valencian Mozart.He was born in Valencia and studied...
, Giuseppe GazzanigaGiuseppe GazzanigaGiuseppe Gazzaniga was a member of the Neapolitan school of opera composers. He composed fifty-one operas and is considered to be one of the last Italian opera buffa composers.-Biography:...
, Domenico CimarosaDomenico CimarosaDomenico Cimarosa was an Italian opera composer of the Neapolitan school...
, Giordani and Tarchi. - 2009 Karol SzymanowskiKarol SzymanowskiKarol Maciej Szymanowski was a Polish composer and pianist.-Life:Szymanowski was born into a wealthy land-owning Polish gentry family in Tymoszówka, then in the Russian Empire, now in Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine. He studied music privately with his father before going to Gustav Neuhaus'...
's Król Roger (1926); Héctor Parra's Hypermusic prologue (2009).
Directors, orchestra, and company
The theatre is managed by a director or impresarioImpresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
(empresari o administrador). From 1980 there is also an art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
(director artístic).
Empresaris:
- Albert Bernis (1901–1911)
- Francesc Casanovas (1911–1913)
- Alfredo Volpini (1913–1914)
- Joan Mestres i Calvet (1915–1947)
- Josep F. Arquer (to 1959) & Joan Pàmias, (1947–1980)
- Lluís Portabella (1981–1986)
- Josep M. Busquets (1986–1992)
- Jordi Maluquer (1992–1993)
- Josep Caminal (1993–2005)
- Rosa Cullell (2005–2008)
- Joan Francesc Marco (from 2008).
Artistic directors:
- Napoleone Annovazzi (1947–1952)
- Lluís Andreu (1981–1990)
- Albin Häsenroth (1990–1996)
- Joan Matabosch from 1996 to the present.
Orchestra and conductors
The theatre has had its own orchestra from its foundation in 1847, the Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del LiceuOrquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu
Titular symphony orchestra from the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Founded, as the theater, in 1847, it is the oldest orchestra still working in Barcelona, and the oldest in Spain...
. It is the oldest still working orchestra in Spain. Its first conductor was Marià Obiols.
Orchestra musical directors and head conductors:
- Ernest Xancó, 1959–1961.
- Eugenio Marco, 1981–1984.
- Uwe Mund, 1987–1994.
- Bertrand de BillyBertrand de BillyBertrand de Billy is a French conductor.He was born in Paris.After his career as an instrumental musician, de Billy began his conducting career in Paris. He later moved to Germany and built up his career as an opera conductor. He was the general music director at the Anhaltisches Theater in...
, 1999–2004. - Sebastian Weigle, 2004–2009
- Michael Boder, 2009–
Previously the orchestra invited conductors rather than having the position permanently filled.
Choir conductors
The choir was consolidated during the 1960s by its conductor Riccardo Bottino (1960–1982). From 1982 the choir conductors were Romano Gandolfi (1982–1993), with Vittorio Sicuri (1982–1990), and Andrés Máspero (from 1990). The present choir conductor is William Spaulding.Stage directors and stagecraft
During the second half of the 19th century, a school of stagecraft and theatrical scenery was developed at the Liceu. After the beginnings with Joan Ballester, well-known for his setting for L'AfricaineL'Africaine
L'africaine is a grand opera, the last work of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French libretto was written by Eugène Scribe. The opera is about fictitious events in the life of the real historical person Vasco da Gama...
, the leading scenographer was Francesc Soler i Rovirosa, working in the 1880-1900s. The style was very realistic using painted paper flats and curtains. Settings and costumes were made in the theatre workshops. From the 1900s to 1930s thw school is represented by scenic painters including Maurici Vilomara, Fèlix Urgellés, Salvador Alarma and Oleguer Junyent. The last of these painters was Josep Mestres Cabanes who painted sceneries in the 1930-1950s.
Singers
A lot of famous singers have sung at Liceu. Camille Saint-SaënsCamille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
, visiting the Liceu talking about the public said: "Ils aiment trop the ténor" (They [the public] love tenors too much).
