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117-570: The Gran Teatre del Liceu ( Catalan: [ˈɡɾan teˈatɾə ðəl liˈsɛw] ; Spanish : Gran Teatro del Liceo [ˈɡɾan teˈatɾo ðel liˈθeo] ; English: "Great Lyceum Theater" ), or simply Liceu , is a theater in Barcelona , Spain. Situated on La Rambla , it is the city's oldest theater building still in use for its original purpose. Founded in 1837 at another location, the Liceu opened at its current address on 4 April 1847. The theater
234-651: A "scenic cantata", Die Zwingburg , Op. 14 (1922), and a Cantata for Wartime , Op. 95, for women's voices and orchestra (1943). Sergei Prokofiev composed Semero ikh (1917–18; rev. 1933), and in 1939 premiered a cantata drawn from the film music for Alexander Nevsky . He wrote two festival cantatas, the Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of the October Revolution , Op. 74, and Flourish, Mighty Homeland , Op. 114, for
351-436: A 31 January 1994 fire which destroyed the building, caused by a spark that fell on the curtain during a routine repair during the run of Paul Hindemith 's Mathis der Maler . The following opera was scheduled to be Puccini 's Turandot . Public and institutional response was unanimous on the need to rebuild the opera house on the same site with improved facilities. The new Liceu is the result of efforts to preserve parts of
468-418: A Romanian folk tale, in 1930. Although it began as a song cycle (as reflected also by its title), Arnold Schoenberg 's Gurre-Lieder (1900–1903/1910–11) evolved into one of the century's largest secular cantatas. Paul Hindemith composed three works he designated as cantatas: Die Serenaden , Op. 35, for soprano, oboe, viola, and cello (1924), Mahnung an die Jugend, sich der Musik zu befleissigen (from
585-710: A Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish. The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996. The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish , owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898. Cantata A cantata ( / k æ n ˈ t ɑː t ə / ; Italian: [kanˈtaːta] ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of
702-514: A concert in 1904, followed a year later by Pietro Mascagni . In 1915, impresario Mestres Calvet broadened the repertory and introduced composers such as de Falla and Stravinsky . It was a golden age for Russian and German operas, which were now sung in their original language. Mestres also was associated, beginning in 1917, with the success of Diaghilev 's ballets with Vaslav Nijinsky , Léonide Massine , Lydia Lopokova , Chernicheva and other dancers. Years later, Anna Pavlova also performed at
819-603: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to
936-522: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of
1053-487: A few solo instruments) was a principal form of Italian vocal chamber music . A cantata consisted first of a declamatory narrative or scene in recitative , held together by a primitive aria repeated at intervals. Fine examples may be found in the church music of Giacomo Carissimi ; and the English vocal solos of Henry Purcell (such as Mad Tom and Mad Bess ) show the utmost that can be made of this archaic form. With
1170-684: A few. The editors of the Bach Gesellschaft adopted "sacred cantata" as a convenient catchall for most of Bach's liturgical pieces. The term was then retroactively applied by Philipp Spitta to refer to comparable works by composers from Heinrich Schütz onwards. Many secular cantatas were composed for events in the nobility. They were so similar in form to the sacred ones that many of them were parodied (in parts or completely) to sacred cantatas, for example in Bach's Christmas Oratorio . Johann Sebastian Bach, almost 200 of whose cantatas survive,
1287-482: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after
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#17327720688001404-478: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of
1521-454: A more complete and up-to-date perspective of the nature of an opera performance, improvements to the choir and orchestra, careful casting, and attracting public interest to aspects of productions other than the leading roles. This approach, coupled with new economic support and a more-discerning public, resulted in quality productions. The consortium maintained high standards in casting, production and public loyalty (measured by attendance) until
1638-556: A narrative frame for other anonymous English lyrics, and later designated A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer (1961) as "a cantata for alto and tenor soli, speaker, chorus, and orchestra". Luigi Nono wrote Il canto sospeso in 1955–56. Hans Werner Henze composed a Cantata della fiaba estrema and Novae de infinito laudes (both in 1963), as well as a number of other works that might be regarded as cantatas, such as Kammermusik (1958, rev. 1963), Muzen Siziliens (1966), and El Cimarrón (1969–70). Momente (1962–64/1969), one of
