If you didn’t know it, I will tell you that the Teatro
Colon (Columbus) is one of South America’s most impressive theater venues and
considered to be one of six great opera houses of the world.
Its forthcoming centennial celebrates the cultured art of
first class opera, symphony and ballet.
The Teatro Colon was originally under construction for 20
years due to high turnover of project architects and government administrations,
financial setbacks and red tape. It finally opened its doors in 1908. In 2008,
the opera house commemorated its one hundred years of excellence in the
performing arts.
Italian immigrants
were highly influential on the local opera scene and the construction of a
performing arts center was forthcoming for many years before the turn of the 20th
century.
As one of the most elaborate buildings in the Americas, Teatro
Colon’s structure is mostly of Italian
Renaissance design; its Grand Hall, combines many styles and influences
including Greek columns of Carrara marble to show off a collection of very
detailed classical European composer busts.
The pride of Buenos Aires, the Colon, has hosted the most
celebrated opera and ballet icons of the 20th Century. Caruso, Maria Callas,
Krauss, Beverly Sills, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, Pavarotti and Renee
Fleming stand out among the renowned vocalists. Fonteyn, Pavlova, Nijinski,
Nureiev, Barishnikov and Bocca are among the ballet performers while symphony
masters as illustrious as Stravinsky, Toscanini, Von Karajan and Zubin Metha
have measurably graced the stage over the decades.
Music holds an exceptional position at the Colon, a fact
that highlights the city’s purely European feel in its devotion to the musical
arts. Those who love classical music can select from an array of concerts performed
at different stages. Both, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra and the
National Symphony are housed at the Colon and offer frequent complimentary
concerts.
A technological and acoustic four-year renovation
completed in 2010 is said to have come close to 25 million US dollars.
Offering seating capacity for over 2400 spectators, the
Teatro Colon consists of its own ‘in-house’ ballet and theater companies, an
orchestra, workshops, music and dance schools as well as a museum.
A truthfully colossal building, the Colon boasts ample
dimensions, a luxurious interior so acoustically perfect that an un-amplified
voice can be heard singing pianissimo, even in the remotest balconies.
Tours of the theater lead visitors through the Grand
Hall, the lavishly gilded and mirrored Golden Room, and the auditorium, which
highlights the vibrant frescoes done by Argentinian artist Raul Soldi.
As part of the tour, visitors also proceed through
workshops and practice rooms in the four-level basement where they may witness
11,000-sq-ft stage backdrops, as they are being hand-painted by expert artisans
whenever a new opera or ballet is in the works. Copious items of period
clothing, headgear and footwear used in past performances, are on view through
glass enclosures.
The performance hall itself holds an enormous Baccarat
crystal chandelier, and thick, weighty velvet curtains. I’ve been told that if
not attending a performance, the grandness of the Colon cannot be appreciated
fully. A tour of the premises, nevertheless, affords better insight of the size
and scope of this highest center for the performing arts.
I am in awe of the Grand Entrance Salon with the spacious
twin marbled staircases, the multi paned stained glass doors and windows and
the velvety armchairs of the performance hall. There are layers of balconies
and private viewing boxes just below the gleaming majestic chandelier – center
stage in the vast loftiness of the upper ceilings.
I love theater, music, opera and ballet; I do hope to be
able to attend a performance once the winter season begins -- a most inspiring
experience, no doubt.
It’s autumn in Buenos Aires…this year’s performing arts
season begins May 25.
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