In brackets are the dates of his/her premiere and his/her last performances at Liceu:
- Manuela Rossi-Caccia (1847), Pietro Mongini (1860/1862), Giuseppe Mario (1863), Roberto StagnoRoberto StagnoRoberto Stagno , was a prominent Italian opera tenor. He became an important interpreter of verismo music when it burst on to the operatic scene during the 1890s; but he also possessed an agile bel canto technique which he employed in operas dating from earlier periods...
(1867), Rosa Vercolini, Francesco TamagnoFrancesco TamagnoFrancesco Tamagno was an operatic tenor from Italy who sang with enormous success throughout Europe and America. On 5 February 1887, he cemented his place in musical history by creating the role of Otello in Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece of the same name...
(1876/1890), Adelaida d'Alberti, Francesc Mateu (Francesco Uetam) (1874/1877), Carolina Cepeda (1877), Angelo Masini (1881), Julián GayarreJulián GayarreSebastián Julián Gayarre Garjón , better known as Julián Gayarre, was a Spanish opera singer who created the role of Marcello in Donizetti's Il Duca d'Alba and Enzo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda.Although he faced strong competition for this title from the likes of Roberto Stagno, Italo Campanini,...
(1881/1888), Victor MaurelVictor MaurelVictor Maurel was a French operatic baritone who enjoyed an international reputation as a great singing-actor.-Biography:...
, Francesc Viñas (1888/1913), Hariclea DarcléeHariclea DarcléeHariclea Darclée was a celebrated Romanian operatic soprano. She possessed an agile, powerful, and beautiful voice that was wielded with a fine technique. An extremely beautiful woman, Darclée's stage presence was as elegant and refined as her singing...
(1894), Luisa TetrazziniLuisa TetrazziniLuisa Tetrazzini was an Italian coloratura soprano of great international fame.Tetrazzini's voice was remarkable for its phenomenal flexibility, thrust, steadiness and thrilling tone...
(1896), Geneviève VixGeneviève VixGeneviève Vix née Brouwer was a French soprano. She was a descendant of the Dutch painter Adriaen Brouwer.-Life and career:...
, Josefina Huguet (1896), Maria BarrientosMaria BarrientosMaria Barrientos was a Spanish opera singer, a light coloratura soprano, one of the most eminent sopranos of her time.- Life and career :...
(1898/1918), Rosina StorchioRosina StorchioRosina Storchio was an important Italian lyric soprano who starred in the world premieres of operas by Puccini, Leoncavallo, Mascagni and Giordano...
(1898). - In 1904 Enrico Caruso (in his only Liceu appearance) participated in two performances of Rigoletto. Gemma BellincioniGemma BellincioniGemma Bellincioni was an Italian soprano and one of the best-known opera singers of the late 19th century. She had a particular affinity with the verismo repertoire and was renowned more for her charismatic acting than for the quality of her voice.-Her career:Matilda Cesira was Bellincioni's real...
played the title role in a Salomé, the Catalan singer Conchita SupervíaConchita SuperviaConchita Supervía was a highly popular Spanish mezzo-soprano singer who appeared in opera in Europe and America and also gave recitals....
made her debut. Success was recorded by other performers such as: Mario SammarcoMario SammarcoMario Sammarco was an Italian operatic baritone noted for his histrionic ability.-Biography:...
(1902), Adamo DidurAdamo DidurAdamo Didur was a top-class Polish operatic bass vocalist. He sang extensively in opera in Europe and appeared at New York's Metropolitan Opera from 1908 to 1932.-Career:...
(1905), Mattia BattistiniMattia BattistiniMattia Battistini was an Italian operatic baritone. He became internationally famous due to the beauty of his voice and the virtuosity of his singing technique, and he earned the sobriquet "King of Baritones".-Early life:...
(1906), Graziella ParetoGraziella ParetoGraziella Pareto was a Spanish soprano leggiero, one of the leading sopranos of the inter-war years. She is considered one of the great coloratura sopranos of the "Spanish School" of the early 20th century, alongside Maria Barrientos, Maria Galvany and Mercedes Capsir.-Life and career:Pareto was...
(1906/1928), Giuseppe AnselmiGiuseppe AnselmiGiuseppe Anselmi was an Italian operatic tenor. He became famous throughout Europe during the first decade of the 20th century for his stylish performances of lyric roles. He never sang in the United States....
