María de Buenos Aires

Scene photo from »María de Buenos Aires«: María is standing with her back to the camera in front of the steel structure, looking back over her shoulder. To her left, there is a sheet of paper bearing the word 'Verdad'. — Zlata Khershberg-Reith; Photo: Susanne Reichardt

Scene photo from »María de Buenos Aires«: A man wearing white face paint stands on a staircase, holding onto the banister with one hand. He is wearing a pink shirt, a tailcoat and white gloves. At the top of the stairs, someone with an accordion and golden wings on their back is looking to the side. — Karin Eckstein, Danny Exnar; Photo: Susanne Reichardt

Scene photo from »María de Buenos Aires«: In the foreground, in front of a large stage set with stairs and steel railings, a group of people dressed in colourful clothing are dancing. Pictures hang on a grey wall behind the stage element. One of the pictures shows a woman wearing a headscarf and another is a comic drawing of an officer. — Choir, Dance ensemble; Photo: Susanne Reichardt

Scene photo from »María de Buenos Aires«: A mixed choir, dressed entirely in black, stands on the stairs of a stage element and looks into the camera. Some of them are holding white flowers. To the left of the picture, a woman waring a white dress and a black scarf is dancing. — Marion Plantey, Choir; Photo: Susanne Reichardt

Scene photo from »María de Buenos Aires«: María stands in the spotlight, singing. She is wearing a white dress and a black coat. Behind her, four people with their backs to the camera can be seen. Two of these people are wearing white headscarves bearing Spanish lettering in light blue. — Zlata Khershberg-Reith, Choir; Photo: Susanne Reichardt

Scene photo from »María de Buenos Aires«: Four dancers are performing in front of a collage of photos and comic drawings that fills the wall behind them. Dressed in blue and white, they are performing sweeping arm movements. — Chayan Blandon-Duran, Jon Olofsson Nordin, Marion Plantey, Erica D'Amico, Choir; Photo: Susanne Reichardt

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.

This production is accompanied by a programme from the Arts & Education team.

Following the performance on 2 April 2026, there will be a discussion about the production with guests and the ensemble.

María de Buenos Aires

Musical Theatre

19:30 → 22:00 h

Marguerre-Saal

Only a few tickets left

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

Introduction 18:45 h
One interval
followed by a discussion with the audience

María de Buenos Aires

Musical Theatre

19:30 → 22:00 h

Marguerre-Saal

last performance!

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

Introduction 18:45 h
One interval

Musical Direction

Dietger Holm

Direction

Guillermo Amaya

Stage Design

Margrit Flagner

Costume Design

Nina Lepilina

Choreography

Michael Schmieder

Lighting Design

Ralph Schanz

Sound Design

Luisa Lange Lorenzo Westermann

Choir Rehearsals

Florian Daniel

Dramaturgy

Ulrike Schumann

Music Theatre Education

Annabelle Ruth

Conducting

Dietger Holm

Junyoung Kim

Paul Breyer

Der Geist, Ricardo Chavéz

Danny Exnar

María, Marías Schatten

Zlata Khershberg-Reith

Straßensänger, Träumender junger Mann, Alter Anführer der Diebe, 1. Psychoanalytiker, Stimme eines Sonntags

João Terleira

Dance Captain

Holly Mitchell

Tänzer*innen

Erica D'Amico Chayan Blandon-Duran Marion Plantey Holly Mitchell Jon Olofsson Nordin

Madre

Manuela Sonntag

Bandoneon player

Karin Eckstein

Opernchor des Theaters und Orchesters Heidelberg

Philharmonisches Orchester 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

Costume Hospitanz

Lisa Wende

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.

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Trailer by Siegersbuschfilm

»Beeindruckt« sei das Publikum gewesen von einer »bildstarken Umsetzung, die Ohren, Augen und Herzen gleichermaßen berührt«, schreibt Ingeborg Salomon in der Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung (18. November 2025). Zlata Khersberg-Reith »singt, spielt und tanzt« die Titelrolle »großartig«, meint die Rezensentin, der auch die Leistungen des Opernchors (»in Bestform«) und des Orchesters unter Dietger Holm (»so präzise wie schwungvoll«) gefallen; zum »großartigen Hörerlebnis« käme außerdem der »optische Genuss«.

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María de Buenos Aires

Tango operita in two parts by Astor Piazzolla

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