The precedents of Oviedo and the present Teatro Campoamor lyric activity from the 17th century can be found in the playhouse, placed in la Plaza del Fontán (Fontan Square), which was in operation during the whole 19th century and which still preserves the facade. Besides, this city had several provisional theatres and circus, the Lesaca and Santa Susana Circus are worth mentioning; there were also some proposals that were not finally carried out, like the Teatro del Fontán, by César Argüelles (1880).

Within the nineteenth-century operatic activity in Fontán Playhouse, there are some performances that stand out among the others, like that of the tenor Enrico Tamberlik in 1882. And in the Santa Susana Theatre-Circus, five years later, the tenor Lorenzo Abruñedo, from Oviedo, achieved a great success singing La Favorita, Un Ballo in maschera, Ernani and Fausto.

The new theatre emerged as an initiative coming from municipal committee on service from 1876; and on its gestation and even denomination the writer Leopoldo Alas, ‘Clarin’, -then municipal corporation councilman-, had a key role.

The Teatro Campoamor was a project by the architects Jóse López Salaberry and Siro Borrajo Montenegro. The building work was lead by the municipal architect Juan Miguel de la Guardia. From the outside, it is an exempt building, with a rectangular floor and four facades. The main facade style is neoclassic; it consists on a cushioned ground floor, being the second floor more original because of the lintels over pillars ware chosen. The third floor was not studied in the original project, as the old Theatre facade was finished by an original cornice, in whose pediment tympanum the comedy and tragedy masks were sculpted. The roofs were also altered and, after their disappearance during the revolutionary events on October 1934, the two big extreme body sculptures were removed from the main facade, a work by Cipriano Folgueras. The floor of the hall has a semicircular form prolonged along two walls parallel to external perimeter wall, and the projection of the boxes inside the hall has the shape of a horseshoe.

A jack-elevator mechanism under the stalls allows using it as a dance hall, as it restores the horizontal level in comparison to the stage. Important security measures were included for the theatre of that age, as the fire-fighting curtain and several hydrants.

The hall, influenced by the Comedy Theatre of Madrid, is a horseshoe in golden tones and upholstered in red, as well as the main curtain, with the city shield in the middle of it. There is a wonderful chandelier of 900 kilos hanging on the Greco- Latin influenced vault. In the main foyer, in the first floor is Mr Ramón de Campoamor’s bust, the poet after whom the theatre was named.

Finally, the second-floor tearoom is worth pointing out: a wide spade divided in two areas; the internal one is a means of access to the floor stairs and to the boxes and main seats, and the external area has large windows that provide great light to the room and were considered very modern at that time, this field ends with five spectacular chandeliers. The city hall boxes’ entrance is also worth seeing.

It was opened on 17th September 1892 with the Los Hugotones de Meyerbeer Opera. The opening act was brilliant. The hall, ‘delicately decorated, wonderfully illuminated, showed a dazzling look’, becoming thus one of the best equipped theatres in Spain.

The Sociedad de Conciertos de Madrid (Concert Society of Madrid), run by Tomás Betrón, performed three concerts in September 1893, this orchestra would visit the theatre regularly, conducted by Bartalomé Pérez Casas and Enrique Fernández Arbós.

On 29th September 1984 Aida was first shown, and Carmen on 5th. Those premieres were followed by La Gioconda (1985), Sansón and Dalila (1899). La Dolores opera, conducted by its author Bretón, was first shown in 1900. La Bohème (1902) and El Profeta (1904). Cavalleria Rusticana and Payasos were premiered together for the first time in Spain in our theatre.

The Zarzuela, a genre closely linked with the Campoamor, was regularly present in the theatre program, becoming the core of every season activity together with the opera. Within this genre, the audience of Oviedo discovered José Mardones singing Zarzuela in 1897; he would lately develop a brilliant carrier in the Metropolitan of New York, becoming the best low tenor of the world.

In the spring of 1906, Tosca was premiered and, together with La Bohème, they are the most performed titles in the Teatro Campoamor. The Sociedad Filarmónica de Oviedo (Philharmonic Society of Oviedo) gives its first concert in the theatre on 1st June 1907. The Catalan tenor Francisco Viñas, one of the big Wagnerian tenors of all times made his debut in 1908 singing Aida and Lohengrin. In 1918 the tenor Giuseppe Anselmi made his debut, sharing sign with Genoveva Vix in Tosca and Thaïs operas.

