ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC-CUBA: Concert Theatre Rises from the Ashes

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Apr 13 1999 (IPS) - Cubans once again are enjoying world class concerts in the Amadeo Roldan Theatre, now rebuilt after it was destroyed by fire 22 years ago.

The “Amadeo” – as it was popularly known – stood in the Vedado neighbourhood in the heart of the city until June 30, 1977, when it was gutted in a blaze – allegedly the work of an arsonist.

“The theatre held a special charm for the people of Havana, and because of its acoustics was a favourite among performers,” Jorge Rubio, a rock musician who was present the night of the fire, told IPS.

Only the facade survived the fire and it was nearly 20 years before reconstruction work began in 1996. It finally reopened its doors last Sunday (Apr 11) as the new home of the National Symphonic Orchestra, to reclaim its place in the cultural panorama of this Caribbean country.

The “Amadeo” was built in 1928 under an initiative of Cuba’s Pro Arte Musical organisation, which in addition to obtaining bonds and donations from its members, also procured public funds for the theatre’s construction.

In 1961 the name of the theatre, known for 30 years as the Auditorium, was changed to Amadeo Roldan in homage to the musician, who Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier considered to be Cuba’s premier symphonist.

An orchestra director and musical composer, Roldan was born in Paris on July 12, 1900 to a Cuban mother. He grew up in Spain and at the age of 19 moved to Cuba where he lived until his death from cancer at age 39.

Composer of “La Rebambaramba,” among other Cuban musical classics, Roldan was the premier composer of the island and attempted to erase the existing prejudices against Afro-Cuban rhythms.

Magda Resik, author of a study about the Amadeo Roldan theatre, believes that more than its architectural excellence, “its attraction was the huge list of famous people and groups who appeared on its stage.”

Among the musicians who passed through the theatre’s halls, the Russian composers and pianists, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinski and Sergei Prokofiev, the Brazilian Heitor Villalobos and Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia stand out.

The National Ballet of Cuba, directed by Alicia Alonso, performed its debut there on October 28, 1948.

The opera also was present on the stage when, for the first time in Cuba, Carmen, La Traviata, Rigoleto and Faust were performed in Spanish.

In the mid-1970s, the Amadeo Roldan’s crystal doors gave way to an uncontrolled mob of concert-goers who came to see Joan Manuel Serrat, the Catalan singer-songwriter, in his first concert in Cuba.

The new building houses two halls that hold more than 1,000 people, an exposition hall, a library and an archive of original musical scores that were rescued from the flames.

There are important differences between the reconstructed property and the original but they share the boast of the “Amadeo” that the acoustics are so good , un-amplified sound can be heard throughout the theatre, said Ministry of Culture official Roberto Sanchez Lagarza.

Attempts to rebuild the theatre go back more than 10 years when Cuba and the then communist East Germany signed a long-term agreement under which the East Germans would send theatre seats, carpets, lights and precious wood.

The shipments continued to arrive even after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which Sanchez Lagarza stored and preserved until reconstruction began in spite of the island’s continued economic crisis, ongoing since 1990.

“I only regret that this theatre, which once was home to ballet and opera, will now be limited to musical concerts,” lamented the poet and essayist Roberto Mendez.

He was one of the guests along with artists and writers, delegates to recent congresses of the National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists and the Union of Cuban Journalists, invited by President Fidel Castro to attend the re-opening.