(1907), Titta RuffoTitta RuffoTitta Ruffo , born as Ruffo Titta Cafiero, was an Italian opera star who had a major international singing career. Known as the "Voce del leone" , he was greatly admired, even by rival baritones, such as Giuseppe De Luca, who said of Ruffo: "His was not a voice, it was a miracle" Titta Ruffo (9...
(1908/1926), Riccardo StracciariRiccardo StracciariRiccardo Stracciari was a leading Italian baritone. His repertoire consisted mainly of Italian operatic works, with Rossini's Figaro and Verdi's Rigoletto becoming his signature roles during a long and distinguished career which stretched from 1899 to 1944.- Life and career :Born near Bologna,...
(1909/1939), Elvira de HidalgoElvira de HidalgoElvira de Hidalgo was a prominent Spanish coloratura soprano, who later became a pedagogue...
(1911), Ebe StignaniEbe StignaniEbe Stignani was an Italian opera singer, who was pre-eminent in the dramatic mezzo-soprano roles of the Italian repertoire during a stage career of more than thirty years.-Career:...
, Conchita SupervíaConchita SuperviaConchita Supervía was a highly popular Spanish mezzo-soprano singer who appeared in opera in Europe and America and also gave recitals....
(1912/1928), Hipólito LázaroHipólito LázaroHipólito Lázaro was a Spanish/Catalan opera singer. Lázaro was born in Barcelona, Spain....
(1914/1945), Giovanni ZenatelloGiovanni ZenatelloGiovanni Zenatello was an Italian opera singer. Born in Verona, he enjoyed an international career as a dramatic tenor of the first rank. Otello became his most famous operatic role but he sang a wide repertoire. In 1904, he created the part of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.-Career:Zenatello...
, Giacomo Lauri-VolpiGiacomo Lauri-VolpiGiacomo Lauri-Volpi was an Italian tenor with a lyric-dramatic voice of exceptional range and technical facility. He performed throughout Europe and the Americas in a top-class career that spanned 40 years....
(1922/1945 and 1972) Miguel FletaMiguel FletaMiguel Burró Fleta was a Spanish operatic tenor....
(1925/1933), Toti Dal MonteToti Dal MonteAntonietta Meneghel , better known by her stage name Toti Dal Monte, was a celebrated Italian operatic soprano with a sweet and limpid lyric voice. She was a favourite artist of the celebrated conductor Arturo Toscanini...
(1925/1934), Feodor ChaliapinFeodor ChaliapinFeodor Ivanovich Chaliapin was a Russian opera singer. The possessor of a large and expressive bass voice, he enjoyed an important international career at major opera houses and is often credited with establishing the tradition of naturalistic acting in his chosen art form.During the first phase...
(1927/1934), Lauritz MelchiorLauritz MelchiorLauritz Melchior was a Danish and later American opera singer. He was the pre-eminent Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, and has since come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type.-Biography:...
(1927/1930), Tina Poli Randaccio, Lily Hafgren, Carlo Galeffi, Gilda Dalla Rizza, Georges ThillGeorges ThillGeorges Thill was a French opera singer, often considered to be his country's greatest lyric-dramatic tenor...
, Giannina Arangi Lombardi and Gina CignaGina CignaGina Cigna was a French-Italian opera singer, one of the leading dramatic soprano of the inter-war period.- Biography :...
. - Giulietta SimionatoGiulietta SimionatoGiulietta Simionato was an Italian mezzo-soprano. Her career spanned from the 1930s until her retirement in 1966.-Life:Born at Forlì, Romagna, she studied in Rovigo and Padua, and made her operatic debut at Montagnana in 1928...
(1945/1951), Victoria de los ÁngelesVictoria de los ÁngelesVictoria de los Ángeles was a Spanish Catalan operatic soprano and recitalist whose career began in the early 1940s and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Her obituary in The Times noted that she must be counted “among the finest singers of the second half...
(1945/1968 and 1994), Giuseppe di StefanoGiuseppe Di StefanoGiuseppe Di Stefano was an Italian operatic tenor who sang professionally from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. He was known as the "Golden voice" or "The most beautiful voice", as the true successor of Beniamino Gigli...
(1946/1970 and 1986), Maria CanigliaMaria CanigliaMaria Caniglia was one of the leading Italian dramatic sopranos of the 1930s and 1940s.- Life and career :...