The 1921 season was characterised by the debut of big performers like: Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Maria Ros, Maria Llacer, Walter Kirchhoff or Elsa Bland, these two last ones sang Tristan e Isolda, also in 1921. In June 1926 Hipólito Lázaro sang in the Aida and La Bohème operas. In the twenties, the mezzo-soprano Conchita Supervía from Barcelona acted in the Campoamor stage, she had a beautiful and expressive mezzo-soprano lyric voice, with excellent treble and who was an outstanding performer of the Italian (Rossini) and French (Bizet) opera. Ofelia Nieto, Ángeles Oteín or Elisabeth Schumann would also do the same. In the year 1932, the first and last performance of Miguel Fleta took place, as well as the premiers of Kovanchina and Boris Godunov.

The theatre was visited by important musicians like Tomás Bretón, Manuel de Falla, the maestro Arbós, José Iturbi, Enrique Granados, Arthur Rubinstein, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ottorino Respighi, Maurice Ravel, Paul Hindemith, Joaquín Turina, Béla Bartók, Gaspar Cassadó or the cellist, orchestra conductor and composer Pau Casals. The Catalan musician also visited the theatre accompanied by Alfred Cortot and Jacques Thibaud, a trio that would become famous because their performances became a model. In the same way, the Polish Wanda Landowska, who played the spinet, made her debut in the Teatro Campoamor on 30th November 1926. Lastly, it is worth mentioning the Italian composer, pianist and orchestra conductor Alfredo Casella and the pianist Emil Sahüer.

Within the theatrical area, there were mythical figures of the Spanish scene like Maria Guerrero, Rosario Pino, Margarita Xirgu or Ferenando Díaz de Mendoza.

The theatre was burnt down during the October Revolution in 1934, for military reasons, in order to prevent the revolutionaries in the Teatro Campoamor from attacking or setting fire to the Santa Clara barracks, a building placed on the back of the theatre and at a lower height, were the troops supporter of the Madrid Government were staying. Before the Civil War, the building resulted even more damaged, several years would pass until its new opening in 1948.

The theatre was reopened in September 1948 with the Manon opera, interpreted by two big celebrities of the time: Manuel Ausensi, Giacinto Prandelli, Victoria de los Ángeles and Giuseppe Flamini, the orchestra was conducted by Napoleone Annovazzi. From 1948 onwards, the opera acquires a fix presence every year, keeping it until our days with the most relevant voices of every time taking part.

In the field of the dance big international figures have taken part, like Alicia Alonso and the Cuba’s National Ballet, the Bolshoi Theatre Ballet of Moscow with Maia Plisiétskaia or companies like Montecarlo Opera Ballets, Kirov Ballet of Leningrado, Maurice Béjart Ballet, Martha Graham Ballets, Les Grand Ballets Canadiens, the Betherlands Dance Theatre with Jiri Kiliam, the Boris Eifmann Ballet Company, the Angelin Preljocaj company or the National Classic Ballet with María de Ávila. Soloists of international prominence have acted likewise, as Mihail Barishnikov, Julio Bocca, Antonio Gades, Víctor Ullate, Nacho Duato or Tamara Rojo.