1755-505: A permanent orchestra and choir and singers for supporting roles. Leading roles are usually sung by guest singers. Stagecraft is produced internally by the theater (alone or with other opera houses) and rented from other houses. Until the 1990s, the Liceu also had a ballet company. Most of the operas performed are from 19th-century Italy and Germany: Verdi , Wagner , bel canto composers and, more recently, Puccini , Richard Strauss and Mozart . The history of Liceu premieres illustrates
1872-508: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as
1989-852: A public foundation whose board of trustees represents the Ministry of Culture , the Generalitat de Catalunya , the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona and the City Council of Barcelona . The theater has its own choir (the Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu), symphonic orchestra (the Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu ) and college of music (the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu ). In 1837,
2106-522: A school of stagecraft and theatrical scenery was developed at the Liceu. After beginning with Joan Ballester, who was known for his sets for L'Africaine , the leading set designer was Francesc Soler i Rovirosa. The style was realistic, using painted paper flats and curtains. Sets and costumes were made in the theater workshops. From the 1900s to the 1930s, the school was represented by scenery painters who included Maurici Vilomara, Fèlix Urgellés, Salvador Alarma and Oleguer Junyent. The last of these painters
2223-472: A screen above the proscenium, are used for all opera performances and some lieder concerts. An electronic libretto system provides translations (into English, Spanish or Catalan) on small, individual monitors for most seats. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Liceu marked Spain's lockdown end with a performance for an audience of 2,292 house plants which was livestreamed on social media. Each plant
2340-617: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of
2457-531: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as
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#17327720688002574-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent
2691-436: Is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout the world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish
2808-674: Is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations . Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ; the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and
2925-517: Is a cantata with three symphonic preludes. The full lyric possibilities of a string of choral songs were realized by Johannes Brahms in his Rinaldo , which, like the Walpurgisnacht —was set to a text by Goethe . Other cantatas, Beethoven's Meeresstille , works of Brahms and many notable small English choral works, such as cantatas of John Henry Maunder and John Stanley , find various ways to set poetry to choral music. The competition for
3042-513: Is a collection of six church cantatas actually intended for performance on six different days, though together they form as complete an artistic whole as any classical oratorio. During the baroque era, the term "cantata" generally retained its original Italian usage to describe a secular vocal piece of extended length, often in different sections, and usually Italianate in style. At the same time, vocal pieces of similar scope, often with several singers, and various instruments, were in great demand for
3159-415: Is a notable contributor to the genre. His cantatas are usually written for a baroque orchestra consisting of a string section, an oboe section, and a continuo group, timpani and brass were sometimes added on festive occasions such as Christmas or Easter. The vocal forces consisted of a four-part choir and soloists. Bach also wrote some cantatas for only one solo singer (ex. BWV 51 ). Christoph Graupner
3276-471: Is also in cantata form. Mendelssohn's Symphony Cantata , the Lobgesang , is a hybrid work, partly in the oratorio style. It is preceded by three symphonic movements, a device avowedly suggested by Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ; but the analogy is not accurate, as Beethoven's work is a symphony of which the fourth movement is a choral finale of essentially single design, whereas Mendelssohn's Symphony Cantata
3393-399: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also
3510-761: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law
3627-592: Is possibly due to the fact that Bach's Leipzig congregation was expected to sing along with them, but the Darmstadt court was not. Also, many of Graupner's cantatas exploit elaborate orchestral effects and use exotic instrumentation, such as chalumeau , flûte d'amour , oboe d'amore , viola d'amore , trumpets , horns and timpani . See: List of cantatas by Christoph Graupner . The term "cantata" came to be applied almost exclusively to choral works, as distinguished from solo vocal music. In early 19th-century cantatas,
