— Organists and Organ Playing —

A unique experience

April 16, 2023

Today we visited the Catedral Metropolitana of Buenos Aires … surely a unique experience for my companions, especially for our Spanish teacher, Barbi and her mom, who had never been in the Cathedral, much less in the organ loft. We were fortunate to meet Enrique Rimoldi, the organist, who invited us into the organ loft and even allowed me to play the Walcker organ from Germany. I did have a little difficulty since the pedalboard was short (it ended at D instead of G), but it was still fun to play.

With Enrique Rimoldi, who was so generous with his time and not only helped me with the big organ but demonstrated two other small organs in the Cathedral. Notice in the photo below that the stop drawknobs are colored in blue (reeds), pink (foundations) and green (strings)!
This organ is over 200 years old.

There was a third organ in the Cathedral, made especially to Enrique’s specifications and constructed of native Argentine wood.

Our morning actually started out at the Obelisco, a national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires. Located in the Plaza de la República in the intersection of avenues Corrientes and 9 de Julio, it was erected in 1936 to commemorate the quadricentennial of the first foundation of the city. Talk about wide streets, the 9 de Julio street is 24 lanes wide, 12 on each side!

The Obelisco of Buenos Aires. At the base are two giant bushes forming the letters BA (for Buenos Aires). Our teacher, Barbi Avíles, joked that they represent her initials!
Marsha wanted her picture taken between the two big letters.

We then took an English tour of the Teatro Colón, one of the most important opera houses in the world. Its rich and prestigious history and its exceptional acoustics and architectural features rank it among theatres such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Paris Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

We were fortunate to view part of the rehearsal of Swan Lake, which we will attend on Tuesday night.

After lunch it was starting to rain as we headed to the extremely crowded San Telmo market. However, we were able to see some tango dancers in the street! Unfortunately I was standing in a place where a pole was directly in front of me, and a person’s head kept getting in my way. But — what do you expect for a free tango demonstration?!

What a day it’s been! The Obelisco, Teatro Colón, Catedral Metropolitana, San Telmo, and tango!