Search - Astor Piazzolla :: Maria De Buenos Aires

For years the only available commercial CD of Astor Piazzolla's tango operetta, this live recording of Theatre Municipal de Tourcoing's 1987 staging suffers from its good intentions. The oversized production, meant as a tribute to the composer's legacy, doubles and triples the number of musicians in Piazzolla's original 11-part arrangement. When the bandoneon player, Nestor Marconi, is singled out as a soloist, you know that tight ensemble work is not the order of the day. The desire to pump up the "opera" quotient in Piazzolla's highly original "tango operetta" format results in a highly European-ized rendition of what is essentially a street opera. María tells the story of a young woman who loses herself to the Buenos Aires underworld and is cursed to wander the streets as a ghost. Gone is the simplicity of Piazzolla's tight composition; in its place is a self-consciously grand opera, whose major roles turn the songs into epic, heart-heaving arias. The 14 excerpts heard here (approximately 60 percent of the full opera) are done further disservice by a very poor recording, which sounds like we're taking it in from the lobby. The Gidon Kremer María, recorded a decade later, is highly recommended. --Marc Weidenbaum