The German director Christof Loy closed last season at the Liceu with a brilliant production of Rusalka, by Antonín Dvořák, with Piotr Beczala and Asmik Grigorian in the leading roles, both in a state of grace. Loy had the indispensable accomplice of set designer Johannes Leiacker, another master of clear lines and contained emotion, with whom he also worked on the staging of Jules Massenet's opera Werther, ten performances of which will be given at the Liceu from May 2 to 17, with a double cast. In the first (on the 4th, 7th, 9th, 14th and 17th), two singers debuting in the roles: Basque tenor Xabier Anduaga as Werther and German mezzo-soprano Kristina Stanek as Charlotte; two roles that in the second cast (on the 2nd, 5th, 8th, 11th and 16th) are sung by American Matthew Polenzani and AzerbaijaniElmina Hasan.

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) gathered throughout his life several madrigals, divided into nine books, the last of which was published posthumously. The fifth, written in 1605, marks a turning point because the musician from Cremona incorporates what is known as seconda prattica, in which word and music intertwine in an expressive will – which includes resources such as dissonances – that will soon blossom into opera: let's not forget that two years after that collection-book, written for the court of Mantua and the Gonzaga family, Monteverdi would premiere in that city and in the ducal palace La favola d’Orfeo, in which the composer demonstrates having assumed the principles that will govern from then on theopera per musica, both his own and others'..The Liceu has been offering the various series of Monteverdi's madrigal books since the 2020-2021 season, and until now the second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth had been heard. Now it's the fifth's turn, without this ordinal arrangement being very clear. Surely, Rinaldo Alessandrini has something to do with it. But it doesn't matter if the order isn't the established one, because what matters is enjoying these chamber sessions in a foyer very suitable for this type of evenings.Once again, the ensemble led by the Italian master demonstrates its commitment to Monteverdian music, with rigor, precision, and elegance. And, in the case at hand, with the measured theatricality of a compendium of pieces that prefigure the great theater man that Monteverdi would become, despite having bequeathed us only three complete operas.Facing the Concerto Italiano, which features a theorbo, two violins, two violas, and a cello, and with Alessandrini present on harpsichord, the vocal ensemble managed to convey the contrasts, the lights, and the shadows of the nineteen pieces that make up the compendium.Sober in gesture and generous in expressive transmission, Rinaldo Alessandrini once again demonstrated that he is not only an authority in the Monteverdian style, but that he has also managed to convey its modernity, thanks to a writing that also demands expressive imagination. And there was a lot of that on Wednesday evening in the foyer of the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

The Gran Teatre del Liceu already knows which are the five architecture studios finalists of the competition for the construction of the . They are the following: Sanaa, the studio founded by Japanese Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, Pritzker Prize 2010, with CFA; Batlle i Roig associated with Norwegian Snøhetta, designer of the Oslo Opera House; Barozzi Veiga with Maio and Burgos Garrido; Japanese Sou Fujimoto with Gras and Aldayjover; and b720 with Decas, the studio of British and responsible for the Barcelona City of Justice.In other words, five candidacies with Catalan presence: the Girona-based studio CFA, of and Josep Camps;

"Vinyl record factories are slow," said Silvia Pérez Cruz to explain the unique nature of Wednesday's concert at the Liceu. Indeed, the record Oral_Abyssal (Sony), which has been registered for some time, will be released on May 8th. Therefore, except for the tracks Dark, Captain and Liquid As a preview, the audience that filled the theater was unfamiliar with much of the repertoire he performed. This added a degree of anticipation for the spectators, and surely some unease for the artist from Palafrugell.

Manon Lescaut It always works if this opera is presented in a production that perfectly captures its essence: an apotheosis of melodrama, like virtually the entirety of Puccini's catalog. In the last twenty years, the Liceu has presented three different productions of Puccini's third opera, based on the novel The History of the Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut of theabbot Prévost. A story also inspired by the operas of Auber, Massenet, and Henze. Now, Puccini's version has returned to the Rambla. A production of the Frankfurt Opera, with stage direction by Àlex Ollé and part of his usual team: set designer Alfons Flores, costume designer Lluc Castells and lighting designer Joachim Klein.

I confess: I was dreading this recital by Juan Diego Flórez. But, little by little, the Peruvian tenor convinced me of two things: he was genuinely eager to sing, and he gave it his all. That said, the Peruvian tenor has a foolproof trick: he never deviates from the script. Having said that, it's perfectly understandable that the first part, with its undeniable technical difficulty, was the highlight of the evening.

"God is dead." Nietzsche's fatalistic-liberating maxim appears painted yellow in a Gothic church. Alberich, the Nibelung, is a deranged punk who steals the Rhine gold hidden in the very church that houses a grand altarpiece reserved for the gods. Wotan, the god, in contrast, is dressed according to medieval mythology, complete with a winged helmet. Thus, by linking nihilism, realism, and myth, German stage director Tobias Kratzer sets the stage. Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), the first of the four operas in Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. It premiered in 2024 at the Bavarian State Opera and will arrive at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in early 2027.

