Fodor's Expert Review Teatro Colón

Its magnitude, magnificent acoustics, and opulence earn the Teatro Colón a place among the world's top five opera houses and an ever-changing stream of imported talent bolsters the well-regarded local lyric and ballet companies.

After an eventful 18-year building process involving the death of one architect and the murder of another, the sublime Italianate structure was inaugurated in 1908 with Verdi's Aïda. It has hosted the likes of Maria Callas, Richard Strauss, Arturo Toscanini, Igor Stravinsky, Enrico Caruso, and Luciano Pavarotti, who said that the Colón has only one flaw: the acoustics are so good that every mistake can be heard.

The theater's sumptuous building materials—three kinds of Italian marble, French stained glass, and Venetian mosaics—were imported from Europe. The seven-tier main theater is breathtaking, and has a grand central chandelier with 700 lights to illuminate the 3,000 mere mortals in its red-velvet seats.

The opera and ballet seasons run from April through December, and performances include symphonic cycles, chamber music concerts, and avant-garde music, opera, and dramatic performances at the ultraminimal Centro Experimental.

You can get in on the behind-the-scenes action on a guided tour, which takes you up and down innumerable staircases to rehearsal rooms and to the costume, shoe, and scenery workshops, before letting you gaze at the stage from a sought-after box. (Tours are daily 9–5, every hour on the hour and at 11, 1, and 3 in English; arrive at least a half hour before the tour starts, as they fill up quickly.)

Buy performance tickets from the box office on Pasaje Toscanini. If seats are sold out—or beyond your pocket—you can buy 600-peso standing-room tickets on the day of the performance. These are for the lofty upper-tier paraíso, from which you can both see and hear perfectly.