Gran Teatre del Liceu, Icon Barcelona City
Barcelona's opera house, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, was
founded on the Rambla in 1847 and has continued over the years to fulfil its
role as a culture and arts centre and one of the symbols of the city.
Today it
is publicly-owned (by the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council,
Barcelona Provincial Council and the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y
Deporte) and administered by the Fundació del Gran Teatre del Liceu which,
in addition to the aforementioned bodies, incorporates the Patronage Council
and the Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu (the old society of owners).
The Liceu
evolved out of the Sociedad Dramática de Aficionados (Society of
theatre-lovers) set up in 1837 at the instigation of Manuel Gibert in the former
convent of Montsió by members of the National Militia, an organization of armed
citizens with liberal leanings.
Barcelona's economy and population were growing
fast at the time and the city needed a music conservatory. This led to the
conversion of the Sociedad Dramática into the Liceo Filármonico Dramático
Barcelonés de S.M. la Reina Isabel II (Barcelona Dramatic and Philharmonic
Lyceum of HM Queen Isabel II). In addition to its theatrical activities,
the new organization cultivated Italian-style singing and music.
The building on the Rambla
The original building was
solemnly opened on 4 April 1847. The plans had been drawn up by Miquel Garriga
i Roca, subsequently assisted by Josep Oriol Mestres. The project was funded by
selling shares, which meant that many of the boxes and seats were to be
privately owned. The shareholders formed the Societat del Gran Teatre del
Liceu, known as the “Societat de Propietaris” (Society of Owners), which
was in sole charge of running the Gran Teatre del Liceu from 1855 onwards,
after it was legally separated from the Conservatori del Gran Teatre del Liceu.
The
theatre was operated by impresarios who were given a concession to stage a
specific number of productions in exchange for the proceeds from the sale of
tickets not reserved for the Societat itself. This system was to endure until
1980.
The creation of the Consortium
By the last quarter of the
20th century this management system was no longer viable. In 1980, to avert the
danger of the disappearance of an institution of such worldwide cultural
renown, the Generalitat - Catalonia's first government in modern times – set up
a consortium, the Consorci del Gran Teatre del Liceu, which also incorporated
Barcelona City Council and the Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu. Barcelona
Provincial Council joined the Consortium in 1985, followed by the Spanish Ministry
of Culture in 1986. From then on the Consortium took over operation of the
theatre.
The 1994 fire and the construction of the present
building
The fire that destroyed
the Auditorium and stage on 31 January 1994 caused a great impact on Catalan
society and the Liceu's very existence was called into question. It was decided
to rebuild and improve the emblematic building and to create a new legal
framework to put it under public ownership. Thus the Fundació del Gran Teatre
del Liceu was created in 1994 and the Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu
surrendered its property rights to the public authorities. This hand-over was
ratified in 1997.
The theatre was rebuilt on the basis of a pre-existing
Refurbishment and Enlargement Project, drawn up in 1986 by Ignasi de
Solà-Morales with later input (1986) from Xavier Fabré and Lluís Dilmé. The new
theatre looked very much like its predecessor but was endowed with
state-of-the-art technical equipment and enlarged by taking over adjoining lots
on the Rambla. It opened its doors on 7 October 1999.
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