Source: WTL Buenos Aires Resource File.
Image: The Teatro Colón, the great opera house in downtown Buenos Aires. It rivals other great opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and La Scala in Milan, Italy.
Comments: As the professor-photography can attest from personal experience, the acoustics in this theater, which is shaped in a horseshoe shape, are as excellent as they are reputed to be. The Teatro Colon closed in 2006 for renovation and will reopen in 2010. Before renovation it had just about the same number of seats at the great opera house in London, Covent Garden. The building was financed by the Italo-Argentine Angelo Ferrari, and it was designed by architects Francesco Tamburini and Vittorio Meano. Construction in the Italian style was begun in 1889. Construction was delayed, however, due to the deaths of Ferrari and Tamburini's and Meano's murder. The Belgian architect Jules Dormal finished the building in 1908, and he added French-style touches to the building. The opera performed at the Teatro Colón's grand opening was Aida by Giuseppe Verdi. Among the great vocalists and conductors who have performed in it are Maria Callas, Enrico Caruso, Plácido Domingo, Amelita Galli-Curci, Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills, Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Renata Tebaldi, and Arturo Toscanini.
Humanities Question: How do you account for the fact that there seems to be so much Italian influence associated with the Teatro Colón.
Humanities topic: Compare and contrast this grand theater with those in Havana, Montevideo, Mexico City, and Rio de Janeiro.