For many readers, the gateway to Middle-earth was a book published by Minotauro. What almost no one knows is that this publishing house was founded in Buenos Aires: Paco Porrúa founded it in 1955, and years later, it published the first Spanish translation of *The Lord of the Rings*. Porrúa himself took on the task of translating the first volume, at a time when Minotauro was relocating its operations to Barcelona.
Decades after that literary connection, the saga is reconnecting with Buenos Aires—but this time through music. Twenty-five years after the premiere of the first film, here comes “Candlelight: The Lord of the Rings,” a concert held in the dark by candlelight, where a string quartet performs the pieces composed by Howard Shore for Frodo’s journey to Mordor.
2 January 2027 19:00 + more dates
Teatro Margarita Xirgu
Three Oscars, three Grammys, and the composer’s own endorsement
The music from the trilogy swept everything before it: it earned Howard Shore three Oscars—Best Original Score for *The Fellowship of the Ring* and *The Return of the King*, plus Best Original Song for Into the West featuring Annie Lennox and Fran Walsh—and each of the three albums also won its own Grammy.
*Candlelight: The Lord of the Rings* is an official series produced in collaboration with Fever and Warner Bros. Discovery, in which Shore himself approved the selection of the 13 pieces and reviewed the scores. The journey lasts about an hour, adapting the symphonic grandeur to the intimacy of a string quartet and leaving nothing out: it kicks off with a bang with “Prologue: One Ring to Rule Them All,” moves through anthems like The Return of the King and “Into the West,” and brings the curtain down with “The Grey Havens.”
The Margarita Xirgu Theater, the hidden venue in the Casal de Catalunya
The show takes place at the Margarita Xirgu Theater, inside the Casal de Catalunya in the San Telmo neighborhood.
It’s a small venue, with dark wooden boxes and pointed arches that already have a distinctly medieval aesthetic. With the lights off and the candles lit, the venue does almost all the visual work. But what matters most is how it sounds: as an old theater designed for opera and plays, the acoustics are perfect for four string instruments playing live—especially if you want to experience the music of Middle-earth up close.
📍Chacabuco 875
🚌 Easy access on foot from the Independencia (Lines C and E) or Belgrano (Line E) stations, as well as dozens of bus routes along 9 de Julio Avenue and Paseo Colón.
