A Tango Opera
Music by Astor Piazzolla
Libereto by Horacio Ferrer
OSKAR McCARTHY and A CURIOUS INVITATION present MARÍA DE BUENOS AIRES - a surreal operita tango with music by the creator of tango nuevo Argentinian bandoneonist ASTOR PIAZZOLLA and words by Uruguayan poet HORACIO FERRER.
Descend into the Vaults and mingle with the lowlife of old Buenos Aires: thieves, card sharps, pimps and whores. The Narrator will relate the story of the maestro of the bandoneon, Piazzolla's muse, María, a prostitute born in the slums “one day when God was drunk … with a curse in her voice.” Maria is seduced by the rhythms of the tango and soon becomes “the most sorcerous singer and lover” in Buenos Aries. But her “fatal passion” arouses the wrath of the languishing Piazzolla, who, driven to madness by Maria’s unrelenting freedom, conspires with a group of robbers and brothel madames to murder her. After her death, her Shadow returns to haunt the sordid streets she once walked, and only then does Piazzolla realise the error of his ways: “Maria is music!” A modern day Passion Play, full of religious allusions and black humour, set to a soundtrack of tangos, milongas and waltzes.
This intimate 90-minute masterpiece featuring an 11 piece orchestra will be presented in the setting of an abandoned carnival. After the performance guests who, like María herself, refuse to depart the scene will be invited to tango into the small hours at our after show party.
6th & 7th May / 13th & 14th May / 3rd & 4th June
Doors at 10:00 pm - Performance starts at 10:30
For those who would like to tango into the wee hours there will be an after party till 2 am
GENERAL ADMISSION: £25
ENTRANCE INFORMATION
Entrance to Maria de Buenos Aires is currently via
our LeakeStreet entrance