TANGO OPERA “MARIA DE BUENOS AIRES” BY A. PIAZZOLLA

LIBRETTO BY HORACIO FERRER

Mystical, surreal and passionate.

Maria seems to be the soul of the city of Buenos Aires. Even the full name of the city is Santa Maria de Buenos Aires.

Piazzolla: “Tango is just as bitter as life. Tango is just as sweet as life.”

“I am Maria – Maria of tango, Maria of the night, Maria of Buenos Aires, Maria of fatal passion.”

STORY

„Maria de Buenos Aires“brings the social reality of a woman in Latin America to the audience and describes a woman’s fate and fights in this Catholic macho society. Maria’s first relationship puts a curse on her. She comes to the big city – Buenos Aires – where she is greeted by thieves and prostitutes. She has no choice, but to become a fallen woman. As punishment, she loses her life and her shadow must haunt the city streets till the end of time. However, the shadow is allowed to give birth as if she is a savior to the fallen city, though the savior is a girl, not a boy.

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA made the revolution with tango (brought this genre from street songs to classical music) and lived all his life under the death and assault threats of Argentinean traditionalists.

HORACIO FERRER, Argentine poet and librettist of “Maria de Buenos Aires”, performs the narrative role of 'El Duende' in Vancouver 'concert production'. As a teenager Ferrer first summoned the courage to introduce himself to the great bandoneonist and composer, Astor Piazzolla, in a club which he and his friends frequented to listen to their favorite kind of music. The year was 1948.
The two men's paths crossed subsequently on several occasions. Ferrer wrote program notes for some of Piazzolla's albums and became known as a specialist in the history of tango. Still Piazzolla was unaware that the younger man was also a poet.

When Ferrer's first book of poetry, 'Romancero canyengue', was published in 1965, it included a poem dedicated to Piazzolla and he sent him a copy. Piazzolla replied,
"Horacio, what you do in poetry is what I do in music.
From now on, we must work together."
Soon after, Piazzolla invited Ferrer to write a show that would combine recitation with instrumentals and songs.
Ferrer completed the libretto in the second half of 1967, and Piazzolla wrote the score in January and February 1968. The premiere of Maria de Buenos Aires took place at the Planet Theatre in Buenos Aires in May 1968. The work was subtitled "Tango Operita".
At its core is Maria, who personifies Buenos Aires in all its splendor and decay, its euphoric high spirits and wistful melancholy. Maria herself represents Buenos Aires at night.

Cast: ANGELIKA KLAS-FAGERLUND, DANIEL BONILLA-TORRES (Puerto Rico), ARDO RAN VARRES

Maria, the shadow of Maria – ANGELIKA KLAS-FAGERLUND

El Duende – DANIEL BONILLA-TORRES

Voice of the wandering minstrel

The dreaming sparrow of Buenos Aires

The old leader of the band of thieves

The first psychoanalyst

The voice of this Sunday – ARDO RAN VARRES

The puppeteers: MART KAMPUS, AITA VAHER

The voices of the men returned from the Mystery

The voices of the old thieves

The voices of the old brothel madams

The voices of the psychoanalysts

The voices of the three marionettes drunk on things

The voices of the kneaders of pasta dough

The voices of the three mage-bricklayers

The speaking choir (on the tape): Annika Põder, Kersti Tombak, Maris Liloson, Silver Lumi, Meelis Hainsoo, Geir Luht

The dancers: Kaia Pihlak, Mari Simm, Eneli Rüütli, Alo Siiak, Priit Kiigemägi, Endro Roosimägi

The instrumental band: Mikko Helenius (bandoneon, Finland), Mihhail Gerts, Virgo Sillamaa, Olga Voronova, Leena Laas, Oksana Sinkova, Madis Metsamart, Rein Roos, Pärt Tarvas, Imre Eenmaa

Stage Director PEETER VOLKONSKI

Conducting Director MIHHAIL GERTS

Set and Costume Designer HARDI VOLMER

Choreography by LAINE MÄGI

In cooperation with Estonian State Puppet Theatre

In Spanish, with Estonian and English subtitles.

Duration: 90 minutes without a break or 2 hours, with an intermission

 
ANGELIKA KLAS belongs to the younger generation of the opera and chamber singers renowned in Finland. She has studied at the Sibelius Academy, the Royal Danish Academy of Music and in Spain under the guidance of maestra Tereza Berganza. In addition to the opera roles, Klas performs as the soloist of symphony orchestras, mostly presenting contemporary music. Also, Angelika Klas sings folk music with pleasure. Her abundant voice material is especially valued at tango stages. 

ARDO RAN VARRES is an actor with musical education. He works as the head of the music department of the Estonian Drama Theatre, taking part as a n actor in drama performances as well as musicals.

Having graduated from the Tallinn Music High School and the Higher Theatre School of the Estonian Academy of Music, Varres by now is an acknowledged performer in contemporary music projects, too. Before moving to Tallinn, he worked at the Rakvere Theatre. A. R. Varres has musically designed more than 30 word creations and TV projects. In 2002, his children`s musical “Arabella and Taaniel” was premiered.

