Madrid has had its
fair share of cultural icons. Surrealist genius Salvador
Dalí lived in the city as a student, as did the
filmmaker Luis Buñuel and poet and dramatist
Federico García Lorca. American writer Ernest
Hemingway was a war correspondent in Madrid during the
Civil War and a regular visitor thereafter. Madrid has its own distinctive
dancing style, caled the chotis, seen to best effect during the
San Isidro festival and light opera the zarzuela.
The city also boasts an international opera house, and numerous
cinemas and theatres catering for all tastes.
Ticket prices for cultural events vary from around €5 - €50.
While most hotels are happy to book tickets for guests, they will
charge for this service. It is cheaper for visitors to book directly
at the box offices and not all of which accept credit cards. Keen
theatregoers can also make advance bookings at savings banks including,
Servicio de Entradas Punto Com (telephone number:
(902) 488 488). Tickets for sold-out performances are available
for purchase at Localidades Galicia, Plaza del
Carmen 10 (telephone number: (91) 531 2732). Tickets for performances
at the state-owned theatres, the Comedia, Teatro
de la Zarzuela, Auditoria Nacional and
Maria Guerrero, are available from the box offices
at each of the four venues.
The English-language monthly publication, In Madrid,
and the Spanish weekly, Guía
de Ocio print listings on cultural events in and around the
city.
Music
Madrid’s opera house, the Teatro Real, Plaza
de Oriente (telephone number: (91) 516 0660), is one of the most
modern opera houses in Europe.
The Teatro
de la Zarzuela, Calle de Jovellanos 4 (telephone number: (91)
524 5400), is the major venue for zarzuela, a genre
loosely comparable to Viennese operetta. The zarzuela season runs
from June to September. During the summer, outdoor performances
take place at La Corrala, Calle del Meson de Paredes
65. Classical concerts, including performances by the prestigious,
Coro y Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, are held at
the Auditorio Nacional de Música, Avenida
Príncipe deVergara 146 (telephone number: (91) 337 0100).
During the summer months, concerts are held at the bandstand in
Retiro Park at Sunday lunchtime.
Theatre
Madrid’s dramatic tradition can be traced back to the classical
playwrights of Spain’s Golden Age and include, Lope
de Vega (1562–1635), Tirso de Molina (1584–1648)
and Calderón de la Barca (1600–81).
The season runs from September to June and in summer there are open-air
performances, sponsored by the Veranos de la Villa festival
(see Special Events). The Compañia
Nacional de Teatro Clásico , is based in the Teatro
de la Comedia, Calle Príncipe 14 (telephone number:
(91) 521 4931), temporarily at Pavón Embajadores
9 (telephone number: (91) 528 2819).
Twentieth-century drama, as well as Spanish classics are also performed
at the impressive Teatro Español, Calle
Príncipe 25 (telephone number: (91) 360 1480), which occupies
the site of a theatre dating back to 1583. Since opening in 1995,
the Teatro La Abadía, Calle Fernández
de los Ríos 42 (telephone number: (91) 448 1181), has met
with great acclaim for its superb performances of international
classics. A good introduction to alternative drama is provided by
the Triángulo, Calle Zurita 20 (telephone
number: (91) 530 6891), which also hosts English productions by
the ACT (American and Classical Theatre) and the
Madrid Players
. Most theatres are closed on Monday.
Dance
The Teatro Real, Plaza de Oriente (telephone
numberl: (91) 516 0660), and Teatro de la Zarzuela,
Calle de Jovellanos 4 (telephone number: (91) 524 5400), juggle
Spanish and international dance, along with their commitment to
music and opera.
Other venues include the Centro Cultural de la Villa,
Jardines del Descubrimiento, Plaza de Colón (telephone number:
(91) 480 0300), which regularly hosts seasons by visiting companies,
and the modern Teatro de Madrid, Avenida de la Illustración
(telephone number: (91) 730 1750).