In the classic music field, there are important formations like The Philharmonic Orchestra of Saint Petersburg, the Bolshoi Orchestra, the National Orchestra of France, the National Orchestra of Poland, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Rotterdam, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Orchestra, the Orchestra of Vienna Radio, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Stockholm, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra or the National Orchestra of Spain conducted by Ataúlfo Argenta and Jesús López Cobos, likewise the Spanish conductors Antoni Ros Marbá and Victor Pablo Pérez conducted the Campoamor stage; as well as a long list of great conductors like Ievgeni Svetlanov, Jeffrey Tate, Frühbeck de Burgos, James Conlon, Dimitri Kitaienko, Rudolf Werthen, Dimitri Sitkovetsky, Alexandre Lazarev, Gennadij Rozdestvenskij, Lothar Zagrosek, Pinchas Steinberg, Libor Pesek, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Temirkanov, Tadaaki Otaka, Alberto Zedda, Renato Palumbo, Fiedrich Haider, Stefano Ranzani, Marco Armiliato, Maximiano Valdés, Paul Dombrecht, Miguel Ángel Veltri or Maurizio Arena. With the opening of Principe Felipe de Oviedo Auditorium, the Campoamor symphonic activity is moved into this new equipment where great musicians have conducted, like Muti, Maazel, Pappano, Minkowski, Kremer, Alessandrini, Prêtre, Gergiev, Plasson, Barenboim, Zubin Metha, Penderecki, Masur, Gielen, Fedoseyev, Gardiner or Andrew Davis, among many orchestras and performers of an international relevance. Similarly, the musical activity is complemented with the centenarian Philharmonic Society that in 1944 reached one of its memorable moments with a visit to the city of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Berlin conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch.

Many worldwide-known pianists have also performed like Shura Cherkassky, Mijail Pletnev, Ivo Pogorelich, Arkadi Volodos, Irina Zaristkaya, Bella Davidovich, Ingrid Haebler, Alicia de Larrocha, Rafael Orozco, Kristian Zimerman, Grigori Sokolov, Bruno Leonardo Gelber or Maria Joao Pires. This list of big artists is enlarged by the names of the violinist and orchestra director Menuhin or the cellist Mstislav Rostropóvich.

At the present, the theatre activity is focused on the opera season from September to January and the Zarzuela season from February to June.

What is more, the Teatro Campoamor has been a traditional lyric recitals venue, receiving the soprano Pilar Lorengar’s farewell from the stage. In this historical stage great names of the history of the opera have also offered recitals, like Marilyn Horne, Grace Bumbry, Samuel Ramey, Montserrat Caballé, Teresa Berganza, Victoria de los Ángeles, Edita Gruberova, Waltraud Meier, Chris Merrit, Mirella Freni, Renata Scotto, Elly Amelling, Katia Ricciarelli, Elena Obraztsova, Vladimir Chernov, Rockwell Blake, Kristjan Jóhannsson or Frederica von Stade.

On 24th September 1981 these awards were established in the Reconquista Hotel of Oviedo, with the presence of HRH the Prince of Asturias and Your Majesty the King and Queen of Spain. The Prince of Asturias Foundation plays a part in the consolidation of the already existing ties between the Asturias Principality and the Prince of Asturias through a cultural promotion.

The first prize-giving ceremony took place in the Teatro Campoamor on 3rd October 1981. Nowadays they are considered one of the most important awards in the world together with the Nobel Prize.

After long years of rebuilding, the Teatro Campoamor opens once again its doors in September 1948. The City Council chooses opera for the inaugural act, like in 1892. This time Manon de Massenet went into the stage of Oviedo’s coliseum, they sang Victoria de los Anglees, Giacinto Prandelli, Manuel Ausensi and Giuseppe Flamini. This title was followed by Aída, Lucía de Lammermoor, La Bohème, Tosca and Rigoletto. There were big figures of the time singing like Mario del Monaco, Elisabetta Barbato, Carlo Tagliabúe or Luigi Borgonovo.

The Zarzuela came back to the theatre with the very same title that ended the theatrical performances in 1934: Luisa Fernanda. In 1949, Richard Wagner’s music returns to the Campoamor stage. Once again, the chosen title is Lohengring, interpreted by Maria Luisa Nache, Renzo Pigni, Mino Cavallo and Britta Devianl, conducted by Hans Von Benda.

In 1952 Mario Filippeschi made his debut singing La Bohème and La Favorita. Alfredo Kraus, then a young boy, sang Il Barbiere di Siviglia together with the great Gianna D’Angelo in 1958. During the fifties, there were many other debuts like that of Carlo Bergonzi, Tito Schipa, Aldo Protti, Franco Corelli and Gianni Raimondi.

