The sensual rhythms of tango combine with operatic passions in Maria de Buenos Aires. Astor Piazzolla‘s revolutionary nuevo tango score and Horacio Ferrer‘s mesmerizing poetry unite the ethereal realm with the physical world to portray the spiritual journey of the opera’s heroine with costumes by Gerardo Encinas and choreography by Jeffrey Goltiao
Born in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina “on a day that God was drunk,” Maria heads to the center of town on her quest for freedom. She is quickly seduced by the music of the tango, and her world devolves into darkness, with the gritty streets claiming her as their own. Maria’s spirit survives, returning to haunt the city of her birth in death.
Sensual and pulsing to the beat of Argentine tango, this mesmerizing tale of a woman consumed by passion and her reckless search for love and freedom intoxicates the eyes and ears. The haunting melodies that drive Maria’s every step are played by an orchestra featuring uniquely Argentinian sounds. Piazzolla’s seductive score is irresistible and electrifying; Ferrer’s poetry compelling and provocative. Like the tango itself, Maria de Buenos Aries entwines you in its fierce embrace and never lets you go!
Maria de Buenos Aires is approximately 85 minutes with no intermission.
It will be performed in Spanish with English and Spanish supertitles.
In partnership with the Festival Latino.
#MariaOC
SYNOPSIS
Synopsis
The tale opens on Duende (the Narrator) who relates the story of Maria, 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 Aires.
However, her “fatal passion” arouses the wrath of robbers and brothel madams who shoot her to death, and bury her in an unmarked grave. In death, Maria is pulled into a dreamlike Hell where she encounters the choral circus of psychoanalysts who dissect her to the core.
She makes a resurrection of sorts when the Duende summons her to return as a Shadow, give birth to a new Maria, and haunt the sordid streets of Buenos Aires which she once walked.
COVID-19 SAFETY GUIDELINES
Your safety is our top priority.
Our safety policy was designed in consultation with leading experts in the fields of epidemiology, public health, workplace/industrial hygiene, and infectious diseases.
Updated April 4, 2022
For the performances of 40 Days of Opera throughout the city of Columbus:
- Opera Columbus will no longer require that audience members show proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID test.
- Masks are encouraged for all patrons.
The Opera Columbus will continue to monitor government policy changes, Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, government mandates, and public health notices and make changes as necessary or appropriate to ensure the safety of staff, artists, and the public.
Warning
Limitation on Liability/Assumption of Risk
Any person entering the premises waives all civil liability against this premises owner and operator for any injuries caused by the inherent risk associated with contracting COVID-19 at public gatherings, except for gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, reckless infliction of harm, or intentional infliction of harm, by the individual or entity or the premises.
Additionally, you, on behalf of yourself and any accompanying minor, voluntarily assume all risks and danger incidental to the event for which the ticket is issued, whether occurring before, during or after the event, and you waive any claims for personal injury, death, illness, damage, loss, claim, liability, or expense, of any kind against Opera Columbus., and its agents, sponsors, officers, directors, shareholders, owners and employees.
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*Guidelines are subject to change
CAST
Monica Danilov-Marquez, received her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music and master’s degree from the Conservatory of Music of Brooklyn College (CUNY) under the tutelage of Patricia McCaffrey. She was chosen to participate in the master class entitled ¨Music for the Masses¨ at the Metropolitan Opera Guild, with renowned conductor Kent Tritle. She has worked with a host of renowned conductors such as Jun Nakabayashi, Alan Gilbert, Peter Jaffe, Gerassim Voronkov, Dante Ranieri, Olivier Grangean and Richard Barrett and with directors Mitch Sebastian and Dona Vaughn, among others. She sang in world premieres of Marjorie Meryman’s Beauty, Grief and Grandeur and the U.S. premiere of Nuñes Garcia´s Requiem. She has sung at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the 92nd Street Y and Avery Fischer Hall in New York, the Cairo Opera House, and in Algeria, Ghana, Ecuador, and Colombia. She also has experience in musical theater as Maria in The Sound of Music, produced by MISI Producciones (performed forty-two times), and the role of Aldonza/Dulcinea in Man of La Mancha performed at the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santodomingo in Bogota, Colombia. She has sung important roles in zarzuela like La Beltrana in Doña Francisquita by Vives and Clarita in La del Manojo de Rosas by Sorozabal. Her opera credits include Paula in Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catan, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Mercedes in Carmen, Flora Bervoix in La Traviata, Alisa in Lucia di Lamermoor, Maddalena in Rigoletto, La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, Maria in Maria de Buenos Aires, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and Dido in Dido and Aeneas, among others. 
