2023-09-01 06:19:02
From October 27 to November 5, 2023, the Grand Theater will present for the first time in Geneva Maria from Buenos Aires by Ástor Piazzola.
Premiered at the Sala Planeta in Buenos Aires on May 8, 1968, the opera-tango Maria from Buenos Aires comprises two parts and sixteen tables. It was composed by Ástor Piazzolla for his then quintet to a libretto by the Uruguayan poet Horacio Ferrer.
Maria from Buenos Aires is an enigmatic, surreal operetta, imbued with symbolism and open to multiple interpretations. It is also a captivating, epic and poetic story regarding the birth, death and resurrection of María de Buenos Aires, character embodying the tango, itself representative of the city.
The title of the work evokes the name given to the Argentine capital, Santa María de los Buenos Ayres, when it was refounded in 1580, following its destruction. Like Buenos Aires, María rises from the ashes despite attempts to destroy her. Many elements of the libretto suggest parallels between the character of María and the mother of Jesus (or Jesus himself).
Maria from Buenos Aires : A controversial work
Although in recent years there have been more and more productions, some in concert form and some including dance, Maria from Buenos Aires was staged shortly following its creation. Misunderstood both by classical opera lovers and by traditionalist tangueros, the work suffered a huge commercial failure when it was released, the majority of tangueros considering that Astor Piazzolla had gone too far in his exploration of the tango. Moreover, the surreal overtones of the libretto were strongly rejected by critics, while the allusions to the Catholic Church provoked controversy.
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“I am very well known as a musician, as a composer, but I am not known as an opera composer… I am not Puccini, I am not Mozart or Verdi, nor Alban Berg, I am Astor Piazzolla. My music represents the city of Buenos Aires. said Piazzolla in 1987. |
Maria from Buenos Aires not only constitutes the first opera-tango in history (and the only one composed by Piazzolla), but it reflects the disagreements and disputes between avant-garde and tradition which then shook the world of tango. Although this work was born at a time when avant-garde experimentation and innovation influenced the artistic panorama of Buenos Aires, the defenders of tango as the emblematic music of the city wanted to preserve certain traditions that this genre kept. jealously and fiercely opposed the incorporation of new influences.
Maria from Buenos Aires traces the portrait of the Argentine capital at the end of the sixties, at a time of great upheavals in Argentine society and at the world level. At a time when conceptual works and rock operas were erupting, Piazzolla and Ferrer made their contribution to the theatrical-musical genre by taking elements from urban music, opera, contemporary music and oratorio, creating their own language for a work that would become founding in its genre.
After Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass in 2019, the Grand Théâtre will once more host the Finzi Pasca Company which, with the scenography of the Uruguayan Hugo Gargiulo, will take us on a journey to the heart of a Buenos Aires set in motion by acrobats, dancers and tightrope walkers. Perhaps to preserve the controversial side of the work, all solo roles will be performed by women.
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