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The Building
The Bauer Palace was built in the 18th Century as a residence for the Marquis of Guadalcazar, over a piece of land that once belonged to the Novitiate of the Jesuits. Towards the end of the 19th Century, a family of bankers, named Bauer, acquired the palace, giving the architects, Arturo Melida and Alinari, the task to reform and decorate the building.
The Bauers, Hebrew bankers, represented the Rotschitd Bank in Spain. This was enough to mark their importance not only financially but socially as well because that European Dynasty, titled as such, exercised an authentic sponsorship.
The Madrid that existed before the First World War had become a bit European with the construction of the Ritz and The Palace Hotels. Certain bright salons became alive with a desire to celebrate, which in its fine major aspects, was stimulated by the exquisite taste of Queen Victoria Eugene. Before that, Palacio Valdes sets The Bauer Hall as one of the most elegant in his novel, Pastoral Symphony.
The Bauer House became famous by monopolizing parties: the grand dance gala, of which many had a craving and were social reporters of great fame and influence like Ignacio Escobar, Marquis of Valdeiglesias, signing under the pseudonym, "Mascarilla". There were, nonetheless, intimate gatherings that were preferred by the artists. To be precise, this was how The Musicians´ Hall was created. With average means, in an antique home, in the beautiful Cordon Plaza, and with refined courtesy, Enrique Fernandez Arbos received important musicians that passed through Madrid. The musical tastes of both queens, Maria Cristina and Victoria Eugene, every now and then, brought musicians like Pablo Casals and Arthur Rubinstein to the Palace. In Sopeña’s own book, they are remembered as the two queens that installed a telephone onstage to hear opera on those days they were not in court. In the atmosphere, Bauer Hall was a luxury to music. It didn’t have so much etiquette, but it was more like chamber music that came from a very good inheritance. It was an exceptional Madrilean salon that was the talk of the town by famous amateur theater groups that would pass by. It was also driven by aristocrat authors like the Marquis of Luca de Tena. One must not forget that aside from opera at the Royal Opera House as a state gala, the social gala was the passion for theater, including Zarzuela; the very own Luca de Tena wrote the libretto for the Zarzuela, "El Huesped del Sevillano," or The Sevillian´s Guest.

After this splendor, though, the terrible crisis of ´29 arrived and although it had fewer repercussions in Spain, the crisis supposed the beginning of the decadence of the life of the salons. The Republic accused this lifestyle permanently: many hotels were closed down on Castellana Avenue, one of Madrid’s busiest streets, and there was an atmosphere of fear and insecurity. Culture, including music, was centered on the official institutions where professors and financers were in charge, but where concerts, conferences or gatherings were very different from the ambience of the elegant salon. One can visit the social pages from newspapers like La Epoca, directed by the cited Valdeiglesias, to realize it was not an opportune time to enjoy social life. Social life livened up after the 1933 elections. Valdeiglesias announced certain performances of home theater at Luca de Tena´s home, but the tone changed: the death of the Duchess of Alba, in the middle of her youth, seemed like a prophesy. The Bauer Family, precisely for their gatherings, were not far from "talk" like the Ateneo, nor writers such as Azaña and Rivas Cherif, who would later be relevant protagonists from inside the political action of the State.
This international crisis made the Bauer Family abandon Spain as well as sell the properties they possessed here.
In 1940, the building was acquired by the State as the venue for the Royal Conservatory of Music and Declamation. In 1952, it was the School for Dramatic Arts and Dance temporarily, and in 1966 both institutions were moved to the Royal Opera House.
In 1972, the building was declared a National Monument and the following year, the architect, Manuel Gonzalez Valcarcel, was in charge of reforming it. Since then, the Palace houses the Superior School of Voice of Madrid.