(1947/1954), Gianni PoggiGianni PoggiGianni Poggi was an Italian tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.Born in Piacenza, Poggi studied first with Valeria Manna, and later in Milan with Emilio Ghirardini. He made his debut in Palermo, as Rodolfo, in 1947...
(1947/1963), Kirsten FlagstadKirsten FlagstadKirsten Målfrid Flagstad was a Norwegian opera singer and a highly regarded Wagnerian soprano...
(1949/1952), Hans HotterHans HotterHans Hotter was a German operatic bass-baritone, admired internationally after World War II for the power, beauty, and intelligence of his singing, especially in Wagner operas. He was extremely tall and his appearance was striking because of his high, narrow face, wide mouth, and big, aquiline nose...
(1948/1987), Max Lorenz (1950/1954), Boris ChristoffBoris ChristoffBoris Christoff was a Bulgarian opera singer...
(1951/1952), Renata TebaldiRenata TebaldiRenata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period...
(1953/1959), Giuseppe TaddeiGiuseppe TaddeiGiuseppe Taddei was an Italian baritone, who performed mostly the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi....
(1953/1986), Wolfgang WindgassenWolfgang WindgassenWolfgang Windgassen was a tenor internationally known for his performances in Wagner operas.-Life and career:...
(1954/1959), Walter Berry (1954/1985), Anton DermotaAnton DermotaKammersänger Anton Dermota was a Slovene tenor.He was born in a poor family Born in the Upper Carniolan village of Kropa, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire . He went to the Ljubljana Conservatory with the intention of studying composition and organ, but in 1934 he received a scholarship...
(1955/1966), Gianna d'AngeloGianna d'AngeloGianna D'Angelo , is an American coloratura soprano, primarily active in the 1950s and 1960s.Born Jane Angelovich in Hartford, Connecticut, she studied first at The Juilliard School in New York City with Giuseppe De Luca...
(1957/1965), Enriqueta Tarrés (1957/1992), Fedora BarbieriFedora BarbieriFedora Barbieri was an Italian mezzo-soprano.Barbieri was born in Trieste. She made her official debut in Florence in 1940, but retired in 1943 because of her marriage. She re-emerged in 1945. She was one of the first performers to investigate and perform in early operas by Monteverdi and Pergolesi...
, Margherita CarosioMargherita CarosioMargherita Carosio was an Italian operatic soprano. She was one of the most remarkable light lyric sopranos of her generation. Her warm, expressive and expertly produced voice is preserved in many Parlophone and Ultraphon recordings made before World War II, as well as a memorable series made for...
, Astrid VarnayAstrid VarnayIbolyka Astrid Maria Varnay was an American dramatic soprano of Hungarian heritage and Swedish birth, who did most of her work in the United States and Germany. She was one of the best-known Wagnerian heroic sopranos of her generation...
(1955/1957), Gertrude Grob-PrandlGertrude Grob-PrandlGertrude Grob-Prandl was an Austrian Wagnerian soprano.Grob-Prandl was born in Vienna and studied at the conservatory there. She originally intended to become a piano teacher but the professors at the conservatory began to notice the size of her voice and she was placed in a singing class...
, Birgit NilssonBirgit Nilssonright|thumb|Nilsson in 1948.Birgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works...
(1957/1958), Régine CrespinRégine CrespinRégine Crespin was a French singer who had a major international career in opera and on the concert stage between 1950 and 1989. She started her career singing roles in the dramatic soprano and spinto soprano repertoire, drawing particular acclaim singing Wagner and Strauss heroines...
(1958/1966), Carlo Bergonzi (1958/1982), Alfredo KrausAlfredo KrausAlfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles...
(1958/1994). - Joan SutherlandJoan SutherlandDame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
(1960/1989), Piero CappuccilliPiero CappuccilliPiero Cappuccilli was an Italian operatic baritone, particularly associated with Verdi roles, especiallyMacbeth and Simon Boccanegra; he was renowned for his extraordinary breath control and smooth legato, and is widely regarded as one of the finest Italian baritones of the second half of the 20th...