On November 7, 1893, Barcelona's high society flocked to the Liceu, because the opera season was beginning with William Tell by Rossini. Santiago Salvador, who was in his late twenties, accessed the upper floors of the theater from Sant Pau Street and saw the first act. After a short intermission, when the music began Oui, vous la arrachez à mon âme, He pulled out the two Orsini bombs he had hidden and dropped them into the audience. That day, as Èric Lluent (Barcelona, ​​1986) explains, in The bomb at the high school (NOW Books), Salvador inaugurated a new historical era. He was the perpetrator of the first attack of modern, indiscriminate terrorism. Who was Salvador? Who helped him and why? Why do we speak of modern terrorism? The Barcelona-born journalist residing in Reykjavik answers all these questions.

Amilcare Ponchielli's most famous opera is hardly defensible. Leaving aside the intensity of some arias, The Mona Lisa It lacks the dramatic appeal necessary for a staging that transcends the most blatant historicism. Arrigo Boito's pretentious libretto, disguised under the pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio, offers nothing more.

The Mona LisaOne of the great operatic dramas about loneliness returns to the Liceu, where it has been performed more than 150 times since 1883. The last performances, in 2019, were a revival of the production that Pier Luigi Pizzi had already directed at the Rambla theater in 2005. Seven years ago an explosive triumph for soprano Anna Pirozzi and tenor Brian Jagde as Gioconda and Enzo, respectively. Now, the same roles will be performed by Madrid native Saioa Hernández and American Michael Fabiano in a co-production of the Liceu and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, directed by Frenchman Romain Gilbert, which premiered in the Italian city in 2024 with singers Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kauf. Ten performances will be held in Barcelona from February 17 to March 2, and an eleventh performance for audiences under 35 on February 16.

1. Adif and the train drivers who operate in Catalonia have thoroughly inspected all the tracks and identified the number of dangerous areas. They have reported that the sections of commuter rail lines that need repair are exactly 155. Not 154, not 156. 155. Does anyone think this number is a coincidence? Those of us who have been suspicious for some time now see it as a provocation every time this number is mentioned.

Good words and even better intentions in the Briton's presentation Jonathan Nott (Solihull, 1962) as the new musical director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu From the 2026-2027 season until 2030-2031. "He is a central figure in contemporary conducting, with a musical vision of exceptional intellectual clarity and an expressive intensity that combines analytical rigor and poetic impulse," praises Víctor Garcia de Gomar, artistic director of the Liceu. "The Liceu and everything it represents has been a part of me since I was a child. When this invitation arrived, something unexpected happened: I felt it was a fantastic sign, a clear intuition that a new home was waiting for me," says Nott, who takes on the challenge of replacing Josep Pons, who led the Liceu until reaching its current level of success. "Obviously, replacing Josep Pons is a heavy burden. It's an enormous responsibility," admits the British conductor, who will lead a new production of Wagner's tetralogy starting next season. The Ring of the Nibelung, co-produced by the Liceu and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and directed by the German Tobias Kratzer. "I will speak with Josep Pons about the tetralogy. And there will also be an exchange of ideas about the orchestra," he says.

There aren't many artists from the performance who have exhibited their work at MoMA in New York (The artist is presentAnd surely Marina Abramović is the first to have filled the stage of the Gran Teatre del Liceu with naked bodies with a proposal entitled Balkan Erotic Epic (Balkan erotic epic) which the audience applauded generously on their feet. The importance of nudity in this production was confirmed in the final glories when Marina Abramović emerged hand in hand with the choreographer (his is the most outstanding work) and a performer In the buff, as it's commonly called. And we ask ourselves: "Is this nudity the provocative or disconcerting element at the heart of the performance?" Has the creator taken a leap into a more accessible visual spectacle, replacing the strange, the inexplicable, with the obvious?

Marina Abramović's (Belgrade, 1946) status in the art world is so internationally recognized that she can consider doing practically anything and find the support to achieve it. This is the case with a multidisciplinary, large-scale, and sexually explicit installation such as Balkan Erotic Epic (Balkan Erotic Epic), co-produced by six international cultural institutions, arrives at the Gran Teatre del Liceu from January 24 to 30. After its premiere in Manchester with seventy artists performing all the scenes simultaneously, a reduced theatrical version will be presented in Barcelona, ​​with 34 performers bringing to life thirteen consecutive scenes that allude to Yugoslavian history and folklore, many of which involve the vagrant and cows as a connection to the universe. With this change, the performance is extended to four hours, during which the audience can enter and leave the theater, but will be required to seal their mobile phones; admission is restricted to those over 18 due to the knots and simulated sex scenes.

