It is one of the emblematic buildings of the Rambla and of the city. Built on the former site of the Trinitarios convent, it was inaugurated on April 4, 1847, with a concert piece, a dance and the play Don Fernando de Antequera. It had a capacity for 4,000 spectators and had five amphitheatres. In 1861 it burned down, forcing part of the building to be restored. During this second stage, the Liceo stopped performing theater in verse and other manifestations to specialize in opera and occasionally ballet.
When we pass in front of its facade we cannot imagine the beauty that we find inside with the rooms of great ornamental richness and with a theater with one of the best acoustics in the world and that have made it one of the first lyrical stages. Opera figures such as Caruso, María Callas, Montserrat Caballé, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo or Josep Carreras, among others, have performed here.
The building is also home to the Circulo del Liceo, a club founded in 1847 in the English style, occupying sumptuous rooms, such as the Rotonda room decorated with 12 modernist panels by Ramón Casas. It has more than a thousand members and numerous events, conferences, recitals, concerts, etc. are organized.
Curiosities:
The anarchist attack:
The Liceo became a symbol of Barcelona’s upper bourgeoisie who transformed the theater into a center of culture and art. For this reason, it was the target of the anarchist Santiago Salvador, who on November 7, 1893, in full representation of the opening of the season, threw two bombs at the theater stalls, causing twenty deaths.
The Lyceum and the fires:
First fire in 1861 that completely destroyed the Hall and the stage.
Second fire in 1994, attributed to a spark from a blowtorch but is still an enigma today. The fire started on the stage and quickly spread through the building, which ended up collapsing in just two hours. It was a hard blow for the people of Barcelona. In 1999 it opened its doors again after a meticulous reform and reconstruction of the building.
www.liceubarcelona.cat
