Opera y Flamenco in Barcelona?
 

My husband and I will be in Barcelona for a few days in October. I was surfing the internet for things to do (which is probably a little silly at this point, since we already want to do/see/eat more than we could every possibly do on this trip) and I came across this: www.operaflamenco.com Has anyone heard about or seen this show before? It plays at both Palau de la Musica and Teatre Poliorama. We would have to see it at the Teatre Poliorama. I realize that flamenco is not Catalan but I do love it so if this is a worthwhile performance, we would be interested.

Thanks in advance.

Flamenco may not be Catalan, but it is very popular in Barcelona. The Opera Flamenco includes Katia Moro, Sara Flores, Juan Cortés, Isaac Barbero and Jacobo Sánchez, which means the show should be nice. It's not a performance by Sara Baras (one of my personal favorites), but you should enjoy it.

If Anna Maria would chime into this you would hear from a true fan of Flamenco.

I'll be in Barcelona in Oct. and was contemplating
the same show...
I was a bit worried that it might be a "tourists attraction", but it actually looks like fun.

Semms to be a very popular show, run for the seventh year or something in Barcelona. Not mentioned though in any of the major flamenco magazines (deflamenco, flamenco-world or guiaflama), and I think you'll be up for a quite predicatable performance based on most of the flamenco passion cliches. I've toured Spain for flamenco for the same past seven years, and never had this on my radar.

Barcelona/Catalunya is, as you say, not the hotbed of flamenco. Still, some of the greatest artists come from the area. Carmen Amaya (1913-1963), probably the finest flamenco dancer of all times, grew up in the Somorrostro district close to the Barceloneta beach. Some of the most talked about artists on the current scene also come from the area, the undisputedly most successful flamenco singer today, Miguel Poveda (Badalona), the brilliant up and coming bailaora Belén López (Tarragona) and one of my favourite young cantaoras Alba Carmona.

The greatetst flamenco artists tour Barcelona on a regular basis. Programs are updated here: http://www.deflamenco.com/agenda/events.jsp?barrio=4

Tablao El Cordobés at Ramblas 35 is highly reputed throughout all of Spain. Has got a high standing among the artists themselves. http://www.tablaocordobes.com/historia/

And Robert2533, Sara Baras should be back on stage next year, looking forward to that. Saw her "Sueños" in 2004, and then things just rolled on...

Thanks for the input. We saw Belen Lopez in Madrid last year. She is unforgettable.

I checked the tabloa cordobes website. What does the "show and drink" include that the "concert and drink" does not?

In most tablaos there are either meal and show or show with one drink included, the difference uses to be some 30-35€.

I understand this, but it offers the above options also with different prices.

ita,

Couldn't find the concert and drink option on the Cordobés website, but guess that the concert is one or to invited artists giving a performance, while the show is more of a "full package" that includes all the three styles of flamenco: song, guitar and dance. At least this is how it is in some other tablaos, every now and then some great artist are invited in for an intimate concert, usually late at night.

hi wj,

we went to the opera-flamenco show at the palau de la Musica a few years ago. it's not like a standard flamenco tablao, more like a concert in a theatre. the first half was flamenco, the 2nd half opera, or rather songs from the operas. [tenor, soprano, and a piano if I remember rightly]

there was no dinner or drinking involved as we were all sitting down in our theatre seats.

IMHO it fell between two stools - neither aspect was wholly satisfactory, the flamenco lacking the intimacy of the tablao, and the opera lacking the drama of an operatic performance.

personally, I would go to one of the tablaos mentioned here, and do the guided tour of the palau de la musica if you want to see the inside, which really is stupendous and worth seeing in its own right.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the effort that everyone went to. We already have plenty on our to-do list and Opera y Flamenco does not seem to rise to the caliber of shoving something off our list. Thanks so much.