With the record number of plays on Spotify that it achieved LuxRosalía's latest albumIt's plausible to imagine that some of the people who attended Tuesday's presentation of Barcelona's cultural offerings at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid might have heard some of her new songs on their way to the event organized by Turisme de Barcelona. "The Palau de la Música Chamber Choir is featured on the album every day," asserted Joan Oller, general director of the Palau de la Música. "It was recorded at L'Auditori," added Víctor Medem, his counterpart at the Barcelona music venue. Valentí Oviedo, director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, chimed in: "Rosalía hasn't sung at the Liceu, but I invite her to come and sing there whenever she wants. I'm not going to let the others down now," he joked.

Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, ​​January 12, 2026. 11:05 p.m. Lise Davidsen tackles the opening bars of Mild und leise, he Liebestod with which Wagner closes the opera Tristan and IsoldeIt's the crowning moment of a musically historic night at the Rambla theater: the birth of a new Isolde, following in the footsteps of Flagstad, Nilsson, Behrens, and Meier. The throne of Wagnerian soprano is now undoubtedly occupied by a young Norwegian woman (38 years old), who is returning to the stage for the first time since giving birth to twins. It is an honor and a privilege that he has chosen our theater For that comeback and for the debut of a role she will soon sing at the Metropolitan Opera, the anticipation was palpable, with an extraordinary group of journalists and music critics from all over the world present at the Liceu. And Davidsen not only did not disappoint, but gave it her all: hers is an expressive, committed, musically perfect, technically immaculate Isolde, and also possesses a full, compact, and exquisitely beautiful voice. Phrases like Der Mutter Rat gemahnt mi recht in the first act or does so sustained in pianissimo over the Lust! The concluding number that closes the opera will remain in the memory of many, especially those who, standing, repeatedly cheered a dreamlike performance.

Everything points to a historic milestone. The Gran Teatre del Liceu premieres its own production on Monday, January 12th at 6:30 pm. Tristan and IsoldeWagner's opera that marked "a point of no return," as the Liceu's artistic director, Víctor Garcia de Gomar, recalled this Thursday at a press conference. A world premiere, then, and with a stellar cast that has attracted journalists from international media outlets such as The Guardian and Le FigaroNorwegian Lise Davidsen, the finest soprano of her generation, will debut in the role of Isolde. "It's a role that all the singers I admire have sung," admits Davidsen. Also a Wagnerian at heart, American tenor Clay Hilley, who sang a few months ago Tannhäuser In Vienna, he will sing Tristan, a role he has tackled some fifteen times. "It's the most depressing role in opera, and the first time I sang it was in 2022," recalls Hilley, who doesn't forget the demands of Wagner's work: "There's no margin for error; any deviation is fatal. A lot of preparation is necessary, and no socializing for 48 hours beforehand. And no alcohol."

A constellation of architectural stars has arrived in Barcelona: the competition for the construction of the Liceu Mar has attracted numerous renowned architects from around the world. According to the Liceu, 55 firms participated in the first phase of the competition, including Herzog & De Meuron, Zaha Hadid Architects, Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma, David Chipperfield, Shiger Ban, Bjarke Ingels Group, Bofill Arquitectura, SOM, Christian de Portzamparc, and SANAA. Many of these firms are participating in partnership with other studios, such as Diller Scofidio + Renfro, who are competing with Benedetta Tagliabue. The list includes prominent Catalan studios from different generations, such as those of Carme Pinós, Fermín Vázquez, Garcés, De Seta, Bonet Arquitectos, Bach Arquitectos, Enric Ruiz-Geli, Alonso Balaguer, Pich Aguilera, Josep Llinàs, Batlle i Roig, Flexo, Jordi Badia, and the trio from BAX studio. "The significance of this project is unique, as it combines the construction of a new cultural building with the urban transformation of its surroundings in Port Vell, creating an emblematic space of centrality and harmony in Barcelona," stated the Liceu.

When it's said that Jaume Tribó (Barcelona, ​​1945) is a living memory of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, it's meant literally: you can ask him about any detail from 1847 onwards, because he knows the complete lineup for every season. During the interview, a tour guide and a theater technician approached him to ask for two historical tidbits. Conductor Mario Gas also appeared, shouting "Mestre Tribó!" This Saturday marks fifty years since Tribó became the prompter at the theater, and he'll celebrate with a concert in the Foyer, for which he's chosen a program of the most difficult and challenging arias. A true character.

For the fifth time, the Gran Teatre del Liceu is reviving Mario Gas's production of The elisir of love, by Gaetano Donizetti, one of the most iconic shows of the house. When it was first performed –in the midst of post-fire exile and at the Teatre Victòria–, the production had already been seen at the Grec (1983) and, ten years later, at the Peralada Festival, until in 2005 it took to the stage of the Rambla.