Buenos Aires - Avenida de Mayo - Teatro Avenida

The Avenida Theatre (''Teatro Avenida'') is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina.

Overview

The Avenida Theatre was inaugurated on Buenos Aires' central

Avenida de Mayo May Avenue ( es, Avenida de Mayo) is an avenue in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. It connects the Plaza de Mayo with Congressional Plaza, and extends in a west–east direction before merging into Rivadavia Avenue. History and overview B ...

in 1908 with a production of Spanish dramatist

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio ( , ; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literatur ...

's ''Justice Without Revenge''. The production was directed by

María Guerrero María Ana de Jesús Guerrero Torija (April 17, 1867 - January 23, 1928), better known as María Guerrero, was a prominent Spanish theatre actor, producer and director. Life and work María Guerrero Torija was born in Madrid in 1867. She enrol ...

, a

Spanish Argentine Spanish settlement in Argentina, that is the arrival of Spanish emigrants in Argentina, took place first in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain, and again in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Betwee ...

theatre director who popularized classical drama in Argentina during the late 19th century and would establish the important Cervantes Theatre in 1921. The theatre became the chief venue for Spanish theatre in Buenos Aires after the conversion of the

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

into the National Comedy Theatre in 1933 and

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

's play

Bodas de Sangre ''Blood Wedding'' ( es, link=no, Bodas de sangre) is a tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1932 and first performed at Teatro Beatriz in Madrid in March 1933, then later that year in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...

was staged there that year. It soon earned renown for its varied

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

s and

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of ...

s (many led by renowned Spanish theatre director

Federico Moreno Torroba Federico Moreno Torroba (3 March 189112 September 1982) was a Spanish composer, conductor, and theatrical impresario. He is especially remembered for his important contributions to the classical guitar repertoire, becoming one of the leading twe ...

), as well as for special events, such as a 1939 production of ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...

'' for the benefit of Spanish charities dealing with the aftermath of that country's

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

The production of Spanish theatre at the Avenida declined after 1960, and the Avenida turned to Broadway theatre productions instead. One early success was the local 1963 production of

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's ''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-stag ...

''. Varying its repertoire, the Avenida featured a production of

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's ''

La Traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on '' La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his ow ...

'' in 1967 and the theatre's purchase by local impresario Faustino García helped lead to Moreno Torroba's return in 1970 and a revival of the Avenida's erstwhile standby, the

, during that decade. The advent of Argentina's last

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the ...

in 1976 led to an abrupt decline in local theatre activity, leading to the Avenida's closure in 1977. A 1979 fire nearly destroyed the Avenida, and the theatre remained shuttered until its reopening on 19 June 1994. However, the original building's top section, which included the former Hotel Castilla, were not restored. With the closure of the city's Teatro Colón, which started refurbishment in October 2006, the Avenida picked up its classical opera programming, and in the past few years both Buenos Aires Lírica alongside Juventus Lírica, consisting mostly of promising young voices, staged humble productions of major titles such as Puccini's ''

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...

'', Bizet's ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the ...

'',

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the ...

's ''

'' and ''

'',

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...

'' and ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premi ...

'',

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards ...

's ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an '' opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was ba ...

'', amongst others.

External links

Teatro Avenida Buenos Aires Lírica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avenida Theatre Opera houses in Argentina Argentine opera companies Theatres in Buenos Aires 1908 establishments in Argentina Theatres completed in 1908