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3744-844: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off
3861-434: Is still performed occasionally today. Late in the century, Gustav Mahler wrote his early Das klagende Lied on his own words between 1878 and 1880, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor created a successful trilogy of cantatas, The Song of Hiawatha between 1898 and 1900. Cantatas, both of the chamber variety and on a grand scale, were composed after 1900 as well. Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to claim that one of
3978-813: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in
4095-488: Is the official Spanish language of the State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on the other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by
4212-542: Is used as an official language by many international organizations , including the United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian),
4329-578: Is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for
4446-572: The Cantata para América Mágica , Op. 27 (1960), Bomarzo , Op. 32 (1964), and Milena , Op. 37 (1971), and Gottfried von Einem composed in 1973 An die Nachgeborenen based on diverse texts, the title taken from a poem of Bertolt Brecht . Mikis Theodorakis composed the cantatas According to the Sadducees and Canto Olympico . Herbert Blendinger 's Media in vita was premiered in 1980, his Mich ruft zuweilen eine Stille (Sometimes
4563-480: The Italian verb cantare , "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment , typically in several movements , often involving a choir . The meaning of the term changed over time, from the simple single-voice madrigal of the early 17th century, to the multi-voice "cantata da camera" and the "cantata da chiesa" of the later part of that century, from the more substantial dramatic forms of
4680-569: The Liceo Filodramático de Montesión (Philodramatic Lyceum of Montesión, now named Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu) was founded in Barcelona to promote musical education (hence the name "Liceo", or lyceum .) It organized opera productions performed by Liceo students. A theater (Teatro de Montesión, or Teatro del Liceo de Montesión) was founded in a convent building, and plays and operas were performed. The first performance
4797-667: The Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu , since it was founded in 1847. In 2024, it was Spain's oldest working orchestra in Spain. Its first conductor was Marià Obiols. Spanish language Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it
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4914-521: The Plöner Musiktage , 1932), and Ite angeli veloces for alto and tenor, mixed chorus, and orchestra, with audience participation (1953–55). Of Anton Webern 's last three compositions, two are secular cantatas: Cantata No. 1, Op. 29 (1938–39), and Cantata No. 2, Op. 31 (1941–43), both setting texts by Hildegard Jone . Webern had begun sketching a Third Cantata by the time he was killed in 1945. Ernst Krenek also composed two examples:
5031-568: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)
5148-508: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under
5265-477: The baroque and classical composers Monteverdi , Handel and Gluck . Ballet remains an important part of the theater's activities, with performances by some of the world's best-known companies (including the Béjart Ballet ). The Liceu's most-performed operas by January 2009 were: The Liceu has premiered a number of theatrical and musical works, including: During the second half of the 19th century,
5382-485: The 18th century to the usually sacred-texted 19th-century cantata, which was effectively a type of short oratorio . Cantatas for use in the liturgy of church services are called church cantata or sacred cantatas; other cantatas can be indicated as secular cantatas. Several cantatas were, and still are, written for special occasions, such as Christmas cantatas . Christoph Graupner , Georg Philipp Telemann and Johann Sebastian Bach composed cycles of church cantatas for
5499-457: The 1994 fire. The proscenium reproduces the old one, which was rebuilt in 1909. It has a large central arch with two Corinthian columns on both sides and, among the columns, four tiers of boxes. These wider, more-luxurious boxes are known as banyeres ("bathtubs"). The auditorium ornamentation reproduces that of 1909: sumptuous, with the golden and polychrome plaster moldings usual in 19th-century European theaters. Its brass lamps have glass in
5616-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,
5733-595: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it
5850-564: The 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in the 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary
