Calle del Maestro Alonso

Fuente del Berro

It bears the name of Francisco Alonso López (Granada, 1887 – Madrid, 1948), a central figure of the Spanish zarzuela and musical revue of the first third of the 20th century. It lies in the Fuente del Berro neighbourhood (Salamanca district), in an area with several streets dedicated to Spanish conductors and composers. The name dates from after 1948.

Francisco Alonso López was born in Granada on 9 May 1887 and studied music with Antonio Segura Mesa, the same teacher who taught Federico García Lorca. In 1911 he moved for good to Madrid, determined to make a living from the lyric theatres, and there he signed more than 140 works. Among them are La calesera (1925), La parranda (1928) and Las Leandras (1931), which premiered with Celia Gámez. From that show came two very popular numbers: the pasacalle “Los nardos” and the chotis “El Pichi.” In 1947 he was elected president of the SGAE, the third musician to reach the post after Chapí and Vives. He died the following year, still serving as president. The municipal street register also holds a small ambiguity: next to the street dedicated to the composer there is a Calle del Compositor Francisco Alonso with identical coordinates, and the open data does not clarify whether these are two streets or one with a double name.
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