(1961/1994), Fiorenza CossottoFiorenza CossottoFiorenza Cossotto is an Italian mezzo soprano. She is considered by many to be one of the great mezzo-sopranos of the 20th century.-Life and career:...
(1961/1994), Montserrat CaballéMontserrat CaballéMontserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....
(1962/2007), Virginia ZeaniVirginia ZeaniVirginia Zeani is a Romanian soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, especially the role of in "La traviata".-Early life:Zeani was born Virginia Zehan, in Solovăstru, Romania...
(1963/1977), Pedro Lavirgen (1964/1989), Plácido DomingoPlácido DomingoPlácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
(1966/2008), Jaume Aragall (1964–1997), Vicente SardineroVicente SardineroVicente Sardinero , né Sardinero-Puerto, was a Spanish operatic lyric baritone. Born in Barcelona, he made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in his native city in the 1964-65 season, as Escamillo in Carmen. He first appearance at the Teatro alla Scala was in 1967, as Enrico in Lucia di...
(1964/1997), Richard TuckerRichard TuckerRichard Tucker was an American operatic tenor.-Early life:Tucker was born Rivn Ticker in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of Romanian immigrants from Bessarabia. His father, Shmul Ticker, and mother Fanya-Tsipa Ticker had already adopted the surname "Tucker" by the time their son entered first...
(1965/1975), Grace BumbryGrace BumbryGrace Bumbry , an American opera singer, is considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, as well as a major soprano for many years...
(1966/1988), Anja SiljaAnja SiljaAnja Silja Regina Langwagen, , born April 17, 1940, in Berlin, is a German soprano who is known for her great abilities as a singing-actress and for the vastness of her repertoire....
(1966/2000).
- Mirella FreniMirella FreniMirella Freni, birth name Mirella Fregni, is an Italian opera soprano whose repertoire includes Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Tchaikovsky...
(1970/1994), Josep Carreras (1958, as child, and 1970/2008), Joan Pons (1970/2006), Elena ObraztsovaElena ObraztsovaElena Vasiliyevna Obraztsova is a Russian mezzo-soprano, widely recognised as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, thanks to her outstanding stage presence and the vocal abilities....
(1970/1984), Agnes BaltsaAgnes BaltsaAgnes Baltsa is a leading Greek mezzo-soprano.Baltsa was born in Lefkada. She began playing piano at the age of six, before moving to Athens in 1958 to concentrate on singing...
(1971/1992), Edita GruberovaEdita GruberováEdita Gruberová , is a Slovak soprano who is one of the most acclaimed coloraturas of recent decades. She is noted for her great tonal clarity, agility, dramatic interpretation, and ability to sing high notes with great power, which made her an ideal Queen of the Night in her early years...
(1977/2008) - Simon EstesSimon EstesSimon Estes is an operatic bass-baritone of African-American descent who had a major international opera career since the 1960s...
(1981/1997), Matti SalminenMatti SalminenMatti Salminen is a Finnish operatic bass singer, who has sung at all of the most important opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan and Bayreuth Festival....
(1981/2004), Ewa PodlesEwa PodlesEwa Podleś is an internationally celebrated Polish coloratura contralto with a very wide vocal range and great vocal agility....
(1981/2007), Martti TalvelaMartti TalvelaMartti Talvela was a Finnish operatic bass.Born in Hiitola, Finland , he studied in Lahti and Stockholm, and made his operatic debut in Helsinki in 1960 as Sparafucile. At , he was the tallest singer of his century. He trained as a boxer in his youth and developed the stamina necessary for the...
(1982/1989), Eva MartonÉva MartonÉva Marton is a Hungarian dramatic soprano, particularly known for her operatic portrayals of Puccini's Turandot and Tosca, and Wagnerian roles.- Vocal training and early years :...
(1982/2006), Gwyneth Jones (1985/1997), Nicolai GhiaurovNicolai GhiaurovNicolai Ghiaurov was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous bass singers of the postwar period. He was admired for his powerful, sumptuous voice, and was particularly associated with roles of Verdi.Ghiaurov married the Italian soprano Mirella Freni in 1978...
(1985/1992), Rockwell BlakeRockwell BlakeRockwell Blake is an American operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas. He was the first winner of the Richard Tucker Award.-Biography:...