Ballet Nacional de España performs Spanish dance
to full houses at the Teatro Albéniz, Calle
de la Paz 11 (telephone number: (91) 531 8311), during the Festival
de Otoño, the Autumn Festival.
Choreographer Nacho Duato has breathed new life
into the Compañia
Nacional de Danza, which tours widely and brief appearances
in Madrid’s principal venue, the Teatro Real,
are hotly anticipated. Classical ballet is performed at the Teatro
de Madrid and Albéniz by Victor Ullate’s Ballet
de la Comunidad de Madrid.
Flamenco dance
has developed in the last twenty years, from an outmoded genre to
a living passion. Traditional flamenco vies with nuevo flamenco
(new flamenco) in numerous venues throughout Madrid. Madrid’s
talented flamenco dancers and musicians perform at Teatro
Albéniz, during the Festival Flamenco Cajamadrid,
during May.
Film
International stars including Antonio Banderas
and Penelope Cruz made their reputations with Spain’s
leading director, Pedro Almodóvar, who first
claimed the world’s attention with Women on the edge
of a nervous breakdown (1988). Although Almodóvar
is not a son of the city, he moved to Madrid when he was 16 years
old, where he studied cinematic art and made his now highly acclaimed
films. His very first movie, Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls
on the Heap (1980) was set and filmed in Madrid. All
About My Mother (1999) won Almodóvar the Best
Director award at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival and Best
Foreign Language Film at the 2000 Oscars. His latest movie, Hable
con ella (Talk to her), released in 2002, has won numerous
international awards, including a Golden Globe.
Madrileños are great filmgoers, especially on Sunday nights.
Prior booking is not the norm, so the queues are long. The most
popular performances start at around 2200 hrs and earlier screenings
are less busy. Reduced tickets are available on Wednesday (día
del espectador). Cinemas cluster around the Gran Vía, notably
the vast Gran Vía Cinesa, Calle Gran Via
66 (telephone number: (902) 333 231), with seating under sparkling
chandeliers, for 1000 spectators.
English-language screenings are marked ‘VO’ (versión
original) in listings and local papers. The most popular venue is
Ideal Yelmo Cineplex, Calle Doctor Cortezo 6 (telephone
number: (91) 369 2518). Arthouse cinema is on show at Ciné
Doré, Calle Santa Isabel 3 (telephone number: (91)
549 0011).
Cultural Events
Each season brings a wave of festivities and parades, where tradition,
religion or just sheer energy provides the impetus. Perhaps the
most intriguing festival is Carnaval (Carnival), accompanying the
traditional masked ball, Entierro de la Sardina
(Burial of the Sardine), the week before Lent (March/April).
In May, San Isidore is held in commemoration of
Madrid’s patron saint, with open-air dance performances, pop
and rock concerts theatre productions, zarzuela and sports competitions.
During July and August the Veranos de la Villa
(Summer in the City), a season of theatre, dance, ballet, flamenco
and concerts (pop and classical) featuring native and international
performers takes place.
Autumn (October to November) in Madrid is just as lively, with Festival
de Ontoño (Autumn Festival), a host of cultural
events (film, concerts and theatre), including a number of premiers
in English and Spanish.
Literary
Notes
Madrid has drawn its share of literary talent. The great novelist,
Cervantes, author of the classic 17th-century novel,
Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605), is buried in Calle
de Lope de Vega and named in honour of the great lyric poet of Spain’s
Golden Age of theatre.
Madrid was also home to poet-dramatist Federico García
Lorca. The literati would huddle together in the barrio
literario in Old Madrid and drink together in the now famous Café
Gijón (see Restaurants section).
Hemingway
was to join the literary crowd as a reporter in Madrid during the
Civil War. His ode to bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon,
was published in 1932 and For Whom the Bell Tolls
was published in 1940.
The late 20th century has brought its own talent, including the
1989 Nobel Prize winner, Camilo José Cela,
who died in 2002, and feminist writers, Ana María
Matute and Adelaida Garcia Morales. |
