Palau de les Arts

Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia (Valencian: [paˈlaw ðe lez ˈaɾdz ˈrejna soˈfi.a]; Spanish: Palacio de las Artes Reina Sofía; anglicised as "Reina (Queen) Sofía Palace of the Arts") is an opera house and cultural centre in Valencia, Spain. It opened on 8 October 2005; its first opera staging was of Beethoven's Fidelio on 25 October 2006. Tenor and conductor Plácido Domingo has maintained a special relationship with the Palau since its founding and has established a young singers training program there.

On 21 January 2015, Spanish police arrested the company's general director, Helga Schmidt, for alleged financial irregularities at the house. She was relieved of her duties with the company on the same day. Davide Livermore has since assumed Schmidt role as general director. In March 2015, the company appointed Roberto Abbado and Fabio Biondi as joint music directors.

From its inception until early 2015, administration of the company was under the leadership of Helga Schmidt, formerly of London's Royal Opera House (from 1973 to 1981). Schmidt attracted some major artists to be involved with the Palau. Among them is Zubin Mehta, who leads an annual music and opera festival, the Festival del Mediterráneo, which began in 2007; the late Lorin Maazel, who became music director of the company before his death; and Plácido Domingo, who brought his Operalia competition to the Palau in October 2007, and performs there regularly (Cyrano de Bergerac in 2007, Iphigénie en Tauride in 2008, Die Walküre in 2009, etc.). He has appeared with the company every season since its creation.

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