María de Buenos Aires
Music: Astor Piazzolla
Text: Horacio Ferrer
Platform: OperaVision
Recorded: 4 February 2026
Available: 15 March 2026, 19:00 CET (15:00 Buenos Aires / GMT-3)
Streaming until: 15 September 2026
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English, Spanish, German
Cast
María — Maria Kataeva
El Duende — Alejandro Guyot
Bandoneon — Carmela Delgado
Orchestra — Düsseldorfer Symphoniker
Chorus — Chor der Deutschen Oper am Rhein
Conductor — Mariano Chiacchiarini
Director — Johannes Erath
Few stage works capture the atmosphere of Buenos Aires as vividly as Astor Piazzolla’s María de Buenos Aires. Premiered in 1968 with a libretto by Horacio Ferrer, the work was described by its creators as a tango operita: a surreal and poetic meditation on the city where tango was born.
The story follows María, a woman from the outskirts of Buenos Aires whose life unfolds through desire, excess, and myth. Narrated by the mysterious figure of El Duende, the opera moves between reality and hallucination as María wanders through the city’s nocturnal world, ultimately becoming a symbolic figure whose voice echoes through Buenos Aires itself.
Musically, the score reflects Piazzolla’s revolutionary vision of tango. Elements of jazz, classical forms and contemporary music mingle with the unmistakable sound of the bandoneón, creating a language that extends far beyond traditional dance music. The result is a theatrical work that blends poetry, narration, and tango into a unique stage experience.
This new production from the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, directed by Johannes Erath and conducted by Mariano Chiacchiarini, explores the spiritual and sensual dimensions of María’s story, presenting Piazzolla’s operita as both an homage to tango and a dreamlike portrait of Buenos Aires.
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