Poster of tango opera Maria de Buenos Aires.

HA NOI (VNS) — Vietnamese artists will perform the popular tango opera Maria de Buenos Aires this Friday and Saturday (August 14 and 15) at the Ha Noi Opera House.

Maria de Buenos Aires's music was composed by Astor Piazzolla and the screenplay was written by Horacio Ferrer. It premiered at the Sala Planeta in Buenos Aires in May 1968.

The surreal plot centres on a prostitute in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the second half of the opera focusing on the period after her death. The characters of the opera include Maria (and, after her death, the Shadow of Maria), a singer of payadas, various members of the Buenos Aires underworld, and a poet narrator who is also a goblin-like duende, as well as several marionettes under his control and a circus of psychoanalysts. Several elements of the libretto suggest parallels between Maria and Mary, the mother of Jesus, or Jesus himself.

The show, which will be conducted by Philippe Lesburgueres, will have choreographer Hong Phong; singers Thu Trang (soprano), Viet An (alto, plays as Maria), Manh Dung (baritone) and Huy Duc (tenor), besides Phan Luong (bass), Minh Hien (tenor, as Canto) and Phan Duc (tenor, as El Duende); as well as dancers Quynh Nga, Hai Ly, Viet Hoan and Linh Ngan, besides Thu Hue.

The show will start at 8pm on August 14 and 15. Tickets, priced at VND200,000, VND350,000 and VND500,000, are available at the house. — VNS