(1986/1996), Dolora ZajickDolora ZajickDolora Zajick is an American mezzo-soprano who specializes in the Verdian repertoire. Zajick is arguably the leading exponent in the dramatic Verdian mezzo-soprano repertoire....
(1988/2008). - Josep Bros (1992/2007), Deborah PolaskiDeborah PolaskiDeborah Polaski is an American opera and concert singer . She has specialized in dramatic soprano roles and also sings mezzo-soprano roles occasionally.-Biography:...
(2000), Angela DenokeAngela DenokeAngela Denoke is a German opera singer .She studied at the University of Music and Drama of Hamburg. Her first contract was at the Theater Ulm , where she sang Fiordiligi , Donna Anna and Agathe in , among other roles...
(2002), Natalie DessayNatalie DessayNatalie Dessay is a French coloratura soprano. She dropped the silent "h" in her first name in honor of Natalie Wood when she was in grade school and subsequently simplified the spelling of her surname outside France...
, Juan Diego FlórezJuan Diego FlórezJuan Diego Flórez is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Sol del Perú....
(2002/2008), Rolando VillazónRolando VillazónEmilio Rolando Villazón Mauleón is a Mexican tenor. He settled in France and in 2007 became a French citizen.-Early life and education:...
(2005/2008), Peter SeiffertPeter Seiffert-Biography:Seiffert studied at the Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf and made his debut in 1978 at the Deutschen Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf/Duisburg. In 1979, he was awarded second place in the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb , and appeared on the TV show Anneliese Rothenberger gibt sich die Ehre .In 1986, he...
or Fiorenza CedolinsFiorenza CedolinsFiorenza Cedolins, born in Anduins di Vito d'Asio, a village in Friuli, near Pordenone, is an Italian soprano.Cedolins made her operatic debut in 1992 at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana...
(2005/2007).
Conservatori de Música del Liceu
Linked to the theatre is the Conservatori Superior de Música del LiceuConservatori Superior de Música del Liceu
Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu is a music college in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was created in 1837 with the name Liceo Filo-dramático de Montesión....
, a music college founded in 1837 which is part of the same corporation.
Circle of the Lyceum
A few months after the foundation of the Liceu the Círculo del Liceo (Liceu Circle) was created, according to the date of inscription of 125 founders that consists in the first book of associates' record on November 20, 1847.The Círculo is an exclusive private club located in the Liceu building but it is an independent society. Only men or the widows of members could be club members. After the fire of 1994 a strong polemic was started for denying to any woman membership of the club, and the society statute was changed. In 2001 two Catalan businesswomen, Adela Subirana and Magda Ferrer-Dalmau, were formalizing their inscriptions becoming the first women to join the club. Nevertheless, the rest of the 10 women who applied were rejected including Montserrat Caballé. At present there are 1,100 associates.
As recreational club it was the first social club of the city. The history of the Círculo has allowed that it should have a phenomenal art heritage. It has a library which is more than notable and a majority of its dependences have Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
decoration. There are four large windows in the low foyer that they are a direct testimony of the strong influence of Wagnerism
Wagnerism
Wagnerism has a number of meanings:* the philosophical ideals put forward by Richard Wagner which indicate the traits of a "true" German, among other aesthetic ideas.* an attachment, sometimes fanatical, to the music of Wagner....
in the Catalan culture during the beginning of the 20th century.
Besides the furniture and the decoration the club is a vivacious and splendid sample of sculptures, marquetry
Marquetry
Marquetry is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furniture or even seat furniture, to decorative small objects with smooth, veneerable surfaces or to freestanding pictorial panels...
, enamels, engravings, etchings and paintings of the best Catalan artists of the epoch: Alexandre de Riquer
Alexandre de Riquer
Alexandre de Riquer i Ynglada, 7th Count of Casa Dávalos , was a versatile artist intellectual and Catalan Spanish designer, illustrator, painter, engraver, writer and poet. He was one of the leading figures of Modernism in Catalonia.He belonged to an aristocratic family, the Counts of Casa Dávalos...
, Santiago Rusiñol
Santiago Rusiñol
Santiago Rusiñol i Prats was a Catalan post-impressionist/Symbolist painter, poet, and playwright.He was born in Barcelona in 1861, and died in Aranjuez in 1931 while painting its famous gardens....
