Advertisement
Published: July 15th 2015
Edit Blog Post
Not to be confused with a body part, Colón is the Spanish name for Columbus. We had the opportunity to visit the theater in his name today, which is apparently (and justifiably) world-famous (and top-5 ranked) for its frankly ridiculous acoustics (of course, Boston's Symphony Hall is also top-5, so who needs to visit here?). But more on that in a second.
In the morning, classes, classes, yada yada. Lunch was actually a bit different (read: more) today, as we had 2 hours instead of 1 for it. So a handful of us went to a local restaurant and got some incredible steak, to go with caeser salads that had weirdly hard croutons, and, of course, Malbec. Malbec is the traditional Argentine red wine, a bit dark for my tastes but great with red meat. 2 bottles for 6 people in an hour sounded about right. So we went with it.
After lunch we headed to the theater, where we had a short but super interesting tour. The theater was built under a curse by 3 different architects. The first two both died when they were 40, one under questionable circumstances and the other shot by his butler (I
hear he got fired). The third architect was intentionally chosen to be over 40, and completed the theater in 1908. It was designed to be the intersection of reality and the arts, demonstrated the architectural differences between the first and second floors. All of the material was imported from Europe, and was used to create truly a spectacular building.
Inside the theater (where I didn't both taking pictures due to the darkness), there are 7 levels, including one standing around the upper mezzanine. It seats almost 2,500, with standing room for another 1,000. The orchestra pit can be raised for concerts and lowered for operas, and the chandelier lowered for maintenance. Around the chandelier is a hidden balcony where up to 15 musicians can hide to send in surround-sound acoustics. The stage itself is the same footprint as the auditorium (read: huge; at a guess, the auditorium had 30 rows of seating, about 40 wide each).
The second level contains the Presidential box and the Mayor's box next to the stage, as well as the best box in the house (unnamed as far as I could tell) directly facing the stage. Tickets in that box for the official
performances run A$2000 (about U$S 200, so really not too bad). Behind the best box is the White Room, where government officials can meet during intermission away from prying eyes (as they sit in that box for official shows).
At the entrance to the boxes is the main foyer, with a tiny costume museum, the grand steps, and, of course, amazing architecture. Upstairs are busts of eight opera writers (including Beethoven, Mozart, and Verdi - who is the most important as his opera Aida opened the theater). The best room, in my opinion, is the Salón Dorado (the Golden Room), which appears not entirely unlike the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. Overall, it's a beautiful theater where I would love to return to actually see a show someday.
After that, a group of us went to Puerto Madero to visit a natural reserve, with a ton of lagoons and beautiful pathways. But I'll save that for tomorrow for two reasons: 1) to not run this post to 1,000 words, and 2) so I can actually have pictures for you tomorrow, as well!
NB: I do have pictures for today, but our internet is about as much of
a joke as Justin Bieber's music career. I'll upload them when possible.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.246s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0694s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb