Joan

Joan Mestres Calvet

Barcelona , 1871
Barcelona , 6 de juny de 1955

Artistic entrepreneur

He studied solfeggio with Josep Rodoreda, music theory with Joan Lamote de Grignon and piano with Joan B. Pellicer at the Escola Municipal de Música in Barcelona. From early on, he became interested in music management and artistic direction, and he organized operatic performances in the Barcelona Granvia and Tívoli theatres.

In 1915, after a stay in Lisbon in which he ran the Teatro Coliseu, he returned to Barcelona and worked as a businessman and artistic director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu during the periods 1915-16, 1918-30, 1934-37 and 1939- 47. His open-mindedness let him to renew Liceu’s programming by introducing Mozart’s operas and Russian, French and Catalan repertoire, thus incorporating premieres without abandoning the canonical repertoire.

Under his tutelage, the Liceu remained a leading lyrical theatre in the international scene. He related his professional experiences in El Gran Teatro del Liceo visto por su empresario published in 1945.