, Modest Urgell Inglada and Francesc Miralles, among others. The most famous work of the club is the wall set of twelve oils on fabric, commissioned to Ramon Casas and installed in the rotunda of the club. Each of twelve paintings, Casas' most ambitious work, is inspired by a musical topic.
Fiction: novels, plays, etc.
- Frederic Soler's satirical comedy "Liceístas" i "cruzados" (1865), about the quarrels amongst the fans of the Liceu and fans of the Teatre PrincipalTeatre Principal (Barcelona)thumb|right|Teatre Principal, on the RamblaThe Teatre Principal is the oldest theatre in Barcelona, founded in 1602, rebuilt in 1788...
, the two main opera houses as there was a great rivalry among them in Barcelona during the 19th century. - Narcís OllerNarcís OllerNarcís Oller i Moragas was a Catalan author, most noted for the novels La papallona which appeared with a foreword by Émile Zola in the French translation; his most well-known work L'Escanyapobres ; and La febre d'or which is set in Barcelona during the period of promoterism.He...
's novel La febre d'or (1892). - Artur Masriera's sketch book Los buenos barceloneses: hombres, costumbres y anécdotas de la Barcelona ochocentista (1850–1870) (1925).
- Ignacio Agustí's novels: Mariona Rebull (1944) and El viudo Rius (1945), where the 1893 bomb at Liceu is narrated.
- Eduardo MendozaEduardo MendozaEduardo Mendoza may refer to:*Eduardo Mendoza Ceballos, Spanish novelist, Venezuelan businessman, special commissioner for international narcotic affairs, with the rank of ambassador...
's novel La ciudad de los prodigios (1986). However the film based on it was filmed at Teatre Fortuny at ReusReusReus is the capital of the comarca of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague...
, not at Liceu. - Joan Agut's short stories book El dia que es va cremar el Liceu (The day the Liceu was burnt) (1995).
Films
- Mariona Rebull (1947), directed by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia
- Gayarre (1958), by Domingo Viladomat, a biopic about Julián GayarreJulián GayarreSebastián Julián Gayarre Garjón , better known as Julián Gayarre, was a Spanish opera singer who created the role of Marcello in Donizetti's Il Duca d'Alba and Enzo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda.Although he faced strong competition for this title from the likes of Roberto Stagno, Italo Campanini,...
, performed by Alfredo KrausAlfredo KrausAlfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles...
. - Circus world (1964), directed by Henry HathawayHenry HathawayHenry Hathaway was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring John Wayne.-Background:...
, with John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
and Claudia CardinaleClaudia CardinaleClaudia Cardinale is an Italian actress, and has appeared in some of the most prominent European films of the 1960s and 1970s. The majority of Cardinale's films have been either Italian or French...
; some circus scenes are filmed inside the Liceu theatre. - Romanza final (1986), directed by José María Forqué, a film about Julián GayarreJulián GayarreSebastián Julián Gayarre Garjón , better known as Julián Gayarre, was a Spanish opera singer who created the role of Marcello in Donizetti's Il Duca d'Alba and Enzo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda.Although he faced strong competition for this title from the likes of Roberto Stagno, Italo Campanini,...
's life with Josep Carreras. - Un submarí a les estovalles (1990), directed by Ignasi Pere Ferré.
- La febre d'or (1993), directed by Gonzalo Herralde, with Fernando Guillén, Rosa M. SardàRosa Maria SardàRosa María Sardà is a Spanish actress and comedian.She has played roles in Spanish and Catalan. She was married to the comedian Josep Maria Mainat , and she's Xavier Sardà's elder sister...
and Àlex Casanovas, with fragments of a performance of Gounod's FaustFaust (opera)Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
. - The Life of David Gale (2003), directed by Alan ParkerAlan ParkerSir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
, with Kevin SpaceyKevin SpaceyKevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
and Kate WinsletKate WinsletKate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
.
See also
- Conservatori Superior de Música del LiceuConservatori Superior de Música del LiceuConservatori Superior de Música del Liceu is a music college in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was created in 1837 with the name Liceo Filo-dramático de Montesión....
- List of theatres and concert halls in Barcelona
External links
- Liceu website (in English, Catalan, and Spanish)