5967-481: The Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos created a secular cantata titled Mandu çarará , based on an Indian legend collected by Barbosa Rodrigues. Francis Poulenc composed in 1943 Figure humaine , FP 120, a cantata for double mixed choir of 12 voices on poems by Paul Éluard . Igor Stravinsky composed a work titled simply Cantata in 1951–52, which used stanzas from the 15th-century "Lyke-wake Dirge" as
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#17327720688006084-654: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish
6201-512: The French Prix de Rome requires that each candidate submit a cantata. Hector Berlioz failed in three attempts before finally winning in 1830 with Sardanapale . While almost all of the Prix de Rome cantatas have long since been forgotten (along with their composers, for the most part), Debussy's prize-winning L'enfant prodigue (1884, following his unsuccessful Le gladiateur of 1883)
6318-705: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed
6435-413: The Liceu one hundred years earlier. For 33 years, Pàmias led Liceu activity when it seemed impossible to maintain the opera house without official aid. The Liceu's repertory has included the world's most-performed titles since the 1950s, including nearly all the great 20th-century composers (Bartók, Honegger, Gershwin, Berg, Janáček, Weill, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Britten, Schönberg , and Hindemith ) and
6552-460: The Liceu one of Europe's largest opera houses), and is a typical Italian horseshoe-shaped theater with a maximum length and width of 33 and 27 metres (108 and 89 feet). The auditorium has a platea (main floor) and five balconies. Boxes with small rooms attached are in front of the stage, on the platea and in some galleries. There are no significant physical divisions between boxes; a low screen separates one box from another. There are no columns in
6669-493: The Liceu's stalls. Although only one of the bombs exploded, about twenty people were killed and many more were injured. The attack by anarchist Santiago Salvador shocked Barcelona, and became symbolic of the era's social unrest. The Liceu re-opened its doors on 18 January 1894, but the seats occupied by those killed were not used for a number of years. The second bomb was displayed at the Van Gogh Museum in 2007, during
6786-418: The Liceu. In 1947, the directing company came into the hands of Arquer and Pàmias. In contrast with the preceding years, which had been marked by programming of the great repertory works, the first season of the new directorship renewed the repertoire with the first performances in Barcelona of about 100 works by a number of composers. Revivals featured Donizetti's Anna Bolena , which had first been staged at
6903-540: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to
7020-589: The Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn,
7137-670: The Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu created the Consorci del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Consortium of the Great Liceu Theater) responsible for the theater's management. The Provincial Deputation of Barcelona and the Spanish Ministry of Culture joined the consortium in 1985 and 1986, respectively. The consortium attracted the public back to the Liceu quickly with improvements in its artistic standard. This included
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#17327720688007254-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English
7371-544: The Unknown Region (1907), Five Mystical Songs (1911), and Five Tudor Portraits (1936), and sacred cantatas including Sancta civitas (1926), Benedicite (1930), Dona nobis pacem (1936), and Hodie (1954). Joseph Ryelandt also composed secular and sacred cantatas, such as Le chant de la pauvreté Op. 92 in 1928 and Veni creator Op. 123 in 1938. Béla Bartók composed the secular Cantata Profana , subtitled "The Nine Splendid Stags" and based on
7488-457: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of
7605-486: The architect, construction began on 11 April 1845. The theater was opened on 4 April 1847. The opening presented a mixed program which included the premieres of a José Melchior Gomis musical ouverture , the historical play Don Fernando de Antequera by Ventura de la Vega, the ballet La Rondeña ( The Girl From Ronda ) by Josep Jurch, and the cantata Il regio himene with music by Liceu musical director Marià Obiols . The first complete opera, Donizetti's Anna Bolena ,
7722-455: The building and upkeep of opera houses, the Liceu was funded by private shareholders of what would become the Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Great Liceu Theater Society, organized similarly to a trading company or societat ). This is reflected in the building's architecture; there is no royal box. Since the queen did not contribute to construction, the society's name was changed to Liceo Filarmónico Dramático. With Miquel Garriga i Roca as