In 1961 Mirella Freni made her debut singing one of the Campoamor audience favourite titles: La Bohème. Maria Callas’ eternal rival, Renata Tebaldi, sang La Foza del Destino in 1962 and Adriana Lecouvreur, with the art of this great Italian singer our theatre reached one of the biggest aesthetic tops. Magda Olivero sang Fedora in 1967. The soprano Montserrat Caballé, from Barcelona, made her debut in 1968, singing Roberto Devereux; her relation with the theatre would be long and productive. One of the big sopranos ‘di agilità’ of the Leyla Gencer century took part in the season 1968 in the Simón Boccanegra and Ernani operas.

The opera season of 1970 saw four great artists, the tenor Luciano Pavarotti who acted for the first time in Oviedo, together with Montserrat Caballé, Mirella Freni and Maria Chiara, all of them sopranos. Pavarotti’s slight illness gave the opportunity to listen, for the first time in Oviedo, to the tenor José Carreras from Barcelona in 1974, in this year he made his debut in the season the big North American baritone Cornell McNeil. The following year four prominent voices would make their debut during the season: Fiorenza Cosotto, Renata Scotto, Jeannette Pilou and Mateo Manuguerra, near the Spanish Angeles Gulín and Jaime Aragall. Plácido Domingo visited our theatre in 1977 singing Andrea Chenier and Tosca; in the same line, in that season Katia Ricciarelli made her debut. The tenor from Madrid would sing again on 6th September 1986, in Antología de la Zarzuela.

Up to the end of the seventies, the season was arranged by the City Council, becoming one of the scarce lyric cycles of public ownership. From 1978 onwards, the season is arranged by the Asociación Asturiana de Amigos de la Ópera (Opera Friends Association of Asturias).

Important figures of the international Lyric sing in this period: Mariella Devia, Giovanna Casolla, Ghena Dimitrova, Yoko Watanabe, Cecilia Gasdia, Elena Obraztsova, Maria Guleghina, Eva Marton, Josephine Barstow, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Lucia Aliberti , Giusy Devinu, Joan Rodgers, Verónica Villarroel, Lucia Valentini-Terrani, Nina Terentieva, Sharon Sweet, Rosalind Plowright, Viórica Cortez, Martine Dupuy or Dolora Zajick, together with such good singers like Giorgio Zancanaro, Mateo Manuguerra, Luis Lima, Anthony Michaels Moore, Renato Bruson, Peter Dvorsky, Salvatore Fisichella, Juan Pons or acclaimed figures like Sherril Milnes, Bonaldo Giaiotti or Pedro Lavirgen, although the list would be much longer. The nineties were characterized by an important stage renewal; the main driving force would be Emilio Sagi, from Asturias. Works like L’Elisir d’Amore, set in Llanes, Le nozze di Fígaro, Die Zauberflöte, Giulio Cesare in Egitto or more recently Lucia di Lammermoor or Salomé have brought the Oviedo Opera to very high quality level. Pilar Miró, who had been a great cinema director, conducted the scenes of Der Freischütz with Eduardo Gruber’s scenery. Lastly, international stage management names like Pier Luigi Pizzi, Jonathan Miller, David McVicar, Robert Carsen or the scenographer Roni Toren.

So as to finish this chapter, great singers of the Germanic field that have visited our theatre lately are worth mentioning: Siegfried Jerusalem, Eva Johansson, Anne Gjevang, Robert Hale, Gösta Winbergh, Hans Tschammer, Elizabeth Connel, Inga Nielsen, Wolfgang Millgram, Emily Magee, Andrew Greenan or Franz Grundheber.

We would not like to end this section without mentioning the mythical Bulgarian singer Raina Kabaiwanska, who has lived a real romance with our theatre and its audience in such legendary performances like Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Adriana Lecouvreur or the work she used to say goodbye to our audience: La voix humaine.

Within the Spanish singers’ new generation the coliseum of Oviedo has been witness of names like María Bayo, Carlos Álvarez, Ana María Sánchez, José Bros, Miguel Ángel Zapater, Ainhoa Arteta, Ángeles Blancas, María José Moreno, Manuel Lanza or Stefano Palatchi. The Teatro Campoamor of Oviedo has been protagonist of truly glorious periods in the history of the opera in our country, placed after Barcelona Liceo as their season are the oldest in tradition and continuity. The future appears full of desires and aspirations so as to continue this tradition. We hope it keep on being one of the best bastions of Spanish lyric.