Monica Danilov *
American baritone Paul La Rosa continues to gain recognition for his dynamic instrument and charismatic stage presence. He has been recently described as having “a wonderful touch for physical comedy, a strong and beautiful voice, and the dancing skills that one typically encounters in Broadway.” This season sees him making his role and company debut as Lionel in The Maid of Orleans with Opera Company of Middlebury and singing the Wolf /Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods with Annapolis Opera. Other recent credits include Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas with Angel’s Share, Pablo Picasso in the world premiere of The Weeping Woman with Opera Collective/Mass MoCA, Cascada in The Merry Widow and Jud Fry in Oklahoma! with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, First Mate in Billy Budd with Los Angeles Opera, Falke in Die Fledermaus with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and his role debut of Germont in La Traviata with Gulfshore Opera where he also sang Malatesta in Don Pasquale. Mr. La Rosa also recently created the role of Enrique in the world premiere production of Martinez’s El pasado nunco se termino with both San Diego Opera and Houston Grand Opera.
Paul La Rosa
CREATIVE
Dennis Whitehead Darling is an award-winning Stage Director working in both opera and theatre in the Unites States and Europe. In 2018, he was selected by Opera Memphis as their Inaugural McCleave Fellow in Directing, a fellowship dedicated to fostering the careers of Stage Directors and Music Directors of color. His recent directing credits include: World Premieres of Paul Moravec/Mark Campbell’s Grammy nominated oratorio Sanctuary Road (North Carolina Opera) and “Why I Live at the PO (UrbanArias), Die Zauberflöte (Pensacola Opera), World Premiere of The Secret River (Opera Orlando), La Bohème (Opera Columbus), World Premiere of Marian’s Song (Houston Grand Opera), Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Carnegie Mellon University), The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (Red Mountain Theatre), Independence Eve (Opera Birmingham), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Hattiloo Theatre/Spazio Teatro No’hma – Milan), Jelly’s Last Jam (Hattiloo Theatre), The Parchman Hour (Hattiloo Theatre), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Spazio Teatro No’hma – Milan), Intimate Apparel (University of Memphis), Movin’ Up in the World (Opera Memphis), Sunset Baby (Hattiloo Theatre), James and the Giant Peach (Circuit Playhouse), Blue Viola (Opera Memphis), Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting (Hattiloo Theatre), Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet (Hattiloo Theatre). Associate Directing credits include: AITAF on Broadway (Studio 54), The Last of the Love Letters (Atlantic Theatre), Light’s Out: Nat “King” Cole (Geffen Playhouse), Skeleton Crew (Geffen Playhouse). Upcoming productions include: Jelly’s Last Jam (Long Wharf Theatre), The Falling and the Rising (Arizona Opera), Lost in the Stars (Annapolis Opera), (Sanctuary Road (Penn Square Music Festival), and The Cunning Little Vixen (Manhattan School of Music). Throughout his career, Dennis has expressed one major goal, “to tell emotionally engaging and provocative stories that challenge the viewer to see the world from a different perspective.” For more information, please visit his website at www.denniswhiteheaddarling.com
Dennis Whitehead Darling
Rolando Salazar has served as the Associate Conductor/Chorus Master for The Atlanta Opera, Assistant Conductor and pianist at the Bellingham Festival of Music, and was recently seen in performances with The Atlanta Opera (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Pagliacci), Red River Lyric Opera (Le Nozze di Figaro), Permian Basin Opera (Tosca), Rome Symphony Orchestra, The Atlanta Ballet (The Nutcracker), Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, the Ozark Family Opera (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Georgia State University Orchestra, and with Atlanta Concert Opera (Messiah). He has also recently collaborated with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Opera Lousiane (Les contes d’Hoffmann), and with Madison Opera. Mr. Salazar keeps an active coaching and collaborative piano schedule in Atlanta, preparing numerous singers for engagements with major orchestras and opera houses worldwide.
Rolando Salazar *
*Opera Columbus debut