7839-405: The building society obtained the permanent right of use of some theater boxes and seats in exchange for their economic contributions. Auxiliary-building-society shareholders contributed the rest of the money necessary in exchange for rights to other spaces in the building, including some shops and the private Círculo del Liceo club. Unlike other European cities where the monarchy was responsible for
7956-504: The building to the foundation. Some stakeholders disagreed with the decision, which was unsuccessfully challenged in court. From 1994 until the Liceu's reopening in 1999, Barcelona's opera seasons were performed in the Palau Sant Jordi arena (some large-scale performances in 1994), Palau de la Música Catalana , and Teatre Victòria. The rebuilt, improved and expanded theater opened on 7 October 1999 with Puccini 's Turandot ,
8073-413: The building unaffected by the fire which had also survived the 1861 fire. The auditorium was rebuilt with the same layout, with new the roof paintings by Perejaume and state-of-the-art stage technology. The theater became public to rebuild and improve it. The Fundació del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Great Liceu Theater Foundation) was created, and the Societat del Gran Teatre del Liceu handed over ownership of
8190-414: The center of the roof is a platform for technical facilities (lighting, sound and computer). Other technical facilities are control and projecting cabins in some balconies, a "technical floor" over the roof, and high-tech equipment to record and broadcast performances. With computerized cameras, the auditorium can also be used as a television set. Stage facilities are modern, allowing quick scene changes and
8307-511: The chorus is the vehicle for music more lyric and songlike than in oratorio, not excluding the possibility of a brilliant climax in a fugue as in Ludwig van Beethoven 's Der glorreiche Augenblick , Carl Maria von Weber 's Jubel-Kantate , and Felix Mendelssohn 's Die erste Walpurgisnacht . Anton Bruckner composed several Name-day cantatas, a Festive Cantata and two secular cantatas ( Germanenzug and Helgoland ). Bruckner's Psalm 146
8424-503: The civil war, in 1939, the Liceu was returned to its original owners. From 1940 to the 1960s, the seasons were high-quality. In 1955, thanks to a special board, the Bayreuth Festival was staged away from its normal venue for the first time in its history. Performances of Parsifal , Tristan und Isolde and Die Walküre , with innovative sets by Wieland Wagner , were enthusiastically received. An economic crisis affected
8541-684: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in
8658-500: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it
8775-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in
8892-498: The crowning of Giuseppe Verdi as the king of opera. In 1866, Mozart's Don Giovanni was staged at the Liceu for the first time. In 1883, Wagner 's Lohengrin was first performed. From the 1880s to the 1950s, Wagner was one of the most beloved and highly-regarded composers at the Liceu. It staged the first performance of Parsifal outside Bayreuth on 31 December 1913, after the Bayreuth monopoly ended, with Francesc Viñas in
9009-502: The evolution of European operatic tastes. Opera was only a part of its artistic activities at first, alternating with zarzuela (Spanish light opera ), romantic ballet ( Giselle had its first Barcelona performance in 1847), theatrical performances, and magic shows. The first operas performed, Donizetti's Anna Bolena and Verdi's I due Foscari , are emblematic of the taste for bel canto and Italian romantic melodrama: Rossini , Donizetti, Bellini , and Verdi. They are still in
9126-536: The exhibition "Barcelona around 1900". In 1909, the auditorium was renovated. Spanish neutrality during World War I allowed the Catalan textile industry to amass enormous wealth by supplying the warring parties. The 1920s were prosperous; the Liceu became established, welcoming leading singers, conductors and companies such as Sergei Diaghilev 's Ballets Russes . When the Second Spanish Republic
9243-628: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with
9360-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched
9477-604: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In
9594-632: The language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of the whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian
9711-549: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,
9828-694: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has
9945-648: The most important works of Karlheinz Stockhausen , is often described as a cantata. Benjamin Britten composed at least six works he designated as cantatas: The Company of Heaven (1937), Rejoice in the Lamb , Op. 30 (1943), Saint Nicolas , Op. 42 (1949), the Cantata academica , Op. 62 (1959), the Cantata Misericordium , Op. 69 (1963), and Phaedra , Op. 93 (1975). Alberto Ginastera also composed three works in this form:
