Venue: Liceu
Address: La Rambla, 51-63, Unió, 2-8, Sant Pau, 1-7
Town: El Raval, ES
Capacity: 2,292

The Gran Teatre del Liceu (Catalan:; Spanish: Gran Teatro del Liceo; 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 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 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), symphony orchestra (the Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu) and college of music (the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu). In 1837, 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 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 t