Teatre del Liceu - Barcelona, Spain
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N 41° 22.821 E 002° 10.428
31T E 430915 N 4581310
The Gran Teatre del Liceu, is an opera house in the city of Barcelona.
Waymark Code: WMDBT5
Location: Cataluña, Spain
Date Posted: 12/21/2011
Views: 25
"In 1837 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 lyceum) 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 inauguration on April 4, 1847, presented a mixed program including the premieres 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)."
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