From the Olympia to the Palau: a Night at Valencia’s Stages

Valencia’s evenings belong to its stages as much as its terraces: an opera house by the Turia, theatres on the old streets, a glass concert hall in the riverbed, flamenco and live bands until late. Here is how to spend a night at them.

The opera house

The grandest stage is the Palau de les Arts, opened in 2005 at the City of Arts and Sciences, whose Sala Principal seats 1,412 for opera and ballet.

The old theatres

In the centre, the Teatro Olympia opened on 10 November 1915 with The Barber of Seville, built where the Convent of San Gregorio once stood; after more than fifty years of films, it returned to drama in 1984.

On Calle Caballeros, in El Carmen, the Teatre Talia opened in 1928 and from the start staged local companies in Spanish and Valencian. It seats 243, with boxes on two floors.

The Rialto

On the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, the Rialto of 1939 by Cayetano Borso di Carminati, rationalist with Art Deco touches, holds a theatre and a hall for the screenings of the Generalitat’s film library.

The Palau de la Música

In the Turia Garden, the Palau de la Música is a glass building by José María de Paredes, winner of the National Architecture Prize, with tropical gardens behind its dome and a pool by Ricardo Bofill in front. It is the home of symphonic and chamber music.

In Valencia, the night belongs to its stages as much as its terraces.

Flamenco and bands

For flamenco, Café del Duende has staged it since 1998, from Thursday to Sunday. For rock, indie and garage, Loco Club has bands and then DJs at weekends; and in the Cabanyal, La Fábrica de Hielo, a former ice warehouse by the beach, programmes jazz, comedy and swing.

Did you know? In its early years the Olympia drew the leading companies of the day, and the pianist Arthur Rubinstein.

Our advice

Our advice: book Les Arts and the Palau de la Música well ahead for the big nights, and buy theatre tickets at the box office or on the theatres’ own sites.