10062-457: The most popular pieces of classical music of the 20th century to the layman's ears, is a cantata, namely Carmina Burana (1935–1936) by the German composer Carl Orff . In the early part of the century, secular cantatas once again became prominent, while the 19th-century tradition of sacred cantatas also continued. Ralph Vaughan Williams composed both kinds: "festival" cantatas such as Toward
10179-416: The next opera in the season at the time of the 1994 fire. The new venue had the same traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium, with improved technical, rehearsal, office and educational facilities, a new rehearsal hall, a new chamber-opera and small-performance hall, and more public space. The architects for the rebuilding were Ignasi de Solà-Morales and Xavier Fabré i Lluís Dilmé. Surtitles , projected onto
10296-734: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as
10413-462: The nuns who formerly owned the convent and had the right to return motivated the Liceu to leave its location in 1844. The last performance there was on 8 September of that year. The Trinitarian convent building in Barcelona's central La Rambla was purchased, and the Liceu's managers entrusted Joaquim de Gispert d'Anglí with construction of a new building. Two societies were created: a building society and an auxiliary building society. Shareholders of
10530-475: The occasions of the liturgical year. The term originated in the early 17th century, simultaneously with opera and oratorio . Prior to that, all " cultured " music was vocal. With the rise of instrumental music , the term appeared, while instrumental art became sufficiently developed to be embodied in sonatas . From the beginning of the 17th century until late in the 18th, the cantata for one or two solo voices with accompaniment of basso continuo (and perhaps
10647-533: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,
10764-524: The repertory, and Verdi is the most-performed composer. The first operas by non-Italian composers which were put on at the Liceu were Ferdinand Hérold 's Zampa (1848), Carl Maria von Weber 's Der Freischütz (1849), Giacomo Meyerbeer 's Robert le diable , Auber's La muette de Portici (1852) and Fra Diavolo (1853). These were sung in Italian, the custom at the time. The first performances of Il trovatore (1854) and La traviata (1855) led to
10881-414: The rise of the da capo aria , the cantata became a group of two or three arias joined by recitative. George Frideric Handel 's numerous Italian duets and trios are examples on a rather large scale. His Latin motet Silete Venti , for soprano solo, shows the use of this form in church music. The Italian solo cantata tended, when on a large scale, to become indistinguishable from a scene in an opera , in
10998-542: The same way the church cantata, solo or choral, is indistinguishable from a small oratorio or portion of an oratorio. This is equally evident whether one examines the church cantatas of Bach, of which nearly 200 are extant (see List of Bach cantatas ) or the Chandos Anthems of Handel. In Johann Sebastian Bach's case, some of the larger cantatas are actually called oratorios, and the Christmas Oratorio
11115-474: The services of the Lutheran church. Such pieces were usually called geistliche Konzerte (singular: geistliches Konzert , meaning sacred concerto). Many of these pieces were simply called by their opening text. Such pieces for the liturgy or other occasions were not only composed by Bach but also by Dieterich Buxtehude , Christoph Graupner , Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel and Georg Philipp Telemann , to name
11232-412: The shape of a drake. The stalls , on the main floor, are made of strained iron and red velvet. Modern features were introduced in the reconstruction. The eight circular paintings in the roof and the three in the proscenium, lost in the fire, have been re-created by the contemporary artist Perejaume . The stage curtain is by Catalan designer Antoni Miró [ ca ] . The new hemispheric lamp in
11349-488: The simultaneous use of four different sets. A new foyer was built under the main auditorium for the main bar and restaurant and for concerts, small-format performances, lectures, cultural activities, and meetings. The Liceu station of the Barcelona Metro line 3 is adjacent to the theater. The Liceu is a receiving and producing house , with two or three new productions staged each year. Its company consists of
11466-537: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that
11583-402: The theater during the 1970s; the privately-based organization could not afford the increasing cost of modern opera productions, and overall quality declined. The death of Joan Antoni Pàmias [ es ] in 1980 revealed the need for the intervention of official bodies if the Liceu was to remain a leading opera house. In 1981, the Generalitat de Catalunya , Barcelona's City Council and
11700-430: The theater except inside the platea , making the balconies look like a golden horseshoe without visual interruptions. The amfiteatre ubicare is a projection of the first balcony with a less-pronounced horseshoe shape accommodating three rows of seats, considered the best in the theater. Building expenses were covered by the sale of boxes and seats. Boxes were lavishly decorated by their owners, but they were destroyed in
