Free Mozart Near Buenos Aires: Six Nights of The Magic Flute in La Plata
Argentina · Opera
Key Facts
- Six performances Friday 21, Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August, then Friday 28, Saturday 29 and Sunday 30.
- Times Friday and Saturday at 8pm; Sunday matinees at 5pm.
- Free, but you must book Tickets cost nothing. Booking for the first weekend opened online at noon today; the second weekend opens at noon on Wednesday 26.
- Two deadlines Online booking closes at noon on the day of each performance, and your reservation lapses twenty minutes before curtain-up.
- The venue Sala Alberto Ginastera at the Teatro Argentino, Avenida 51 between 9 and 10, in the centre of La Plata. It seats about 2,000.
- Who is behind it Carlos Vieu conducts; María Jaunarena directs and designed the costumes; Gonzalo Córdova did the sets and lighting.
- Full forces The Orquesta Estable, the Coro Estable and a children’s choir, with a double cast across the six nights. It runs 165 minutes.
A full orchestra, two choirs and one of the best-loved operas ever written — and the tickets cost nothing.
An hour from Buenos Aires there is a vast brutalist opera house that calls its main hall one of the most important in Latin America, and for two weekends in August it is staging The Magic Flute in La Plata for nothing. Not a reduced version, not a piano rehearsal — a full new production with orchestra, two choirs and a double cast. You just have to book online, and the window for the first three nights opened at midday today.
The Magic Flute in La Plata: the six dates, and how booking works
The run is split across two weekends. The first is Friday 21 August at 8pm, Saturday 22 August at 8pm and Sunday 23 August at 5pm. The second is Friday 28 and Saturday 29 August at 8pm, and Sunday 30 August at 5pm.
Reservations are made through the Teatro Argentino website and are released in two batches, both at noon: today for the opening weekend, Wednesday 26 August for the closing one. They go quickly, because free opera in Argentina always does. Over-65s and holders of a disability certificate can also reserve in person at the box office between noon and 6pm on those two days, with ID.
Two rules catch people out. Online booking shuts at noon on the day of the performance — you cannot decide at four o’clock to go that night. And your reservation only holds until twenty minutes before curtain-up, so arriving at 7.45pm for an 8pm start may mean your seat has gone. Aim to be inside by 7.30pm.
Who is singing
There are two casts, alternating across the six nights. Tamino, the prince, is sung by Darío Schmunck on 21, 23 and 29 August and by Santiago Martínez on 22, 28 and 30. Pamina alternates between Marisú Pavón and Ayelén Isaia; Papageno, the bird-catcher who gets most of the laughs, between Sebastián Sorarrain and Gabriel Carasso.
The Queen of the Night — the role with the aria everyone recognises, all stratospheric high notes and fury — is shared by María Gerk and Martina Gioiosa. Sarastro, the bass part at the other end of the range, alternates between Sebastián Barboza and Leonardo Palma.
Carlos Vieu conducts the Orquesta Estable. The Coro Estable is prepared by Santiago Cano and the Coro de Niñxs by Mónica Dagorret. María Jaunarena directs and designed the costumes, with sets and lighting by Gonzalo Córdova. The whole thing runs about 165 minutes.
Getting there from Buenos Aires
La Plata is about 60 kilometres south-east of the capital. The Roca line train from Constitución takes roughly an hour and a quarter and costs ARS 729 (about US$0.48) with a registered SUBE card, or a flat ARS 1,500 (about US$0.99) without one — which is what most visitors end up paying. City buses 129 and 195 also run, but at roughly ARS 4,800 (about US$3.17) they cost six times as much. By car on the Autopista it is about an hour outside rush hour.
The theatre is at Avenida 51 between 9 and 10, in the middle of La Plata’s grid, and the streets around it have plenty of places to eat before an 8pm start. For the Sunday matinees at 5pm you can comfortably make it there and back in an afternoon.
One warning about the building itself: the Teatro Argentino is a vast concrete complex and the Sala Ginastera is not the first room you walk into. Give yourself ten minutes to find it.
Why bother, if you have never been to an opera
The Magic Flute is the one to start with. It was written to be popular rather than grand — a fairy tale with a dragon, a bird-catcher in feathers, a wicked queen and jokes. The story is simple enough to follow from the staging alone. The theatre has not published which language this production is sung in, so check when you book if that matters to you.
And the price removes the last excuse. Opera has a reputation in most countries as a thing you save up for. In Argentina a good deal of it is publicly funded and genuinely free, which is one of the quieter pleasures of living here. If it turns out not to be for you, you have lost a dollar on the train.
Frequently Asked Questions
When are the performances of The Magic Flute in La Plata?
There are six: Friday 21 August at 8pm, Saturday 22 August at 8pm, Sunday 23 August at 5pm, Friday 28 August at 8pm, Saturday 29 August at 8pm and Sunday 30 August at 5pm, all in the Sala Alberto Ginastera of the Teatro Argentino.
Are the tickets really free, and how do I get them?
Yes, admission is free. Tickets are reserved online through the Teatro Argentino website, released at noon in two batches — on Wednesday 19 August for the first weekend and Wednesday 26 August for the second. Online booking then closes at noon on the day of each performance, and a reservation lapses twenty minutes before curtain-up, so arrive early.
Who is conducting and directing?
Carlos Vieu conducts the Orquesta Estable. María Jaunarena directs the production and designed the costumes, with sets and lighting by Gonzalo Córdova. The Coro Estable is prepared by Santiago Cano and the Coro de Niñxs by Mónica Dagorret. The performance runs about 165 minutes.
How do I get to La Plata from Buenos Aires?
The Roca line train from Constitución takes about an hour and a quarter and costs ARS 729 (about US$0.48) with a registered SUBE card, or ARS 1,500 (about US$0.99) without one. Buses 129 and 195 make the trip for around ARS 4,800 (about US$3.17). By car the Autopista Buenos Aires-La Plata takes roughly an hour outside peak times. The theatre is at Avenida 51 between 9 and 10.
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Sources: Teatro Argentino de La Plata — official booking page; Instituto Cultural de la Provincia de Buenos Aires — the production announcement
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