World City Guide

Culture

Madrid has had its fair share of cultural icons – Surrealist genius Salvador Dal lived in the city as a student, as did filmmaker Luis Buuel and poet and dramatist Federico Garca 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 (chotis), seen to best effect during the San Isidro festival and light opera (zarzuela). The city also boasts an international opera house, as well as 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 the service. It is cheaper for visitors to book directly at the box offices, not all of which accept credit cards. Keen theatregoers can also make advance bookings at savings banks – for example, Servicio de Entradas Punto Com (tel: (902) 488 488). Tickets for sold-out performances are available for purchase (at a premium) at Localidades Galicia, Plaza del Carmen 10 (tel: (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 Gua de Ocio (website: www.guiadelocio.com/english) print listings on cultural events in and around the city.

Music: Madrid’s opera house, the Teatro Real, Plaza de Oriente (tel: (91) 516 0660; website: www.teatro-real.com), is one of the most modern opera houses in Europe. The Teatro de la Zarzuela, Calle de Jovellanos 4 (tel: (91) 524 5400; website: http://teatrodelazarzuela.mcu.es), is the major venue for zarzuela – a genre loosely comparable to Viennese operetta, which encapsulates the idealised castizo (authenticity) of working class Madrid. The zarzuela season runs from June to September. During summer, outdoor performances take place at La Corrala, Calle del Meson de Paredes 65 or at the Jardines de Sabatini, next to the Palacio Real. Classical concerts, including performances by the prestigious Coro y Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, are held at the Auditorio Nacional de Msica, Avenida Prncipe deVergara 146 (tel: (91) 337 0100). At Sunday lunchtime, during the summer, concerts are held at the bandstand in Retiro Park.

Theatre: Madrid’s dramatic tradition can be traced back to the classical playwrights of Spain’s Golden Age – Lope de Vega (1562-1635), Tirso de Molina (1584-1648) and Caldern de la Barca (1600-81). The season runs from September to June – in summer there are open-air performances, sponsored by the Veranos de la Villa festival (see Special Events). The Compaia Nacional de Teatro Clsico (website: http://teatroclasico.mcu.es) is based in the Teatro de la Comedia, Calle Prncipe 14 (tel: (91) 521 4931), temporarily at Pavn Embajadores 9 (tel: (91) 528 2819). Twentieth-century drama, as well as Spanish classics are also performed at the impressive Teatro Espaol, Calle Prncipe 25 (tel: (91) 360 1480), which occupies the site of a theatre dating back to 1583. Since opening in 1995, the Teatro La Abada, Calle Fernndez de los Ros 42 (tel: (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 Tringulo, Calle Zurita 20 (tel: (91) 530 6891), which also hosts English productions by the ACT (American and Classical Theatre) and the Madrid Players (website: www.madridplayers.org). Most theatres are closed on Monday.

Dance: The Teatro Real, Plaza de Oriente (tel: (91) 516 0660; website: www.teatro-real.com), and Teatro de la Zarzuela, Calle de Jovellanos 4 (tel: (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 Coln (tel: (91) 480 0300), which regularly hosts seasons by visiting companies, and the modern Teatro de Madrid, Avenida de la Illustracin (tel: (91) 730 1750). Ballet Nacional de Espaa (website: http://balletnacional.mcu.es) performs Spanish dance to full houses at the Teatro Albniz, Calle de la Paz 11 (tel: (91) 531 8311), during the Festival de Otoo (Autumn Festival). Choreographer Nacho Duato has breathed new life into the Compaia Nacional de Danza (tel: (91) 354 5053; website: http://cndanza.mcu.es), which tours widely – brief appearances in Madrid’s principal venue, the Teatro Real, are hotly anticipated. Classical ballet is performed at the Teatro de Madrid and Albniz by Victor Ullate’s Ballet de la Comunidad de Madrid.

Flamenco dance has developed in the last 20 years, from an outmoded genre to a living passion. Traditional flamenco vies with nuevo flamenco (new flamenco) in numerous venues throughout the city. Madrid’s talented flamenco dancers and musicians perform at Teatro Albniz, during the Festival Flamenco Cajamadrid, in May. Flamenco can be seen at the following addresses: Sala Rociera Al-Andalus, c/ Capital Haya 19, Tetuan (tel: (91) 556 1439), Tablao Flamenco Arco de Cuchilleros, c/ Cuchilleros 7, Sol (tel: (91) 429 5675) and Sala Rociera Almonte, c/ Juan Bravo, Salamanca (tel: (91) 563 2504).

Film: International stars like Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz made their reputations with Spain’s leading director, Pedro Almodvar, who first claimed the world’s attention with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988). Although Almodvar is not a son of the city, he moved to Madrid when he was 16, 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 Almodvar the Best Director award at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival and Best Foreign Language Film at the 2000 Oscars. Talk to Her, released in 2002, has won numerous international awards, including a Golden Globe, and his latest movie, Bad Education (2004) was extremely well received too.

Madrileos are great filmgoers, especially on Sunday nights. Prior booking is not the norm, so queues are long. The most popular performances start at around 2200 and earlier screenings are less busy. Reduced tickets are available on Wednesday (da del espectador). Cinemas cluster around the Gran Va, notably the vast Gran Va Cinesa, Calle Gran Via 41 (tel: (902) 333 231), with seating under sparkling chandeliers, for 1,000 spectators. English-language screenings are marked ‘VO’ (versin original) in listings and local papers. The most popular venue is Yelmo Cineplex Ideal, Calle Doctor Cortezo 6 (tel: (902) 220 922). Arthouse cinema is on show at the Filmoteca Nacional, Calle Santa Isabel 3 (tel: (91) 369 11 25).

Cultural Events: Each season brings a wave of festivities and parades, where religion, tradition 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 Isidro is held in commemoration of Madrid’s patron saint, with open-air dance performances, theatre productions, zarzuela, pop and rock concerts and sports competitions. Summer (July to August) sees in 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. Autumn (October to November) in Madrid is just as lively, with Festival de Ontoo (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 – named in honour of the great lyric poet of Spain’s Golden Age of theatre. (By a strange twist of fate, Lope de Vega’s house is located in Calle de Cervantes.). Madrid was also home to poet-dramatist Federico Garca Lorca. The literati would huddle together in the barrio literario in Old Madrid and drink together in the now famous Caf Gijn (see Restaurants). 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 Jos Cela, who died in 2002, and feminist writers Ana Mara Matute and Adelaida Garcia Morales.