María de Buenos Aires is a tango operita (short opera) by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) based on a libretto by the poet Horacio Ferrer. First performed in 1968, the piece is one of Piazzolla's most ambitious and innovative works and combines tango, classical music and surrealist poetry. It represents a clear departure from traditional tango and showcases Piazzolla's unmistakable nuevo tango style - complex, dramatic and infused with elements of jazz and avant-garde music.

The Operita tells the symbolic and enigmatic story of María, a woman who was born "one day when God was drunk" in the slums of Buenos Aires. She becomes a tango singer and a symbol of sensuality and suffering. After her death, María's shadow wanders through the city's underworld and encounters surreal figures such as the Duende (a goblin-like narrator) and a choir of psychoanalysts, construction workers and thieves. The narrative is abstract, full of metaphors and mystical elements and portrays María both as a real woman and as an allegory for Buenos Aires itself, especially for its tango culture.

Musically, María de Buenos Aires is richly textured and includes bandoneon (a type of concertina essential to tango music), piano, violin and vocals. Piazzolla's score breaks with traditional tango rhythms and harmonies and takes the genre into new emotional and intellectual realms.

The work is often interpreted as a meditation on identity, femininity, city life and rebirth. Despite its initially mixed reception, it is considered a groundbreaking piece of 20th century music and a key work in Piazzolla's oeuvre. Maria de Buenos Aires is a vivid and haunting exploration of the soul of Buenos Aires, where tango is not just a form of dance or music, but a poetic expression of passion, loss and resilience.

Performed by Ce Suarez Paz (soprano María), Cesare Chiacchiaretta (bandoneon), soloists and the Orchestra Filarmonica della Calabria conducted by Filippo Arlia.