The Liceu closes the most difficult season with 123,500 spectators, 60% from Barcelona

The opera Lucia di Lammermoor, performed by Nadine Sierra and Javier Camarena, has brought the 2020/2021 season of the Gran Teatre del Liceu to a close, a season that has been marked by capacity limitations derived from the health crisis, which has halved the number of spectators compared to a normal season.

Thus, 123,500 people have passed through the Liceu this past year, with the particularity that 60% of them were public from Barcelona city, a percentage that usually did not reach 50%. There has been a sharp drop in tourist audiences, who previously accounted for approximately one in five spectators and who this year were limited to 5%.

Despite the decrease in attendees due to the lower availability of tickets to comply with restrictions, El Liceu highlights the fact that 91% of all tickets put on sale have been sold, with several titles selling out. The emblematic cultural institution in Barcelona expresses great satisfaction at having been able to keep its doors open, as many other major international theaters have had to temporarily close.

Of the 169 scheduled performances, 133 (79% of the total) have been maintained, while 36 performances (21%) have been suspended, including four of La Traviata, four of Don Giovanni, and the total cancellation of Tannhäuser. 55% of the performances had a limited capacity of a maximum of one thousand people, and 20% could be performed with an expanded capacity of 70%.

Despite the difficulties, great international names such as Gustavo Dudamel, Lisette Oropesa, Katie Mitchell, Javier Camarena, and Sandra Radvanovsky have passed through the Liceu.

The epidemic has caused the Liceu's revenues to fall to 38.9 million euros, 5.5 million less than budgeted because capacity limitations have been stricter than initially contemplated as a consequence of the different pandemic waves. Despite the drop in revenue, the theater expects to close its accounts with a balanced budget thanks to the cost containment plan that has been applied and the increase in contributions from public administrations, which have transferred an additional 1.5 million euros. In parallel, El Liceu highlights that despite the health crisis, it has continued to count on the support of companies and benevolent entities, which have maintained their volume of contributions, with a total of 6.4 million euros.

El Liceu is already working to have everything ready for the 2021/22 season, in which it will celebrate its 175th anniversary and which will raise the curtain next September 22, with the work Ariadne auf Naxos, by Strauss. To date, more than 2,300 new season tickets have already been sold thanks to the promotional campaign activated by the theater, which makes its managers very optimistic. "This good pace of sales demonstrates the public's interest in continuing to come to the Liceu; we expect the number of new subscribers to continue growing in September and throughout the season," explains the Barcelona opera house.

In this last year, the average age of spectators has been 53 years. Specifically, subscribers are on average 63 years old, while non-subscribers are 43.