Piazzolla, Astor

1) the full orchestral score of the complete opera-tango in two acts, scored for voices and orchestra, comprising twenty-two numbers in all, the score arranged and assembled from printed sources by Jorge Zulueta and Jacobo Romano, with many passages of autograph music, correction leaves and annotations by Piazzolla in red and black ink and pencil, including to the vocal and orchestral parts, notated by him on up to 13 staves per page, and some further additions by Zulueta in black ink on pastedowns, 208 & 168 pages, folio (up to c.43 x 28cm)

2) Collection of autograph drafts and sketches for numbers in "María de Buenos Aires", notated on up to fourteen staves per page, some fully autograph and some by Jorge Zulueta revised by Piazzolla, 31 pages



3) Printed vocal score of Maria de Buenos Aires, operita en dos partes, [ie the original "oratorio" version given in 1968], with additional autograph music by Piazzolla, annotated and renumbered by him in pencil and black ink, 81 pages, 4to, Buenos Aires: Lagos, [copyright date, 1973]



4)  Fourteen autograph letters and notes signed (“Astor” or “Astor Piazzolla”), about the composition, reception and performance of "María de Buenos Aires", to Jacobo Romano and Jorge Zulueta (“Coco y Jorge”), one to the conductor Bruno Pizzamiglio, with an autograph list of the orchestral forces;  Piazzolla outlines the problems in rewriting "Maria" as an opera-tango, explaining that he always disliked some parts of Horacio Ferrer’s text and expressing doubts about his ability to rewrite it for a full-scale opera orchestra; after the production, the composer expresses disillusionment, complains about the the dances, reiterates his enduring faith in the music itself (“...Además Coco, lo único que no puedo sacar es la musica--aunque se repite mucho algunas veces…”), and gives precise requirements for the orchestra and singers, both for future productions and for the planned recording of the "Maria de Buenos Aires" by BASF, 15 pages, 4to and 8vo, including one typed letter signed (Rio, 1974), the other letters and notes all autograph: Buenos Aires, Punta del Este (Uruguay) and Paris, 18 March 1986-19 January 1989




5) Ten large designs for the staging of "María de Buenos Aires", seven in watercolour and ink, and one portrait of Piazzolla with a bandoneón, signed by Horacio Ferrer, c.35-38 x 30cm, Paris, 1987; together with six stage designs in black crayon signed by Ferrer's wife Lucia Michelli, 4 pages, 44.5 x 27.5cm, on cartridge paper, and 2 pages, 4to on transparent paper, Paris, 1987  [illustrated on the inside front cover of this catalogue]



 

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WE HAVE NO RECORD OF ANY ORIGINAL SOURCES FOR PIAZZOLLA'S MUSIC EVER APPEARING AT AUCTION.  Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) was the greatest composer of the tango, which he transformed in the mid twentieth century, combining it with classical and jazz techniques to form the tango nuevo. The characteristic Argentinian instrumental colours, such as the use of the bandoneón, are enriched with "classical" orchestral instruments, counterpoint, chromaticism, novel instrumental forms and elements of jazz, especially jazz fugue.  Piazzolla studied with Alberto Ginastera in Buenos Aires and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and collaborated with artists like the Chronos Quartet, Rostropovich and Milva.  He is comparable in some respects to Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli and Jacques Loussier, but his contribution to the enrichment of the classical repertory sets him apart.

"María de Buenos Aires" is Piazzolla’s magnum opus, and arguably the greatest Argentinian opera.  It is a fully-staged opera-tango, comprising twenty-two scenes, which in its final form is unpublished.  It is the adaptation, made in 1987 with Zulueta and Romano, who had originally sought to produce an operatic version of Piazzolla's early unstaged "oratorio", composed for Buenos Aires in 1968.  This had contained only sixteen scenes, three singers, a narrator and some eleven instruments.  At their suggestion, Piazzolla decided to go ahead with the adaptation and expanded the "oratorio" to twenty-two scenes, so now the present definitive staged version calls for six singing roles, fuller orchestral forces (flute, bandoneón, piano, guitar, vibraphone, percussion and strings) and chorus as well as ballets.  It was first performed at the Théâtre de Tourcoing in Lille on 20 November 1987, conducted by Bruno Pizzamiglio, with Margarita Zimmermann in the mezzo-soprano title-role (originally intended for Milva).  This opera-tango was subsequently staged at Montpellier, Houston, Perugia, Douai and a Brazilian Tour (including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo), from which a recording was obtained, which is still commercially available.   

