The Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla’s extraordinary operita María de Buenos Aires, to a libretto by a leading tango expert and historian, the excellent poet Horacio Ferrer, was premiered on 8th May 1968 at the Sala Planeta in Buenos Aires.
It was hailed as a new type of rhythm- and tango-based opera. Critics extolled its musical form and commented: ‘the Argentinian folk tango genre has finally found its master in the poet-composer Astor Piazzolla, whose new way of presenting that passionate dance draws on Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, and classical music, as well as jazz and electronic rock, elevating the thus refined tango genre to the rank of “artistic music”.’
The first part of the operita’s surrealist plot recounts the life of the eponymous Maria, a Buenos Aires prostitute. The second takes place after Maria’s death. Born ‘on the day when God was drunk’, this girl from a dysfunctional family is ‘seduced’ by the rhythm of the tango, which makes her descend into the evil world of crime, gangsters and street gangs, tramps, and brothel girls. She meets her death at their hands but is brought back to life by the tango and, in the shape of her own shadow, haunts the streets of the metropolis. Experts argue that ‘to the composer, Maria became an allegory of his beloved city’.
Protagonists:
Sandra Rumolino – Maria
Andres Martorell – The Poet
Konrad Pawicki – Duende
Other parts:
Maria Dąbrowska
Elżbieta Donimirska
Wiesław Orłowski
Dancers:
Anna Iberszer
Piotr Woźniak
Arkadiusz Buszko – staging and choreographic consultant
Krzysztof Meisinger – guitar, artistic direction, script and music arrangements
