Teatro Colón

The first Colón

The first Teatro Colón opened in 1857 with La traviata

The first Teatro Colón was designed by Charles Pellegrini and held 2,500 seats, with a separate gallery reserved only for people in mourning. It opened on 27 April 1857 with Verdi's La traviata, four years after its Italian premiere.

2,500seats in the first theatre

Twenty years

The new theatre took twenty years and opened with Aida in 1908

The first theatre closed on 13 September 1888 to make room for a new one. The crisis of 1890 and money troubles delayed it, and the present theatre opened on 25 May 1908 with Verdi's Aida, on the Día de la Patria.

The hall

A survey of opera and orchestra directors rated its acoustics best for opera

The auditorium is horseshoe-shaped and has 2,487 seats. In a survey by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek, the room was rated best in the world for opera and second best for concerts.

2,487seats in the horseshoe-shaped auditorium

Refurbished

The theatre closed in October 2006 and reopened in May 2010

After a long decline, massive renovations were planned. The work started in 2005, and the theatre was closed for refurbishment from October 2006 to May 2010. It reopened on 24 May 2010, for the Bicentennial of Argentina.

1910

Anarchists bombed the theatre in 1910 and the bomb landed in the orchestra

The theatre was bombed by anarchists in 1910, while Georges Clemenceau was in Argentina. The bomb landed in the middle of the orchestra. The wounded were carried off, and the damage was repaired during the day that followed.