OFBA is celebrating its birthday! The presents are for us!

The Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra, also OFBA , was founded on May 21, 1946. It was the first official orchestra of the city of Buenos Aires and is one of the most prestigious ensembles in Latin America.

In its 80 years, it has received countless awards, including two KonexPrizes, one in 1989 and a second in 2016, for its outstanding contribution to the dissemination of classical symphonic music.

The city of Buenos Aires has always had an interest in music. As early as 1822, the Sociedad Filarmónica de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Philharmonic Society) was founded, whose aim was to organize musical life and train both singers and musicians.

During those years it was often necessary to hire foreign musicians to play at the Tertulias (the gatherings of Buenos Aires' high society) because there was a lack of local musicians

The following year, the music academy and the music school joined these founding institutions. Contrary to popular belief, musical culture was not a luxury reserved exclusively for the privileged class. The theaters, both the Coliseo Provisional, which some also knew as the Casa de Comedias (House of Comedy), and the recently inaugurated Colón Theater, had upper tiers that accommodated people from all social classes.

Even young ladies from distinguished families would occasionally visit the Cazuela or the Paradisowhen they did not want to dress in the formal attire required for a balcony.

It took 100 years for permanent orchestras to be established. The most important was undoubtedly the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón ( Resident Orchestra of the Teatro Colón), founded in 1925, which focused primarily on the operatic repertoire. Among radio orchestras, the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Radio Nacional (Youth Radio Symphony Orchestra) , founded in 1945 by the Argentine composer and conductor Luis Gianneo, was the most important predecessor of the OFBA .

This radio orchestra was established as a privileged training ground for top musicians. Today it continues under the name Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil Nacional “Libertador San Martín” .

The following year the orchestra was founded, initially as the orchestra of the San Martín Theater and later becoming the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, based at the Colón Theater.

Its first concert took place the following year under the direction of the experienced conductor Lamberto Baldi , a composer and educator who had previously led the SODRE in Montevideo. Since then, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic has consistently impressed us with its quality and repertoire.

The OFBA has been led by famous conductors, including Sir Thomas Beecham, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Aaron Copland, Franz-Paul Decker , and Zubin Mehta. In the 1990s, the orchestra undertook extensive tours throughout Europe and performed in prestigious venues such as the Tonhalle Grosser Saal in Zurich, the Grosser Konzerthaussaal in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.

The OFBA featured internationally renowned artists such as the pianists Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim, the violinists Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, the tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo, the mezzo-sopranos Guadalupe Barrientos and Federica von Stade , and the virtuoso cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

To celebrate its 80th anniversary, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic will offer 19 subscription concerts at the Colón Theater in 2026, as well as 8 special concerts, 4 of which will be free and take place off-site to reach a wider audience.

The first of these took place on Saturday, March 14th, in the park surrounding the Buenos Aires Planetarium. Even before sunset, a crowd of people of all ages began to gather in front of the stage, which had been set up the day before. Some with picnic blankets, others with deck chairs – everyone found their spot and waited patiently for the concert to begin.

Soon the area was full, and people sat down around the lake, on the walkways, and in the open spaces surrounding the building. Thanks to the two giant screens, even those standing further away could see the musicians in detail.

Mariano Chiacchiarini raised his baton promptly at 8:30 and held it for the entire 80 minutes. The repertoire was diverse. The concert began with the overture to Rossini 's opera " The Barber of Seville " and continued with the Waltz of the Flowers from Tchaikovsky 's ballet " The Nutcracker . "

Both pieces were very festive and rhythmic and were very well received by the audience. Beethoven 's Coriolan Overture was not as successful. Its intimate character proved to be an unsuitable choice for such a large and open space. The Slavonic Dance No. 8 by Dvořák , which followed, sounded magnificent and refocused the attention of all the spectators on the stage.

José Carli's arrangement of "Adios Nonino" seemed somewhat strange due to its dissonances, but the two following pieces, "Decarisimo" and "Fuga y Misterio," also by Piazzolla, were a true delight. The concert concluded with Ginastera's "Suite de Estancia."

Overall, the orchestra sounded excellent, the audience was respectful and enjoyed the performance. Despite the constant flow of spectators, there were no incidents, and although there were street vendors in the crowd, they behaved very considerately and only hawked their wares during the intermissions.

It is gratifying to see how the Philharmonic still attracts the interest of young and old alike, even 80 years later.