Editing Teatro Colón (section)

==The first Teatro Colón==
The first Teatro Colón was designed by [[Charles Pellegrini]], and proved to be a successful venue for over 30 years, with 2,500 seats with the inclusion of a separate gallery reserved only for people who were in mourning. The construction started in 1856 and completed in 1857. This was celebrated with an opening on 27 April 1857, with [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[La traviata]]'', just four years after its Italian premiere. The production starred Sofia Vera Lorini as Violetta and [[Enrico Tamberlik]] as Alfredo.

This theater was closed on 13 September 1888 to step aside for a new improved building, which was opened twenty years later on Libertad street, overlooking [[Plaza Lavalle]]. In that period of time, the 1890 crisis and its effects were the cause for the delay in the completion of this second theater.

Before the construction of the current Teatro Colón, opera performances were given in several theatres, of which the first Teatro Colón and the [[Teatro Opera]] were the most important. The principal company that performed at the Teatro Opera moved to the Teatro Colón in 1908. However, major companies also performed at the Teatro Politeama and the [[Teatro Coliseo]] which opened in 1907.