Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona

The Liceu on La Rambla in Barcelona, seen over the music stands in the pit toward a full house, each gold balcony front edged with a row of lamps. With about 2,300 seats it is one of the largest opera theaters in Europe, and the long, shallow tiers make the crowd itself part of the spectacle. It opened on April 4, 1847. Fire gutted it in 1861 and again in January 1994; the second time, Barcelona rebuilt the auditorium as it had been while modernizing everything behind the stage, and the house reopened on October 7, 1999, with Turandot. Go for the room, and stay for the hall of mirrors in the foyer, which survived the fire.