Gran Teatre del Liceu

Gorgeous venue with comfortable seats and amazing acoustics just restrooms are limited - I bought tickets in box 28 and I was excited to know it excited to the ladies bathroom which only had 4 tiny yet clean stalls. It's by the Liceo metro and plenty of cabs if needed. There is only one unisex handicap restroom. Highly recommended!

The Grand Teatre or otherwise known as El Liceu is the oldest opera house in Barcelona. The Teatre was founded in 1837 at another location. El Liceu opened its current locale in 1847. The Teatre seats approximately 2300 patrons. It is located in the trendy Las Ramblas district.

El Liceu has no hart, no compassion and very poor management. We have been loyal patrons of the Liceu attending at least one opera or event every time we are in Barcelona 2-3 times a year but the way we were treated has made me reluctant to ever go back. In January we purchased two tickets for a March 3 opera performance through a special "Gift Box" offer for 195 euros. We live in the US and had planned to be in Barcelona in early March for my mother's birthday, but sadly she passed away January 19. When we were in Barcelona for her funeral on 1/23 we went to the Box Office at El Liceu and told them my mother had died and we will not be in Barcelona in March as planned so we wanted to exchange the tickets for another performance when we will be in Barcelona again in May. The agent told us the tickets were not exchangeable, I told her we realized that but under the circumstancies they could make an exception, I even showed her the death certificate. She just kept on repeating the tickets were not exchangeable. I asked to speak with her supervisor, she told me she had none, which of course was not true. I asked to whom she reported to and she said to the Director General del Liceu, again no true. I asked to speak with any manager who was available, she said there were no managers at the Liceu, adding they didn't work in the afternoon. I asked for an e-mail address that I can send my request to and she gave me the info general e-mail address. I was so very upset that on top of not wanting to help me she lied to me repeatedly, I was insulted that she thought I was that ignorant and appalled that she treated me with such lack of respect. I can't believe the Liceu would allow such treatment of their patrons and would refuse to have some flexibility under special circumstances such as a death in the family. I intend to write to the director and various board members but I want the public at large to know how the Liceu treats people.

Got a tour of this place, didn't watch any shows. Lots of history behind this place, and it's so intricately decorated, every little thing had meaning behind it, and impressive that this place had two fires and it was rebuilt/updated stupendously. Our tour guide was well informed on this building and seemed pretty passionate about the history which made it that much more significant. I don't think people realize the history behind this place, and the decorations were amazing. definitely recommend seeing a show here and admiring the craftsmanship/art.

Great theatre, really terrible customer service. Happy to change your seats to worse seats when it suits them, but won't make changes to your booking when you request it, even if the change you want to make involves you spending more money. Then, when you write to them to complain, they send a formulaic response. The only people allowed to make changes to a booking are season ticket holders, suggesting that if you're not loaded, the Liceu couldn't care less about your experience as a customer. Shame.

Attending an opera here is a production in and of itself. The theater is on the popular La Rambla street and can easily go unnoticed with the bustling of street vendors and shops on the busy street. We were fortunate to attend a show during the holiday season so it was decorate beautiful with lights on the exterior that highlighted the architecture. It's worth a stop to see the wonderful architecture on the exterior if you are just passing by but the real treat is the amazing gallery and interior. They give tours if you aren't fortunate to make it to a show. While in Barcelona, the only show during our visit was 'Lucia di Lammermoor', a popular opera with a plotline indistinguishable from Romeo and Juliet. Because this was more of a cultural immersion experience, we opted for the 60% view seats that were slightly more affordable. I highly suggest getting to the theater when the doors open.Typically a crowd will start to gather about an hour prior to the performance time. We purchased our ticked in advance so had no issue getting into the theater. Most folks arrive early to grab a drink or food once inside the theater so this gave us a chance to explore the beautiful interior both in the lobby and in the main gallery area. Most productions are long (think 3-4 hours) so be aware that the theater has an extensive refreshment services and folks have full meals during the intermissions Once we made it to our seats we did see that in fact, we could only see 60% of the stage. The positive thing was our chairs moved so we could move them all the way up to the rail and lean over to see more if needed. Many of the other patrons in our box were leaning and even standing to see the performance during enticing and engaging scenes. I will say one of the perks of having a limited view seat is that they provide a small screen that shows live broadcast of the stage and provides an English translation of the opera! This was wonderful for me to see and follow along and understand what was going on. I would give it 5 stars but the staff there was less than helpful to us as we asked for assistance finding our seats and for information about the theater and play. They didn't tell us about the translations screens but a kind fellow patron pointed it out. We did find out it was a busy holiday weekend for Barcelona so the show was sold so we told ourselves that was why staff were unhelpful. I suggest getting ticked in advance and getting to your seats early, especially if you have limited view seats, so you can poke around the gallery and see the theater interior from other points of view before other patrons find their seats. Oh and the bathroom is SUPER tricky to find. It's essentially hidden inside a curved wall. IT only took a few tried walking past before I figured this out. Woops!

