Maria of the Metropolis
- A woman’s story told in tango -
María of the Metropolis (A Nagyvárosok Máriája) is a concert-theatre production based on tango songs and opera extracts by Astor Piazzolla, king of the tango. Maria de Buenos Aires is the only opera Piazzolla composed. María, the heroine, strolls the streets of the city like a shabby kitten, experiencing the extremities of women’s existence. This depressed and sensual woman haunts the city that revels in grief. The accordion often conjures the figure of the prostitute – not only in the opera, but also in Piazzolla’s tango-songs.
The opera was composed at the end of the 60s and staged with Amelita Baltar, Piazzolla’s lover and later his wife, in the main role. The production was truly scandalous in the Argentina of that time. Both the conservative guardians of tango and the Catholic Church attacked the author and demanded severe censorship of the text.
The creative team behind María of the Metropolis worked more than a year on the project. They were the first group to obtain permission to perform extracts and tango songs in Hungarian from Astor Piazzolla’s assignees. Thus, this concert-theatre production was conceived, inspired by the rambling Latin American poetry and the composer’s compelling oeuvre, which altered the notion of tango. The role of María is performed by Annamária Láng.
Performed by Annamária Láng and The Barefoot Musicians:
Áron Dóczi – violin
Zsolt Bartek – clarinet
Katalin Koltai – guitar
Zsanett Szatzker – accordion
Csaba Fervágner – contrabass
Music: Astor Piazzolla
Text: Horacio Ferrer
Translation: Péter Závada, Gergely Zöldi
Dramaturge: Tamara Török
Costumes: Fruzsina Nagy
Choreography: Veronika Vámos
Music director: Katalin Koltai
Directed by Roland Rába
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUqXzusILuw
Running time: 70 minutes
María of the Metropolis (A Nagyvárosok Máriája) is a concert-theatre production based on tango songs and opera extracts by Astor Piazzolla, king of the tango. Maria de Buenos Aires is the only opera Piazzolla composed. María, the heroine, strolls the streets of the city like a shabby kitten, experiencing the extremities of women’s existence. This depressed and sensual woman haunts the city that revels in grief. The accordion often conjures the figure of the prostitute – not only in the opera, but also in Piazzolla’s tango-songs.
The opera was composed at the end of the 60s and staged with Amelita Baltar, Piazzolla’s lover and later his wife, in the main role. The production was truly scandalous in the Argentina of that time. Both the conservative guardians of tango and the Catholic Church attacked the author and demanded severe censorship of the text.
The creative team behind María of the Metropolis worked more than a year on the project. They were the first group to obtain permission to perform extracts and tango songs in Hungarian from Astor Piazzolla’s assignees. Thus, this concert-theatre production was conceived, inspired by the rambling Latin American poetry and the composer’s compelling oeuvre, which altered the notion of tango. The role of María is performed by Annamária Láng.
Performed by Annamária Láng and The Barefoot Musicians:
Áron Dóczi – violin
Zsolt Bartek – clarinet
Katalin Koltai – guitar
Zsanett Szatzker – accordion
Csaba Fervágner – contrabass
Music: Astor Piazzolla
Text: Horacio Ferrer
Translation: Péter Závada, Gergely Zöldi
Dramaturge: Tamara Török
Costumes: Fruzsina Nagy
Choreography: Veronika Vámos
Music director: Katalin Koltai
Directed by Roland Rába
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUqXzusILuw
Running time: 70 minutes