IN REVIEW: Gotham Chamber Opera – María de Buenos Aires

María de Buenos Aires
Ástor Piazzolla

CAST:
María: Nicole Piccolomini
Duende: Diego Arciniegas
Porteño: Ricardo Herrera
María II: Malvina Sardou
Duende II: Miguel Quinones
Porteño II: Kevin Fitzgerald Ferguson
Bandoneon II: Tommy Scrivens
Gotham Chamber Opera Orchestra
PRODUCTION STAFF:
Conductor: Neal Goren
Production & Co-Choreographer: David Parsons
Assistant Production & Co-Choreographer: Pablo Pugliese
Scenic Design: Carol Bailey
Costume Design: Fabio Toblini
Lighting Design: Howell Bailey
Scenic Projection: Design Jerome Sirlin
Sound Design: David Meschter
Make-Up & Hair Design: Hagen Linss

NEW YORK, NEW YORK (September 29, 2007) - On the campus of New York University in the school’s relatively new auditorium the Gotham Chamber Opera presented their latest production with Ástor Piazzolla’s so called “Tango” Opera, María de Buenos Aires. As I entered the theatre, a sheer curtain separated the audience from the stage. A projected film appeared on the curtain, two lovers dancing the tango. It was sort of a ghostly white and worked very well.

A very interesting opera, to say the least, María de Buenos Aires begins with the birth of María in an Argentine slum. Diego Arciniegas performed extremely well as Dwende, a speaking roll…the only one in the opera. Dwende is a sprit who represents music and dance. He speaks of María’a birth as the tango begins, in a series of dances and songs María grows up and falls in love with the first of many destructive men. Contralto Nicole Piccolomini took on the roll of María performing the difficult part very well.

Baritone Ricardo Herrera performed as Porteño, successfully achieving the range of emotion of this roll. Porteño requires one person to portray many characters, first the father of María, later a lover, then a batterer, and finally her pimp.

María lives a very difficult life as an abused woman who turns to dance and then prostitution in Buenos Aires. In the end she is killed by her lover, and the sprit Dwende has mercy on her. She is reborn, only this time in a life that will be one filled with happiness and blessings.

The singers danced well enough, and their dancing counterparts archived the choreography well. Knowing the work of Piazzolla and the companies who excel in dancing his music...namely the Paul Taylor Dance Company, it the choreography was a little lacking. It was however very well performed.

The production dealt with the short awkward scenes well, and the choice not to use supertitles worked for the better. The set was minimal, the story was told by dance rather than action. The large pieces included piles of chairs from which the sprits could speak. I very much enjoyed the opera and the production. Gotham Chamber Opera is worth a trip to the Village.

This was my first experience with Gotham Chamber Opera and it is worth a trip to the Village. It was riveting and was well played, danced and sung. Malvina Sardou, Miguel Quinones, Kevin Fitzgerald Ferguson and Tommy Scrivens made up the principal dance troop, and they complimented each other well.

My friend and I loved his opera, and this little company. Another friend hated it. I would recommend it to anyone, affordable and worth a try. Gotham Chamber Opera seems to be producing some of the more adventurous opera in New York. What a wonderful company.