I feel conflicted because I'm actually a huge fan of Puccini. In fact, La fanciulla del West is one of my all-time favorite operas. That being said, there was something missing in this rendition of Crisantemi. I can't quite put my frond on it. I mean, the performance was really nice, and it was good to get out of my apartment. Maybe it was the lack of natural lighting. I don't know.

Technical: 5/5 The Magic Flute was playing when we visited. It's the version with multimedia production. The orchestra was live however. The sound was just short of excellent since the tympani didn't preserve its tone and impact. It felt "light". Other than that it was excellent. Atmosphere: 5/5 It's an opera house. The outside is nothing special but the inside is lavish. Seats are comfortable for a 2 hours show, of course with intermission in between. Service: 3/5 They did not have the program in English and I wanted one as souvenir. Expense: 4/5 Expensive but so is every opera house. Return: 4/5 Yes if we return to Barcelona to catch some other show.

In a continuing mission to get cultured and educated, I made attending an opera performance here one of my bucket list goals. Suffice it to say that I am still uncultured and uneducated in the ways of opera - the performance was good, but I just was not able to appreciate it. I do want to recognise Gran Teatre for a few things, though: 1) Great acoustics: No one was mic'ed up, and yet the hall resounded beautifully with the sounds of the chorus and the orchestra. 2) Great venue: Although I wasn't as blown away as with Palau de la Musica, it was still impressive. 3) Great customer service: We showed up three hours before the performance and waited maybe five minutes before we were called up. Although only two of us were entitled to the 50% under 28 same day discount, the agent extended this courtesy to our whole group, saving us 40 euros in the process. The website's also very helpful in indicating which seats have what level of visibility, and it's fairly accurate. Definitely make it a point to visit here and check out the interior, although if you're price-sensitive (like me), you'd be better off looking for smaller, more intimate performances.

As a big fan of live theatre, the Liceu was on our list of attractions to see while in Barcelona this past December (2015).The only show during our visit was Lucia di Lammermoor, an opera with a plot indistinguishable from Romeo and Juliet. Even securing seats several months in advance, all of the reasonably priced tickets with full visibility were already filled, so we ended up settling on a pair of seats that were 40 euro each with 60% visibility. We arrived in Barcelona the same day of the show and had just enough time to drop our bags off at the hotel and change before heading to the popular La Rambla area where the theatre is located. We arrived early and got some time alone in the empty theatre to take in its extravagance and beauty. We were pleased to learn there were tiny monitors with an english translation of the opera to follow along with. Unfortunately, as soon as the lights went off, the 18-hour flight began to take its toll and I couldn't stay awake. I fought mightily against my heavy eyelids, but the opera was more than 3 hours long with intermission and I was being slowly defeated. Although my friend was enjoying the opera, we were both exhausted and decided to leave at intermission. We know how Romeo and Juliet ends so it wasn't an agonizing decision.

It doesn't look like much on the outside, and I think there was some construction being done, but the inside is breathtaking.

We haven't seen a production there yet, however, saw some interior as part of a tour of the place with detail that is so amazing. This is better than the theatres at home. Such great architecture, amazing detail and rich historical performance detail.

Such a beautiful venue. If you have the opportunity to see a show here do it! I had the pleasure of sitting front row for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. If you are going to get same day tickets get there early to the box office, the line can get really long, they move it along relatively quickly though. Once again the theater is absolutely something to behold and it is very large. Make sure you take the time to walk around the entire building.