This Thursday will be an emotional and historic moment for the culture of La Plata and the entire province of Buenos Aires. The “Alberto Ginastera” hall of the Teatro Argentino will be reopened after a long process of recovery and enhancement. It was closed at the end of 2017, suffered leaks and was even vandalized. Now, the emblematic hall that is one of the oldest and most important in all of Latin America is preparing to shine again.
The work includes renovations to the elevator, the ventilation and air removal system, the curtains, the stage, and the floors and carpets; among other things. Thus, the brand new hall will have a choral symphonic concert by the Orchestra and the Permanent Choir and four solo singers, who will offer Symphony No. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven.
The building enhancement work began in 2020 and required an investment of more than 350 million pesos from the provincial government under the supervision of the head of the Cultural Institute, Florencia Saintout. Its reuse will allow the return of the artistic season, with a series of concerts, operas, ballets and an extensive program.
Before, during the management of Mary Eugenia Vidalthe works were announced but were never completed, leaving the largest room in the theater completely unusable. The renovation project was divided into four stages, although it is not known up to which stage it was reached. The only advance that was achieved was the change of seats, then the administration of Juntos left the Teatro Argentino in a total and complete state of abandonment.
THE WORK
The enhancement works addressed the different needs of the room, which had a lack of air conditioning, leaks and floods, lack of heating, vandalism, poor lighting, unusable dressing rooms and detached ceilings. It was impossible to put on a show. Thermo-mechanical conditioning, electricity and oil-hydraulic tasks were also carried out. The latter made it possible to put the forklifts and the orchestra pit into operation.
In addition, the ventilation and air removal system was completely changed, the stage was conditioned, the curtain system was put into operation, the bathrooms for the public were fixed and the rubble of the original work on the 4th basement was removed. which improved the safety of the operators and allowed subsequent work.
KEY RENOVATIONS
One of the most important works in structural matters was the change of the ventilation center. This was a giant machine located in the fourth basement that did not work -a consequence of lack of maintenance- and had to be removed. The new heart of the theater’s air, ventilation and refrigeration system are two machines that were purchased abroad and brought in by boat. In addition, due to the size of the pieces, circulation on Calle 51 had to be cut off in order to enter them. Although the assembly of the new structure did not cause complications, what caused problems was the dismantling of the previous structure.
Another of the main works were the electricity and hydraulic works that allowed the two forklifts that connect the fourth basement with the “Ginastera” Room, located on the first floor, to operate again. These were unusable, because they were under water. Its commissioning allows the scenery, sculptures and all the props from the workshops located in the fourth basement of the theater to be brought onto the stage, facilitating and speeding up their transfer.
The orchestra pit was repaired and put back into operation. This is key in opera, it is a portion of the stage that is lowered and allows the musicians to be located between the audience and the scene, without losing sound, without obstructing the view of the attendees and giving the stage greater versatility. The 400 25,000-watt lamps in the three-ton bronze chandelier located in the center of the room were also changed, and the floors and carpets were changed, as well as the curtain system.
The reopening will take place at 6:00 p.m. with a choral symphonic concert by the Orchestra and the Permanent Choir and four solo singers, who will offer Symphony No. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven. The musical direction will be Carlos Vieu, while Eduviges Picone will be in charge of preparing the Choir and the soprano Paula Almerares, the mezzo-soprano Cecilia Díaz, the tenor Juan Carlos Vassallo and the baritone Hernán Iturralde will also participate. It was specified that the ceremony will begin with the Argentine National Anthem, which will be accompanied by the Academic Camerata, directed by Bernardo Teruggi, and the Children’s Choir, conducted by Mónica Dagorret.
