The Teatro Real was honored Thursday night by the International Opera’s Sustainability Awards, considered the Oscars of opera, for energy efficiency improvements to the roof and interior of the building, and for efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Justin Way, Production Director of Teatro Real, expressed his gratitude upon receiving the award: “This is not only a recognition of what we have achieved, but also a motivation to move forward with more energy and commitment, being a benchmark in sustainability,” and shared this recognition with all opera theaters “as we all move forward trying to build a better future.”
The International Opera Awards were created by the British Journal Opera In 2012. Teatro Real has already distinguished itself in previous editions: in 2021, it was recognized as the Best Company in the World, the grand prize of these awards, for its programming during the 2019 season. Additionally, in 2022, it hosted the Trophy Presentation Ceremony, in its first celebration outside London.
The award was announced at a ceremony held at the Greek National Opera, attended by representatives of Teatro Real – in addition to Y, Enrique Collel, Secretary General, and Noria Gallego, Director of Infrastructure and Public Services – who received the award from Sofia Demsa, Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications at PPC Group.
Since 2019, Teatro Real has been developing energy optimization works called the Most Sustainable Theater with the aim of being a building that consumes almost no energy. At the beginning of this year, the building debuted its sky-facing “fifth facade,” a cover of photovoltaic panels you can walk through, funded by European Next Generation Funds. The Madrid building was the first Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) in Spain to receive energy certification.
This recognition also reinforces the upward trajectory of the amphitheatre, which emerged in 1997 after a seventy-year silence in which it remained closed, and which barely needed three decades to catch up with major houses such as the Metropolitan in New York, the Scala in Milan or the Royal Opera House in London. Already upon its reopening, after costly rehabilitation works to equip itself with the latest machinery, the institution demonstrated its call for investment in cutting-edge technology.
The other nominees competing with Teatro Real in this category were Wuppertal Opera (Germany), Santa Fe Opera (USA), Vienna Folk Opera (Austria), Longborough Festival (UK) and Leipzig Opera (Germany).
In other categories, Teatro Real also won Best New Production with Mr. Prosek’s travels, By Robert Carsen, a co-production with the National Theater in Brno and the Staatsoper in Berlin.
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