Among the biggest attractions of the 2016 season of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, which was announced on Thursday, October 8, the general and artistic director of the legendary Argentine stage – and also who presides over the directive of Opera Latin America – Darío Lopérfido, without a doubt Opera programming is one of the most promising milestones.

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Ten titles distributed in nine different programs will cover a wide range of eras and styles: as well as universal repertoire classics such as Don Giovanni de Mozart, Fidelio de Beethoven, Tosca de Puccini and Macbeth de Verdi, a baroque title such as Dido and Aeneas will be presented from Purcell, emblematic scores of the twentieth century will return as Volo di notte and Il prigionero, two short operas by Dallapiccola that will be offered in a double program, and will also return Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. But the two most striking titles, also of the last century, should be: Beatrix Cenci, a 1971 work that will open the lyric cycle in March as a tribute to the centenary of the birth of its author, one of the leading figures of Argentine music, Alberto Ginastera; and the Latin American debut of Die Soldaten, the provocative and controversial piece by Bernd Alois Zimmermann, premiered half a century ago and will be offered at the Colon in mid-July.

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But the official lyric season will not be the only opportunity to enjoy opera next year in that coliseum, since directed by the renowned régisseur Marcelo Lombardero, the Chamber Opera will resume its activities, an initiative created in 1967 and developed from of 1969, helping to significantly expand the operatic repertoire of Columbus. In this new stage, five programs will be offered for 2016, which will include both full operas and other types of musical creations, with the Mahagonny Songspiel (Weill-Brecht) with Marcelo Lombardero Regie, The Imaginary Sick (adaptation of Moliere’s classic with music by Charpentier and Lully), the South American premieres of Das Wundertheater de Henze and The Tempest Songbook (cycle of songs by Finnish Kaija Saariaho), as well as Darwin’s world debut in Patagonia, opera commissioned by Marcos Franciosi and Diego Golombek .

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And if all this is not enough, the fans of the song and the great voices will not only be able to enjoy in the Colon the artists who will sing in the operas, but will also parade through their stage, in solo recitals, three of the most striking stars of the current lyric worldwide: on April 18 and 19, as part of the Argentine Mozarteum cycle, the American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will return, while July 29 will be the turn of her compatriot, the famous soprano Renée Fleming. But who is already raising the highest expectations, will be the most requested tenor in the world today, the German Jonas Kaufmann, who will debut in Argentina on August 6 with a recital dedicated to Wagner and accompanied by the West-Eastern Orchestra Divan directed by Daniel Barenboim, culminating the new cycle of concerts that for the third consecutive year that teacher and group will offer in Buenos Aires theater, to which will be added another solo concert by Kaufmann, on August 14. In short, a tremendously promising season, of which you can consult more details on the official website of the Columbus, www.teatrocolon.org.ar