Teatro Colón

Daytime facade of Teatro Colón Buenos Aires across Plaza Lavalle lawn, beige eclectic stone pediment, green glass marquise and Argentine flag under blue sky
Location: Buenos Aires, ArgentinaType: Opera HouseYear: 1908Architect: Francesco Tamburini + Vittorio Meano + Julio DormalPhotographer: EEJCC, Dennis G. Jarvis, Falk2, Roger Schultz, ProtoplasmaKid, Mauricio V. Genta, Lahi, Sergio Moises Panei Pitrau
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Teatro Colón by Francesco Tamburini + Vittorio Meano + Julio Dormal in Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Teatro Colón is Buenos Aires’ world-famous gilded opera house: a horseshoe auditorium of crimson and gold facing Plaza Lavalle, designed by Italian architect Francesco Tamburini + continued after his death by pupil Vittorio Meano + completed with French-accented decoration by Belgian-born Julio Dormal. Built 1889–1908 at Libertad 999 in Argentina and opened on 25 May 1908 with Verdi’s Aida, it remains among the most admired lyric houses for acoustics and Beaux-Arts splendour.

Daytime street view of Teatro Colón beige facade and green marquise from the plaza, Argentine flag on the pediment, bus and pedestrians under clear blue sky

Tamburini, Meano and Dormal: twenty years to opening

Tamburini laid the Italian-style plan and cornerstone in 1889 on the former Plaza Parque railway site; after his death in 1891 Meano carried the structure forward until his murder in 1904, and Dormal completed the house with changes that left a French stamp on the ornament. The seven-tier auditorium seats about 2,478 with standing room for roughly a thousand; a stage roughly 20 metres wide and deep sits under a great chandelier of some 700 bulbs, while the scarlet-and-gold boxes, marble foyer stair and Salón Dorado make the interiors as famous as the Libertad Street facade. Sculptor Luigi Trinchero supplied bas-reliefs and busts on the exterior.

Night facade of Teatro Colón with glowing marquise, lyre medallions and double-globe street lamp among dark tree branches before the floodlit stone

Acoustics, artists and National Historic Monument

From the opening season onward the Colón drew the leading singers, dancers and conductors of the twentieth century — Caruso, Callas, Toscanini, Pavlova, Nureyev, Pavarotti among many — and National Geographic has ranked it among the world’s ten best opera houses. Acoustician Leo Beranek’s survey of leading directors placed its room first for opera and second for concerts; Luciano Pavarotti famously joked that the acoustics’ only defect was their perfection. Declared a National Historic Monument of Argentina in 1989, the theatre houses resident orchestra, choir and ballet companies as well as the Buenos Aires Philharmonic.

Teatro Colón auditorium looking to the proscenium, red curtain and painted valance framed by seven tiers of gilded boxes with chandelier clusters lit

2001–2010 restoration and the 2010 reopening

By the early 2000s deferred maintenance forced a phased restoration: works begun while the house was still open led to full closure from late 2006, and after a programme that grew into a multi-year, roughly USD 100-million project with some 1,500 workers the Colón reopened on 24 May 2010 — on the eve of Argentina’s Bicentennial — with Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Act II of Puccini’s La bohème. The campaign renewed structure, stage machinery, interiors and the Raúl Soldi cupola canvas while protecting the room’s celebrated sound.

Vertical view up Teatro Colón side boxes and crimson proscenium curtain, gilt scrollwork, balcony lamps and frescoed ceiling edge above stalls seats

Facade, foyer and the photographs

Today guided tours thread the foyer stair, Salón Dorado and auditorium, and the photographs here favour sharp modern Commons frames of the Plaza Lavalle facade by day and night, the horseshoe hall under Soldi’s cupola, the marble staircase and lion newel, gilt boxes, stained-glass skylight and the crystal-lit Golden Salon — interiors that are as much the story as the eclectic exterior.

Two-storey foyer atrium of Teatro Colón with honey marble piers, fluted Corinthian columns, mezzanine balustrade, globe lamps and 2015 season banners

Photography and credits

Credits span EEJCC, Dennis G. Jarvis, Falk2, Roger Schultz, ProtoplasmaKid, Mauricio V. Genta, Lahi and Sergio Moises Panei Pitrau under CC0 / CC BY / BY-SA licences as noted on each file.

Salón Dorado of Teatro Colón with crystal chandelier, arched figurative stained-glass window, gilt coffered ceiling and pale upholstered sofa below

Teatro Colón gallery

Daytime facade of Teatro Colón Buenos Aires across Plaza Lavalle lawn, beige eclectic stone pediment, green glass marquise and Argentine flag under blue skyNight close-up of Teatro Colón main entrance, warm floodlit stone, Corinthian window bays, bas-relief friezes and curved glass-and-iron marquise against black skyDaytime street view of Teatro Colón beige facade and green marquise from the plaza, Argentine flag on the pediment, bus and pedestrians under clear blue skyCorner view of Teatro Colón along Cerrito Street, long beige side elevation with balconied windows, plaza crosswalk, traffic and digital kiosk in daylightNight facade of Teatro Colón with glowing marquise, lyre medallions and double-globe street lamp among dark tree branches before the floodlit stoneHorseshoe auditorium of Teatro Colón from the stalls, crimson velvet seats with gilt finials curving toward stacked gilded boxes under warm balcony lampsTeatro Colón auditorium looking to the proscenium, red curtain and painted valance framed by seven tiers of gilded boxes with chandelier clusters litUpper-box view toward Teatro Colón stage, closed crimson curtain, gold trompe-l'oeil valance, orchestra pit and audience filling the horseshoe stallsVertical view up Teatro Colón side boxes and crimson proscenium curtain, gilt scrollwork, balcony lamps and frescoed ceiling edge above stalls seatsGrand foyer staircase of Teatro Colón, white marble steps with burgundy runner, yellow-stone balustrades and mosaic floor under Banco Ciudad season bannersTwo-storey foyer atrium of Teatro Colón with honey marble piers, fluted Corinthian columns, mezzanine balustrade, globe lamps and 2015 season bannersLooking down the curved yellow-marble balustrade of Teatro Colón foyer stair, carved balusters and burgundy runner descending into shadowSalón Dorado of Teatro Colón with crystal chandelier, arched figurative stained-glass window, gilt coffered ceiling and pale upholstered sofa belowLooking up at Teatro Colón foyer stained-glass skylight, blue-green arabesque panes with central medallion set in cream Beaux-Arts plaster cartouchesPink marble lion-head newel at the base of Teatro Colón foyer stair, carved acanthus volute and balusters with visitors on the landing beyondLooking up Teatro Colón balcony tiers with gilded cornice lamps and ceiling panels lettered BEETHOVEN and BERLIOZ in painted wreathsHorseshoe tiers of Teatro Colón auditorium packed with audience, gilt balcony fronts, warm lamp clusters and edge of Raúl Soldi cupola fresco aboveLooking across Teatro Colón horseshoe boxes to the central crystal chandelier and Raúl Soldi cupola fresco, stage lights in the upper foreground

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