DANIEL BONILLA-TORRES, born in Ponce, Puerto Rico is an opera and chamber singer and an actor. At first, Bonilla-Torres studied theology and politology. His educational background is exceptionally diverse and thorough. He graduated from the Puerto Rico Conservatory as a bassoon player, conductor and director. However, Bonilla-Torres acquired his master`s degree as an opera singer at one of the most acknowledged establishments of higher education—the New York Manhattan School of Music. In the specialty of interpretation and singing, he has further studied at several professionals in Puerto Rico and New York.

Daniel Bonilla-Torres has received a Lucrezia Borgia award from the Spanish government, a Kathryn Long scholarship from the Metropolitan Opera, and an opera prize from the Puerto Rico Institute situated in New York.

His opera debut took place in 1971 in Verdi’s “Attila” play in the New Yersey State Opera. It was followed by leading roles in the opera houses of the USA—New Jersey State Opera and Houston Grand Opera (Texas), at festivals—Lake George Opera Festival (NY) and Festival Casals, also performances with the symphony orchestras of Puerto Rico, Miami and Albany (NY).

Since 1976, Bonilla-Torres works in Europe: in the Zürich Opera and Stuttgart State Opera on an on-going basis, as a guest in Munich, Mannheim, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Oldenburg, Lübeck, Kiel, Frankfurt, etc. He has performed as a soloist of operas and great works and as a soloist in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, USA and Latin America. Critics praise Bonilla-Torres’s interpretation skills and beautiful voice. Lately, he has also performed as a drama actor.

Daniel Bonilla-Torres played the part of Duende in Astor Piazzolla`s tango-operita “Maria de Buenos Aires” already in its first full version in a play in Kiel (Germany). With this play he has performed many times in Italy, Japan, Greece, Switzerland, etc. It can be said that he, together with the famous Italian superstar Milva, has made this gorgeous Argentine musical composition well-known in the world.

In 2006, an operita play was released in the Komische Oper Berlin, one of the most famous opera houses in Germany. In August, it will is followed by an Estonian performance in Tallinn, at the Birgitta Festival.

Interview with Daniel Bonilla-Torres:

What will this Latin-American piece say to European

audience?

This Argentinian Tango-operita not only may bring the Europan audiences a little bit closer to the social realities and struggle of the Latin-American woman and her destiny within a catholic "machismo" society, but also some under- standing of the sadness and melancholy state of mind (the blues) of the people of that corner of the world. The need to express themselves through the text and music of the tango about almost everything in their daily life that affect them emotionally and physically. It is almost like hearing an endless Requiem to their life.

Why the European people like so much tango?

It is precisely the intimacy of this music underlined and punctuated by its never ending sensual rhythm and cadences that appeals to the introverted and self contained european character. Closing their eyes and clasping each other in a "tango embrace" and getting lost in their own world, be it the past or the present, but never the future.

What will mean tango to Latin-American people self?

Out of Argentina most of the Latin-American people don't dance the tango per ce but do enjoy the music and sing the text with fervour and passion-ally identifying then-self with it. After all it is the same Latin-American socially endangered folks full of dreams but still living the past trying to find them-self out of the maze of their present.

What will Ferrer say with this synopsis, what ideas are the most deep and important?

Perhaps the "hope" (La Esparanza). Knowing or accepting the present as a Destiny, Ferrer busier himself with some eschatological ideas for the next life in juxtaposition to the vicious circle of errors of a given generation. Isn't the character of El Duende trying to fix the future development of the present knowingly that the errors of the past still permeates it? Is it there any hope to make it better the next time around? Is there a "way out"? Or are we destined to repeat our errors for ever?

What do You like in this piece personally the most?

It’s unstoppable energy from the first bars of music, through the slowest of tempi right to the last Requiem like scene. After the last chord ones still hearing the piece in its totality!

What influence will this operita have to European audience?

With its music (if not much for the text) perhaps can the European escape the daily deadly life routine and enjoy better their present lives peppered with a little bit of nostalgia and a little bit of exciting future.

What performances have taken place in the whole world from this operita?

A lot of theatrical groups or organizations had or are trying to stage this piece, specially in the last five years or so and mostly in Europe.

PEETER VOLKONSKI (1954) is a freelance actor, artist, stage director, musician and translator. In 1976 he graduated from Voldemar Panso`s 7<sup>th</sup> theatre department class of the Tallinn State Conservatory as an actor-stage director. Volkonski has worked in the State Youth Theatre of the ESSR, Vanalinnastuudio and Vanemuine. Greater roles—Lucky (Samuel Beckett`s “Waiting for Godot”), Carabas-Barabas (Aleksei Tolstoi`s “Buratino”), Einstein (Friedrich Dürrenmatt`s “Physicians”), Brother Vops (Howard Pyle`s “Robin Hood”) and Jack (Conor McPherson`s “The Other Side”). He has produced the following plays: Friedebert Tuglas`s “God`s Island”, Aleksander Ostrovski`s “Every Fool Has His Fun” and Timo Steiner`s–Andrus Kivirähk`s “Kosjas” (“Courting”). Besides the theatre work, he has translated plays and musicals (William Shakespeare`s “Twelfth Night”, “King Lear”, Nikolai Gogol`s “Marry a Woman”, Andrew Lloyd Webber`s–Tim Rice`s “Evita”). Moreover, Peeter Volkonski is known as a musician—he has been engaged in groups In Spe, Hõim, E=mc², Propeller and Rosta Aknad, but is also the founder member of an old music ensemble called “Hortus Musicus”.