Plaza Isabel II, s/n - 28013 Madrid Espagne- Venue's Capacity: 1746
The theatre, opened in 1850, became the centre of Madrid’s artistic and social life.
The works performed most were the operas of Verdi, Meyerbeer, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and later Wagner. Spanish opera also featured, with works by Ruperto Chapí, Tomás Bretón and Emilio Serrano. In 1916-1917 Ballets Russes de Diaghilev performed here in the presence of Nijinsky and Stravinsky.
Victim of an explosion during the civil war, the rebuilt theatre reopened its doors in 1966 as a concert hall, home of the Orquesta y Coro Nacional de España and later home of the Orquesta y Coro de la RTVE.
In 1977, the theatre was declared a National Monument. But in 1988, the Auditorio Nacional began to put on concerts and this led to the closure of the Teatro Real. It was then completely renovated and reopened in 1997 as a venue mainly for operas and ballets. The reopening of the Teatro Real in Madrid in 1997, completely refurbished and endowed with cutting edge technology for the stage area, lead Spain into an authentic “boom” in the world of opera that has had its repercussion throughout the last decade.
Over the last thirteen years, the theatre has offered 78 new productions, 20 world premières, as well as rescuing more than twenty works of Spanish lyric repertory from oblivion and presenting operas to the Spanish public that have never been seen in Spain, with some of the most important world class signers as protagonists.
In an effort to assure that the opera reach an increasingly diverse audience, the Teatro Real has carried out a variety of activities, from the broadcasting of some of the operas on giant screens outside the theatre, transmission to cinemas, universities, etc.
The recent installation of a sophisticated system for filming operas in HD and their consequent transmission via satellite reinforces the effort of the Teatro Real to each day open its doors a little more to the an international audience, especially to those from Europe and Latin America to whom we have been united by historical and cultural ties for centuries.