11817-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,
11934-640: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing
12051-961: The thirtieth anniversary of the same event Patriotic cantatas celebrating anniversaries of events in the Revolution or extolling state leaders were frequently commissioned in the Soviet Union between 1930 and the middle of the century, though these occasional works were seldom among their composers' best. Examples include Dmitri Shostakovich 's Poem of the Motherland , Op. 47 (1947) and The Sun Shines over Our Motherland , Op. 90 (1952), and three works by Prokofiev, Zdravitsa! [Hail to Stalin] (1939). Dmitry Kabalevsky also composed four such cantatas, The Great Homeland , Op. 35 (1941–42), The Song of Morning, Spring and Peace , Op. 57 (1957–58), Leninists , Op. 63 (1959), and About Our Native Land , Op. 82 (1965). In 1940,
12168-441: The title role and conducted by Franz Beidler. In 1955, the Bayreuth Festival company visited the theater and performed three operas. Verismo , especially Puccini, is a late-19th-century tradition. The first Russian opera was staged in 1915 with great success, and Mussorgsky , Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky were often performed. Early in the 20th century, Richard Strauss conducted his works. Siegfried Wagner conducted
12285-596: The world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which the language is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in
12402-415: Was Vicenzo Bellini 's Norma , on 3 February 1838. The repertoire was Italian, the most-performed composers were Donizetti , Mercadante , 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 Isabel II). Lack of space and pressure from
12519-406: Was Hofkapellmeister at the court of Hesse-Darmstadt and provided over 1,400 cantatas during his nearly 50 years of employment there, making him the most significant contributor to the genre. While only a handful of Bach's cantatas contain accompanied chorales (the vocal parts are usually doubled by the instrumental parts), nearly all of Graupner's chorales feature elaborate ritornello sections. This
12636-494: Was Josep Mestres Cabanes, who painted scenery from 1930 to the 1950s. Many notable singers have performed at the Liceu; when Camille Saint-Saëns visited the Liceu, he said: "Ils aiment trop the ténor" ("They [the Liceu public] love tenors too much"). Liceu debuts and final (or most recent) performances are in parentheses: The Liceu has a theater manager (an empresari or administrador ). Since 1980, it has also had an artistic director . The Liceu has had its own orchestra,
12753-634: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in
12870-622: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language
12987-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")
13104-493: Was presented on 17 April 1847. Liceu was the biggest opera house in Europe, with 3,500 seats. Other operas performed 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). The building
13221-627: Was proclaimed in 1931, political instability triggered a financial crisis for the Liceu which was overcome with subsidies from the Barcelona City Council and the regional Catalonia government. The theater was nationalized during the Spanish Civil War and was renamed Teatre del Liceu – Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (Liceu Opera House – the National Theater of Catalonia); its opera seasons were suspended. After
13338-406: Was rebuilt after fires in 1861 and 1994, and reopened on 20 April 1862 and 7 October 1999. On 7 November 1893, on the opening night of the season, an anarchist threw two bombs into the stalls. About twenty people were killed, and many more were injured. Between 1847 and 1989, the 2,338-seat Liceu was the largest opera house in Europe by capacity. Since 1994, the Liceu has been owned and managed by
13455-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in
13572-438: Was severely damaged by fire on 9 April 1861, but was rebuilt with a design by architect Josep Oriol Mestres and re-opened on 20 April 1862 with a performance of Bellini's I puritani . Of the old building, only the facade, the entrance hall and the foyer (Hall of Mirrors) remained. On 7 November 1893, during the season's opening night and the second act of Rossin's opera Guillaume Tell , two Orsini bombs were thrown into
13689-536: Was then donated to healthcare workers at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. The theater is in La Rambla , in downtown Barcelona. It has two facades, since the other two sides were surrounded until 1994 by residential buildings. Some parts of the first building remain: The auditorium was rebuilt after the 1994 fire as an improved recreation of the 1861 auditorium. It has a seating capacity of 2,292 (making
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