Not all pages are available in English. In this case, content is displayed in German.
X

María de Buenos Aires

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla

Musical Theatre
Marguerre-Saal
Text by Horacio Ferrer / German version by Karin Santos

»Misa a Buenos Aires« (excerpts) / Misatango by Martín Palmeri

in Spanish and German with German supertitles
[recommended for ages 15 and up]

María is a refugee from the country, an immigrant from Europe and has stranded in Buenos Aires’ red-light district. María is the music composed from all of that: the guitar tunes of Argentina's Pampa, the dances, romances and ballads of immigrants. María is tango. María dies and is reborn. Just like tango was reborn.

Astor Piazzolla, the son of Italian immigrants, was among those who introduced the tango, previously associated with Argentina’s sub-culture, to bourgeois salons and the world’s big concert stages. »María de Buenos Aires«, a lyrical oratorio-like tale praising life and freedom, was premiered in 1968, as a collaboration with his long-term artistic partner, Horacio Ferrer. In his poetic texts, Ferrer linked the idea of Catholic Marian devotion with the history of tango.

The story of the Argentine human rights movement Madres de Plaza de Mayo – an association of women whose children, grandchildren and husbands were abducted during the second military dictatorship – began ten years after the premiere of »María de Buenos Aires«, so it was not the catalyst for the creation of this work. However, as our staging aims to show, combined with Piazzolla's wonderful music and excerpts from Martín Palmeri's Misatango »Misa a Buenos Aires«, it can take this narrative further and carry it into a world where mothers still fear for and fight for their missing children, regardless of their age.

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla
[recommended for ages 15 and up]
Introduction 18:45 h

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla
[recommended for ages 15 and up]
Introduction 18:45 h

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla
[recommended for ages 15 and up]
Introduction 18:15 h

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla
[recommended for ages 15 and up]
Introduction 18:45 h

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla
[recommended for ages 15 and up]
Introduction 18:45 h

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla
[recommended for ages 15 and up]
Introduction 14:15 h

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla
[recommended for ages 15 and up]

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla
[recommended for ages 15 and up]

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla
[recommended for ages 15 and up]

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla
[recommended for ages 15 and up]
Musical Direction
Direction
Stage Design
Costume Design
Choreography
Lighting Design
Ralph Schanz
Sound Design
Luisa Lange Lorenzo Westermann
Choir Rehearsals
Dramaturgy
Music Theatre Education
Conducting
Dietger Holm

On

14.11.2025

21.11.2025

6.12.2025

14.12.2025

30.12.2025

13.1.2026

4.4.2026

Junyoung Kim

On

25.1.2026

2.2.2026

22.2.2026

2.4.2026

Der Geist, Ricardo Chavéz
María, Marías Schatten
Straßensänger, Träumender junger Mann, Alter Anführer der Diebe, 1. Psychoanalytiker, Stimme eines Sonntags
Dance Captain
Bandoneon player
Opernchor des Theaters und Orchesters Heidelberg
Director of Studies
Hanna Klose
Musical Rehearsals
Paul Breyer, Junyoung Kim, Hanna Klose, Manon Parmentier
Assistant Director
Maurice Böhlke
Stage Manager
Katharina von Zadow
Assistant Stage Design
Myungjin Choi
Costume Assistant
Lena Eibi
Language Coaching
Clementina Culzoni

The production of the decorative parts is carried out in the workshops of the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg.

A complete list of all employees of the technical departments involved can be found here.

Listen to an introduction by Ulrike Schumann (in German) here.