This was published 9 years ago
Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Where tenors fear to tread
Its seven storeys are labyrinthine and its acoustics unforgiving, but the Teatro Colon is worth a visit for its dazzling opulence.
By Keith Austin
Sumptuous: The interior of Teatro Colon Opera House.Credit: Getty Images
If Javier, a guide at Teatro Colon, the main opera house in Buenos Aires, is dismayed at our little group he hides it well. We are the final tour group of the day and there are just three of us – an Australian, an Indian and a Brazilian – waiting for him in the downstairs corridor near the cafe.
He beams at us as if we are a crowd of 30 and, in gently accented English, takes us on a magical mystery tour of a building that was ranked the third best opera house in the world by National Geographic (behind La Scala in Milan and Teatro di San Carlo in Naples) and is said to be, acoustically, among the five best concert venues, too.
Luciano Pavarotti rated it, explains Javier, because the perfect acoustics were a challenge to singers – any wrong note would be noticed immediately.
Today, the opera house sits in the heart of the city on the edge of the 9 de Julio Avenue, the city's massive seven-lane main street – the widest avenue in the world. It opened in 1908 with a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida.
The original building, though, opened in 1857 when the good folk of Buenos Aires – many of whom were opera-loving European immigrants – decided that their new home needed some sophistication.
It wasn't long before they upped their game and began the 20-year, no-holds-barred building program that ended in 1908. Marble was imported from Italy and Portugal and architects were changed several times.
The opera house closed again in 2006 for renovations and finally opened again in 2010.
Javier, in the meantime, has led us into the main entrance hall (there are side entrances for the hoi polloi in the cheap seats), which is usually entered up the stairs from Liberty Street. It is a grand, opulent space with sweeping Carrara marble staircases on either side leading up to the main auditorium and a dazzling stained-glass ceiling imported from Paris in 1907.
Architecturally, the seven-storey building is all over the place but in a good way. After the head architect, Francesco Tamburini, died suddenly his assistant, Vittorio Meano, took over and immediately started putting his own fingerprints on the blueprints. He later described it thus: "It has characteristics of the Italian Renaissance, the good planning and solidity of German architecture and the decorative charm and variety of French architecture."
At the top of the stairs – try not to imagine yourself ascending them in immaculate evening dress in the early 19th century, I dare you – is the Gallery of Busts, a long hall featuring the stony likenesses of Beethoven, Bizet, Gounod, Verdi, Mozart, Wagner, Bellini and Rossini.
And beyond that is the Golden Hall (Salon Dorado), where Javier explains that all that glitters really is gold. Modelled on the halls at Versailles, the chandeliers are reflected in mirrors to infinity and the walls are painted in 24-carat gold leaf and gold powder. It is here that Javier points out a dull golden square next to one of the mirrors. It looks like a mistake until he reveals that it has been left like that to show what the walls were like – thanks to 100 years of pollution and smoking – before the most recent renovations.
Later, in the lushly decorated horseshoe-shaped auditorium, which features a wonderfully colourful ceiling dome painting of Commedia Dell'Arte characters by Argentine artist Raul Soldi and seats 2478 (with room for 300 standing on the upper levels), we are treated to an example of the amazing acoustics as a cleaner goes about his business with a vacuum cleaner. It can, indeed, be heard everywhere.
Frankly, what I know about opera can be written on the head of Madama Butterfly's chopstick but the Teatro Colon tour is worth 50 minutes of any tourist's time in Buenos Aires.
The writer travelled courtesy of Captain's Choice.
A Captain's Choice Carnival and Caribbean cruise on the Silver Shadow departs Buenos Aires from February 7, 2015, visiting Brazil, French Guiana and Barbados. See captainschoice.com.au for more details or call 1800 650 738.
Captain's Choice prices include airfares from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane with Qantas Airways. Prices from other cities are available on request.
STAYING THERE
The 23-floor Park Tower Hotel is at Avenida Leandro N. Alem, Buenos Aires, just one kilometre from the Teatro Colon and the centre of the city. Rooms start at US$299 ($A343) a night (including breakfast). See luxurycollection.com/parktower
SEE + DO
Teatro Colon is at Tucumán 1171 (Pasaje de Carruajes). Tours start at 9am and go every 15 minutes until 4.45pm, Mon-Sun, including holidays (except May 1, Dec 24-25 and Dec 31-Jan 1). Tours are suspended 10am-1.30pm when there are admission-free performances on Sundays, so check before you go. If performances are scheduled for the afternoon the last guided tour will depart at 3pm. Tours cost 150 pesos (about $A20).
Going to Buenos Aires and not taking in a tango show is like going to Paris and not visiting the Eiffel Tower. The Esquina Carlos Gardel is excellent, eye-popping – and they feed you as well. Visit esquinacarlosgardel.com.ar for more details.
Make time to visit the wonderful El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookshop – said to be one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world. El Ateneo Grand Splendid is at Avenida Santa Fe 1860, between Riobamba and Callao, Recoleta, Buenos Aires. Open: Monday to Thursday 9am to 10pm; Friday and Saturday 9am to midnight; Sunday noon-10pm.
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