21. Teatro Colón
NOTICE: The Teatro Colón will remain closed during 2009 for renovation work.
Technical data:
Location: Cerrito 618, San Nicolás District.
Opened: 1908
Architects: Francisco Tamburini, Víctor Meano, and Jules Dormal.
In the decade of 1820, the first European opera singers arrived in Buenos Aires. After a few years, the opera genre was favored by the “porteño” audience, and in 1857 the first Teatro Colón opened in front of Plaza de Mayo with a performance of “La Traviata”.
In 1888, the old Colón was closed to become the site of the Banco de la Nación Argentina. In the same year, City authorities called for bids for the construction of a new Teatro Colón, in its current location.
The government of Buenos Aires wanted to open the theatre in 1892, but although the construction had started in 1889, it would not finish until 1908.
After the death of the Tamburini, the first architect, Victor Meano, his collaborator, took over the project and dealt with bureaucratic and political problems until his death in 1904.
Belgian architect Jules Dormal was in charge of finishing the project. Regarding the building style, Meano wrote: “This genre […] would like to have an Italian Renaissance style, alternating with the detail distribution and strength of the German architecture, and the grace, variety, and audacity of the French architecture.”
The main hall, in the shape of a horseshoe, is considered as one of the best acoustic rooms worldwide. The dome was decorated by artist Raúl Soldi. The theatre has permanent cast members and dancers, orchestras, stage design and costume shops, a library, and a museum. Seating capacity is 3542, with room for 700 people standing.
Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Camille Saint-Saëns, Manuel de Falla, Aaron Copland; are some of the composers who directed their own music at the Colón, among others.
Some of the Conductors are: Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, and Daniel Barenboim. The long list of singers includes Enrico Caruso, Fedor Chaliapin, Titta Ruffo, Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballé, Alfredo Kraus, José Carreras, Kiri Te Kanawa, Plácido Domingo, and Samuel Ramey. Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, Maia Plisetskaya, Mijail Baríshnikov, Antonio Gades, Jorge Donn, Julio Bocca, Maximiliano Guerra, and Paloma Herrera, are some of the many great dancers who performed at the Colón.
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