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Tango comes to the opera

Stage director John de los Santos rehearses some dance moves with mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock who plays the title role in San Diego Opera's tango opera "Maria de Buenos Aires," which will be performed at the Lyceum Theatre Jan. 26-28.
Stage director John de los Santos rehearses some dance moves with mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock who plays the title role in San Diego Opera’s tango opera “Maria de Buenos Aires,” which will be performed at the Lyceum Theatre Jan. 26-28.
(K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune)
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It’s been 35 years since supertitles arrived, forever changing how Americans watch and comprehend foreign-language operas.

But for San Diego Opera’s upcoming staging of “Maria de Buenos Aires,” the production team hopes show-goers won’t be too fixated on the translations projected above the stage.

Ástor Piazzolla’s tango opera has a Spanish libretto by surrealist poet Horacio Ferrer that they say is better heard than read.

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“Ferrer paints colors with the sounds of his words, not the meaning. To really understand what’s happening, you have to look underneath the text to find the story and just let the music wash over you,” said Audrey Babcock, the L.A. mezzo-soprano starring as Maria in the production opening Friday at the Lyceum Theatre.

Written in 1968, “Maria de Buenos Aires” uses song, music, spoken word and the tango to tell the story of a small-town girl destroyed by what she finds in Argentina’s capital city. She becomes a prostitute, endures horrific violence at the hands of men and then wanders the city in a shadowy form before ultimately finding redemption.

Los Angeles mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock is making her role debut as Maria in San Diego Opera's "Maria de Buenos Aires."
(K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune )

The 85-minute production will feature three singers, a six-member vocal ensemble, two male tango dancers and a 12-piece onstage orchestra made up of San Diego Symphony musicians. They’ll be joined by Argentine-born and Miami-based musician David Alsina, a master of the bandoneón, a South American concertina (similar to an accordion).

“Maria de Buenos Aires” is the second work in San Diego Opera’s 2017-18 Detour Series of nontraditional works. It’s also the company’s first-ever production in the subterranean, 513-seat theater at Horton Plaza.

Since its launch last year, the Detour series has built a growing following. Three of this weekend’s four performances are already sold out.

Production stage director John de los Santos said newer, smaller, edgier works like “Maria” are gaining traction with opera companies and audiences nationwide.

“To keep the art form alive, you can’t have turkey dinner five nights a week,” said de los Santos, whose last company visit was as choreographer for “Great Scott” in 2016. “The Detour Series is a good gateway drug to the rest of the opera canon.”

John de los Santos is the stage director for San Diego Opera's tango opera "Maria de Buenos Aires." Based in New York, de los Santos is a prolific director, choreographer and librettist.
(K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune )

“Maria de Buenos Aires” gets produced about once or twice a year by opera companies in America. It might be done more often if it wasn’t such a difficult piece, said Canadian-born conductor Bruce Stasyna, who joined San Diego Opera in 2016 as chorus master and music administrator.

The Argentinean composer, who died in 1992, was a bandoneón virtuoso who transformed tango music by adding elements of jazz and classical music.

“Piazzolla represents a departure in what tango was and what it would become. We call it B.A. and A.A., meaning Before Ástor and After Ástor,” said Stasyna, who made his company conducting debut last October in “As One.”

Another challenge with staging “Maria” is its surrealist libretto, which is confusing in translation. Stasyna is working with de los Santos to clarify and distill the words to their essence for the supertitles.

Bruce Stasyna is the conductor of San Diego Opera's tango opera "Maria de Buenos Aires." He has served as San Diego Opera's chorus master and music administrator since 2016.
(K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune )

In the original libretto, Maria is murdered and her spirit haunts the streets, encountering an odd mix of characters, including spaghetti-kneaders, construction workers, drunk marionettes and psychoanalysts, before her spirit symbolically gives birth.

De los Santos said his team is developing their own interpretation of the story. In their version, Mario won’t be murdered by the men in her life but her innocence will be lost and she’ll carry one as a mere shadow of her former self.

“Violence will be graphically portrayed but I’m not trying to make a Tarantino film,” said de los Santos, 37, of New York.

He said it’s impossible to ignore how the timing of this production coincides with the tidal wave of American women now rising up against their abusers. But he wants Maria to be more than just a symbol of the #MeToo movement.

“I want audiences to relate to her and go with her on this journey,” he said. “She’s like Alice in ‘Wonderland’ or Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ She’s someone who’s crossed a boundary into another world, looking for the light.”

This is the first time that Babcock, 38, has played Maria. She is best known for her Carmen, a role she began studying at age 20 and has since portrayed in more than 35 productions. She’s enjoying exploring a new Latina character.

“For me, Maria represents every woman trapped in an endless cycle of abuse,” Babcock said. “I’m preparing as best as I can and then I just try to stay open when I show up at rehearsals so I can just be a vessel.”

Babcock and de los Santos first worked together four years ago when he choreographed a Dallas Opera production of “Carmen.”

“She’s got such a striking presence,” he said. “She’s a true stage animal, totally fearless. I love how she jumps in and is such a thinking artist.”

Another challenge in staging “Maria” is the tango. Even though Babcock has studied and performed flamenco for nearly 20 years, she feels like she’s starting over with the tango.

“Flamenco is so solitary, straight up, and boom into the ground. Tango is more subtle, specific, angular and integrated with the music,” she said.

Another challenge, Stasyna said, is coaching the singers in the unique Buenos Aires dialect. He and Babcock describe it as elevated on the palate, nasal and very “bright.”

Stasyna said he took extra care in hiring chorus members for the ensemble who are adept at spoken word, singing in Spanish and comfortable with movement.

This is the second time de los Santos has directed “Maria.” The first was in 2013 in Lexington, Ky. This time he has more resources, including a new original scenic design by Liliana Duque Piñeiro, and an enthusiastic team of collaborators.

“My goal is I’m hoping that people will walk out of there understanding this woman’s journey and wanting to go dance the tango,” he said.

San Diego Opera presents “Maria de Buenos Aires”

When: 7 p.m. Friday (sold out). 7 p.m. (sold out) and 10 p.m. Saturday. 2 p.m. Jan. 28 (sold out)

Where: Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, downtown.

Tickets: $35 and up

Phone: (619) 533-7000

Online: sdopera.org

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com

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