For the 20th anniversary of the Teatro Auditorio de El Escorial on 5 November 2026, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, President of the Community of Madrid, attended a commemorative concert on 4 September 2026 at San Lorenzo de El Escorial The programme featured Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, the Resurrection Symphony, under the title “Morir para vivir”. The Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid (ORCAM) and the Coro de RTVE conducted by Alondra de la Parra. The soloists were Serena Sáenz (soprano) and Gaëlle Arquez (mezzo-soprano).
The concert is part of the first edition of the new festival Escena Escorial, which, according to the organisers, runs in San Lorenzo de El Escorial from 28 August to 19 September 2026. It brings together symphonic and chamber music evenings with dance, opera and theatre. Alongside rediscoveries and new productions, the programme includes performances by internationally renowned artists such as Grigory Sokolov, Daniel Barenboim and Nemanja Radulović. A new version of Carmen and Nascencia by the Ballet Español de la Comunidad de Madrid are also announced. Alondra de la Parra is artistic director of both the theatre and the festival, and aims to coordinate the programming with the work of ORCAM.
The regional government sees the festival’s launch as an opportunity to establish the Teatro Auditorio de El Escorial as a production and performance centre with a profile beyond the region. Its aim is to place the venue among Spain’s leading music destinations, in conjunction with ORCAM’s activities at the Auditorio Nacional. The organisers have so far made no statements about economic effects or whether the festival will continue beyond 2026.
The Teatro Auditorio opened in 2006 and is now part of the Centro Dramático, Coreográfico y Musical de la Comunidad de Madrid, which also includes the Teatros del Canal According to the operator, the building has a floor area of 25,401 square metres across ten levels, eight of them underground. The extensive stage and technical facilities of Sala A are described as among the most capable in Spain; at the same time, the predominantly underground design was intended to soften its impact on the townscape beside the historic monastery. The granite exterior cladding was designed to complement local architectural traditions; a Pinsapo preserved during construction has since become a hallmark of the venue. The design involved, among others, architects Juan Blasco Martínez, Andrés Pérez Tirado, Rubén Picado, M. José de Blas and Enrique Delgado; Vicente Mestre and José Luis Tamayo were responsible for acoustics and stage technology.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).