You are not the only one, we also got excited listening to Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango. But if the same thing happens to you with Verdi’s La Traviata or literally any work by Mozart, classical music is probably your thing… especially if you are in Buenos Aires. Because whether you are a porteño or a visitor, the city has great orchestras, spaces that can take your breath away and events where you can listen to live music, many of them for free. Do you want to know more? Here we leave you all the information you need to know about classical music in Buenos Aires.
Table Of Contents
Venues where classical music concerts are held in Buenos Aires
1. Colón Theater
A paradise for opera lovers. And no wonder, considering that it is one of the most important venues in the world within the genre. With a history of performances dating back to the 19th century in its first venue, artists of the stature of María Callas, Vaslav Nijinski or Ferdinand Leitner, among many (many) other names, have performed on the stage of the Teatro Colón. Symphonic and chamber concerts… this space is a delight for the senses that goes far beyond hearing.
📍 Cerrito 628
2. Libertad Palace
Talking about classical music concerts in Buenos Aires and not mentioning Palacio Libertad (former CCK) is like being in Mataderos neighborhood on a Sunday and not going to its fair: unthinkable. And its famous halls for chamber music and symphonic music (La Ballena Azul) prove it. But it not only stands out for its concerts, but also for its exhibitions, festivals, workshops or performative events. A space that was built in the 1880s as the headquarters of the Dirección de Correos y Telégrafos and that since 2015 is an enclave of culture in capital letters.
📍 Sarmiento 151
3. Margarita Xirgu Theater
A jewel inside another jewel, the Margarita Xirgu Theater is located in the neo-Gothic and modernist Casal de Catalunya. A room that has witnessed the first plays directed by Federico García Lorca or the first recital of Joan Manuel Serrat in Argentina, and that stands out for its great acoustics. Something that everyone who has been there knows very well thanks to its extensive program of cultural events, from plays to classical music concerts such as Candlelight, where the space is covered with candles.
📍 Chacabuco 875
4. Usina del Arte
Who would have thought that what was born as a power plant at the beginning of the 20th century would become a cultural icon of Buenos Aires a century later? That is the story of the Usina del Arte, a multi-space whose cultural program includes everything from dance performances to visual arts events or gastronomic events. And, of course, musicals. Thanks to its chamber hall and auditorium, which is a symphonic hall with acoustics optimized by the same studio that restored the Teatro Colón and has a capacity for more than a thousand people.
📍 Agustín R. Caffarena 1
5. San José Auditorium
Known as “El Coloncito”, the auditorium of the San José School (the oldest private school in Buenos Aires) is a space whose carrara marble stairs and oak floors make you feel like you are in a period movie. Specifically, more than a century and a half ago, when it was built. And although this space does not have a cultural program as extensive as the previous ones, it does have specific cultural events such as the aforementioned Candlelight concerts or different conventions.
📍 Azcuénaga 158
Main orchestras of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra
In addition to talent, this orchestra also has history, as it was the first official exclusively symphonic orchestra in Buenos Aires, whose first concert took place in 1947 at the old Municipal Theater. With such iconic guest conductors as Zubin Mehta and Daniel Barenboim, in 1953 the Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires established its permanent headquarters at the Teatro Colón, making its repertoire and career only grow. A growth that included great European tours to countries such as Spain, Austria or England.
National Orchestra of Argentine Music “Juan De Dios Filiberto”.
With a history dating back to 1932, the previously called “Orquesta Porteña” was founded by composer Juan de Dios Filiberto with the main objective of spreading Argentine and Latin American music. Years later and, after increasing its number of members, the current “Juan de Dios Filiberto” National Orchestra of Argentine Music has continued to perform Argentine symphonic works such as Arcos en abstracto by Nelly Gómez or folk music by Raúl Carnota and Cuchi Leguizamón. And all in such emblematic spaces of the city as the Usina del Arte or the Palacio Libertad.
Teatro Colón Staff Orchestra
The Teatro Colón needed its own instrumental group for the operas and ballets of the season, so together with the Stable Choir and Ballet, the Stable Orchestra was created in 1925. With Tullio Serafín as its first conductor, there is currently no fixed musical director, but there are well-known names who have already conducted it, such as Richard Strauss or Manuel de Falla. These are important names that have been part of its repertoire, such as Petrushka, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring or the ballet Don Quixote.
Classical music events in Buenos Aires
Music Cycles at the Cervantes National Theater
They started in 2010, and since then the Ciclos de música Popular, de Lieder and de Música Contemporánea have been the “Che, do you feel like going?” of the porteños. Concerts that take place almost all year round on selected dates and in different halls of the city, with repertoires that seek to give voice to Argentine authors such as Julio Coviello, Mariana Reweski or the UNTREF Quartet. The best thing (in addition to its programming)? That many of them are free.
Organ at Noon Cycle at La Merced
From April to December, the Basílica Nuestra Señora de La Merced becomes a small oasis for organ lovers. A unique cycle in Argentina based on the famous “London lunch concerts” in which on the first Tuesday of each month at 1:45 pm you can enjoy a concert of the “king of instruments” for free and with free admission. A perfect plan to romanticize any Tuesday with live music (without hurting your wallet).
Great Concerts Series at the Faculty of Law
Yes, these concerts are also free with free admission. Cycles of chamber, symphonic and choral symphonic music with a wide program that come from the hands of national orchestras, youth orchestras, orchestras from the suburbs, the interior of the country and international orchestras. An initiative of the School of Law that was born in 1949 and is still as alive as the first day, covering its imposing Auditorium and Assembly Hall with music.