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Introduction

The Teatro Opera (officially called Ópera Orbis Seguros for commercial advertising reasons), is located at 860 Avenida Corrientes in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is about 200 meters from the Obelisk of the city, which is a historical monument that was constructed in 1936. International artists such as Ava Gardner, Édith Piaf, Mina Mazzini, el Folies Bergère, el Lido de París, Fairuz, and the band R5 have performed in this theater. Local artists perform as well such as Los Abuelos de la Nada, who recorded their live album here, and the Ariel Ramírez Folklore Company, who performed with Jaime Torres and Las Voces Blancas at the premier of the movie “Crónica para un futuro,” in 1967. This film was the precursor to the false documentary genre.

History

The origin of the theater dates back to 1870, when businessman Antonio Pestalardo envisioned that Corrientes, which at the time was still a narrow street far from the center of Buenos Aires, would be brought to life by the installation of theaters. His project faced many obstacles, as the yellow fever epidemic broke out the following year. To make matters worse, the city’s port was closed, which blocked the entry of materials that were needed for construction. Finally, Pestalardo achieved his goal and thus the “Teatro Ópera” was born. It was originally dedicated to the lyrical genre and was inaugurated on May 25th, 1872 with the opera Il Trovatore. It was the first theater to have gas lighting, which was unusual for the time.

In 1889 the building underwent a total remodeling financed by its new owner Don Roberto Cano. Rufino Varela installed an electric power plant in the new building which allowed it to be self-sufficient, a privilege in Buenos Aires at the end of the 19th century. As soon as 1936, the widening of Corrientes street proved that the once narrow street would become an important avenue. Although the demolitions were carried out on the northside of the street and would have no effect on the theater building, the owner Clemente Lococo took advantage of the opportunity to construct a third and final opera house.

In 1997, the theater was acquired by the private events company Time for Fun (T4F).

Restoration and Renaming

In 2010, CitiBank bought the rights to Teatro Opera for three years from T4F, and carried out restoration work on the façade and interior, and added new lighting. In exchange, the name “Teatro Citi” was imposed on the building, which aroused rejection not only from a large number of neighbors, but also local newspaper columnists, and civil foundations. The name change was considered an illegal operation, since the building is protected by laws 1227, 2548, and 3056 of Cultural Heritage. Additionally, the building was constructed before 1941, which requires a binding consultation with the Advisory Council on Heritage Affairs. This did not happen, so the restoration itself entered the realm of illegality. The operation generated an immediate response on Facebook, demanding the restitution of the name. There were more than 3500 adherents in the first 6 days. Citi had to open an opinion forum on their Facebook page, receiving dozens of messages every day questioning the name change. Witnessing the frustration caused by their marketing operation on their own Facebook page, the bank responded:"“Addressing the challenge of enhancing the value of the building involved a significant investment that was only justified by a substantial sponsorship of the theater. The one that best suited the required values was “naming sponsor.” Once that decision was made, we were left with a difficult choice: keep the original name (with a compound alternative, such as Opera Citi, for example), or not use it. We evaluated the different options, and although we were intrigued by the compound name, it implied that two different companies (Citi and T4F, owners of the name Teatro Opera) shared that new brand, which our global policy brand did not accept.”"Later, the famous Argentinian actresses Susana Giménez and Mirtha Legrand joined the criticism on their television program in the first week of May. Enrique Pinti y Antonio Gasalla also joined the protests. The owners then changed the name to Opera Citi.

Meanwhile, in May of 2010, the Buenos Aires Legislature voted on a request for reports on the name change. This was based on a project presented by the Buenos Aires deputy Sergio Abrevaya, who had already presented a project for the theater to be cataloged with the Structural degree. Finally, on May 26th, 2012, the Buenos Aires Legislature approved in a second and final reading a law that catalogs the theater with a level of structural protection, declares it a monument, and preserves its historical name: Teatro Opera.

Since April 2014, the sponsoring brand is no longer Citibank and became the Allianz group instead, thus its new name became Teatro Opera Allianz.

In July 2017, T4F, the entertainment and production company and owner of Teatro Opera, signed a commercial and advertising agreement for four years with the firm Orbis Seguros. This launched the Opera Orbis Seguros brand which is still the name today.

References