Opera Tosca in Teatre del Liceu - Barcelona

The highly esteemed and prestigious Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona is, with a capacity of 2700 people, Europe's second biggest opera house. For their 2003 – 2004 season, the artistic direction of the Liceu chose to revive Puccini’s Tosca, in a ‘91 production from the Vlaamse Opera. This successful production was directed by Robert Carsen, who has been internationally acclaimed to be the director that will influence the world’s look on opera for the coming century… The complete technical production management was in the hands of a member of the Nexus Creative People network. The problem spotting, the development of the “new” set, the logistic issues regarding scenery, props and costumes, and the care for the smallest detail in decoration and functionality were his for over eight months. The sheer size of the set was quite worrying, because it was initially conceived to be built in a few days, and to remain on stage for weeks. And since Tosca would be alternating with other productions, up to 80 % of the production had to be reinvented to allow strikes and set-ups within 48 hours. Despite the impressive technical possibilities of this modern theatre, everything needed to be reconsidered, in order to get a “plug-and-play” way of building, in the most safe and ergonomic way possible. A large part of the floor needed to be replaced by a lighter and mobile structure, and adapted to the size of the Liceu stage. Walls and columns needed to be cut, and large trucks were designed to move them around. The church wall of act one was in very bad shape after years of storage in bad conditions, and had to be replaced by a new one. The fire wall of act two needed to be extended because of the new sight lines. We are proud to say that the Tosca opening night, on November 5th, was a huge success. And according to director Robert Carsen, “the production looked better than ever before!” (*) All pictures are courtesy of Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona.

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