Teatro Colón
A gilded opera house renowned for some of the finest acoustics in the world.
Teatro Colón is Buenos Aires' great opera house, sitting at the edge of the city centre between Plaza Lavalle and the broad Avenida 9 de Julio. The present building was inaugurated on 25 May 1908, replacing an earlier theatre of the same name that had opened in 1857 near Plaza de Mayo. It is widely counted among the finest lyric theatres anywhere, and its acoustics in particular have earned an international reputation.
Getting the building finished took roughly twenty years. Francesco Tamburini drew up the first design, and after his death his colleague Vittorio Meano carried the project forward; when Meano was killed in 1904, the Belgian architect Jules Dormal saw the work through to completion. The result mixes Italian Renaissance, French and German influences, with a horseshoe-shaped main hall seating about 2,500 people plus standing room, lavish foyers and the gilded Salón Dorado.
Today the Colón stages its own seasons of opera, ballet and symphonic music, with resident companies including the Orquesta Estable, the Coro Estable, the Ballet Estable and the Filarmónica de Buenos Aires. A large restoration between 2006 and 2010 renewed the historic interiors and stage machinery. Visitors who are not attending a performance can join daily guided tours through the foyer, the Golden Hall and the main auditorium.
Highlights
- Horseshoe auditorium with about 2,500 seats, renowned for its acoustics
- Main-hall dome painted by Argentine artist Raúl Soldi in 1966
- Gilded Salón Dorado (Golden Hall) and grand marble foyer
- Home to resident opera chorus, orchestra, ballet and the Buenos Aires Philharmonic
- Daily guided tours in Spanish, English and Portuguese
