Cultural Convergence and Artistic Progress in the Shaping of the Buenos Aires Musical Field. A First Approach to El Teatro Magazine (1901)

Abstract

This article examines the role of the magazine El Teatro (1901) as a space of interaction among Italian, Spanish, and Argentine authors during a formative moment in the development of the intellectual field in Buenos Aires. In a context marked by mass immigration and growing presence of critical discourses challenging the hegemonic position of Italian opera, the weekly —directed by the Livorno-born Dario Niccodemi—emerged as a platform seeking to integrate the Italian community into local intellectual life. The analysis of its reviews, profiles, and collaborations reveals a dual operation: support for the development of Argentine writers and musicians, and simultaneously, the defense of the aesthetic centrality of the Italian lyric tradition. In this way, El Teatro allows noticing how the Italian community negotiated its position within the emerging cultural field of Buenos Aires, actively participating in debates on artistic identity and modernization at the turn of the century.