Tango-Opera: Euridice, una sombra

This tango version of Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice, with direction and dramaturgy by Mariana Ciolfi and musical arrangements by Sebastian Zubieta, is based on the version Gluck premiered in Vienna in 1762. The characters are transported to a carnival celebration in Buenos Aires in the 1930s, and the score is re-orchestrated for a tango quartet. Gluck's arias are the musical focus, while the recitatives, which traditionally provide dramatic context, are replaced by poetic texts written by great tango lyricists such as José María Contursi and Emilio Fresedo, compiled by Ciolfi. 

The director set out to "recreate the myth of Orpheus, based on Gluck's opera, from a female perspective during carnival celebrations, which have traditionally been a space of social subversion where anyone can be a 'king' or 'queen' for a day. All inequalities are erased during the festivities, but at the end of the day each one returns to their reality, and those socially forbidden behaviors that surfaced under the masks reveal who we really are." 

Euridice and Orfeo, both children of Italian immigrants, meet at a Buenos Aires carnival ball in the late 1930s, dressed as a bride and a groom. They fall in love immediately and decide to get married but, amid the ruckus, Amor, a pimp, kidnaps Euridice. When Orfeo realizes she is missing, he begins a fruitless and frantic search at the end of which, hopeless, he plunges into sadness. Amor finds him drinking at a bar and, tricking him, provides the key to finding his wife, whom Amor has imprisoned at a nearby brothel. He warns Orfeo not to try to look at Euridice or tell her what is going on, or he will lose her forever. Orfeo enters the brothel and the couple manages to find each other and exchange a few words of infinite joy. Then Amor bursts into Euridice's room and, taking advantage of the fact that Orfeo cannot see or touch her, violently forces her to demand proof of Orfeo's love. Orfeo eventually gives in, falling into the trap laid by Amor, who kills Euridice. Orfeo, distraught, takes his own life. 

This production was commissioned by Americas Society and Fundación Williams, and premiered in Buenos Aires in 2023.