The opera has a surreal plot, not unlike a tango reintepretation of Lulu, describing the fate of María, a girl from the barrio in Buenos Aires, who loves Gorrión Porteño (baritone), but is led into prostitution by Gato Ricardo (a solo dancer), in a scene dominated by a jazz-fugue.  Gato defeats Gorrión and, now called "Bandoneón", becomes Maria's pimp, dances with her and murders her in a sewer.   María's funeral scene closes Act One with an extended choral finale ('Contramilonga').  In Act Two, "El Duende" (a goblin, representing the underworld of the city), who also acts as the narrator, calls upon the soul of María, and subjects her to a series of tests, including a Convent of Souls, The Circus of Analysts and a Bordello of Puppets (another fugue).   

This important collection of manuscripts documents the revision with letters, working sketches and costume designs, and well as providing the unpublished full orchestral score of the opera, revised and corrected by the composer.  Piazzolla's music draws on the jazzy and contrapuntal styles of his tango nuevo, but now informed with the expressive power of operatic and choral voices, which dominate the big ensembles.  At first, Piazzolla made little progress in rewriting María, as there were parts of Horacio Ferrer’s text that he always found difficult, especially the role of "El Duende", which he claimed he had never understood and which he felt overwhelmed the other characters.  He also doubted whether the accompanying ensemble used in the original operita at its Buenos Aires première could be refashioned into something comparable to an international opera orchestra. 

 "…No he podido escribir nada de la Opera Maria de B Ar.  Son varios los problemas. 1^o. No me calienta el script de Horacio. MUCHO DUENDE. y nada de lo demás.  El personaje del duende se me hizo antipático.  Siempre esta.  2^o Se me pone en peligro el. 2^o hombre cantor o sea Porteño Gorrion con poco papel.  3^o. La parte del Duende es un plomo infernal de palabras. Me cuesta un egg musicalizarlo.  Palabras y palabras sin terminar. Le Tomé bronca al duende.  Traspasar a 11 músicos de B. Ar. geniales a un orquesta de Viena, o de Frankfurt me resulta dificil!  Y una carta de Troncoso [agents] donde daba a entender que no tenia nada para el 87.  Si había en Frankfurt pero exigían a Milva y el final tremendo es que mi cabeza  trabajó 2 meses sin parar preparando un hora de música para vibrafon y quinteto y cuando me dispongo e reescribir Maria no me sale una nota..."  (letter of 18 March 1986; this is signed by Piazzolla and also by the singer Laura Escalada, whom he married in 1988)

Piazzolla was disillusioned by the reception of the revised opera, attributing it to parts of Ferrer’s libretto and the "absurd" ballets;  indeed he felt that a lot of the dancing could be omitted.  What kept his interest in "María de Buenos Aires" alive was his faith in the music itself, the only thing that he did not want to sacrifice in future productions of his beloved opera-tango.  He regularly encouraged Coco and Jorge to keep him informed about future performances: “…Texto demasiado y confuso. Bajar el 30% y que quede claro quién mierda es Maria.  Nadie me lo puede explicar.  Luego sigo pensando lo mismo del absurdo ballet.  Habría que rehacer sin baile, o sea dejar la escena del Bandoneón que baila con ella y la mata.  Eso lo hacés con un solo bailarín, el resto y muy poco de tango baile lo hacés con 6 bailarines populares y basta. Es mi punto de vista.  Además Coco, lo único que no puedo sacar es la musica--aunque se repite mucho algunas veces. Este es mi análisis…”  (letter of 31 December 1987)

Piazzolla also provides explicit instructions for how the opera should be performed in his letters.  In considering the commercial recording of the opera by TV Globo and BASF, he lays down strict conditions for the forces needed to perform the work correctly.  The première in Lille was given with only around twenty instrumentalists, including strings, flutes and bandoneón, but here he demands a chorus of sixteen singers and and a proper orchestra ("en serio"), comprising ten first violins, eight seconds, six violas, four cellos and two double basses, besides the other components of the band.  He accepts the singer [Rita] Contini as María, whose taste he appreciates, but rejects the tenor on offer.  He also expressly forbids the insertion of extraneous material, which Juan José Mosalini had introduced in the premiere while extemporizing on the bandoneón. “…Es absolutamente necesario para escenes con coro, que estén por lo menos 16 voces.  Mosalini cuando en un momento...tocando improvisando solo él toca un pedazo del tango de Sebastián Piana, 'Silbando'.  Esto no va, que siga tocando la melodía escrita por mi.   Quiero una orquesta en serio, dirigida por Bruno Pizzamiglio de no menos de 10 violines 1o, 8 violines 2o, 6 violes, 4 V.Cellos y 2 Bajos, mas los demás componentes..." (letter of 31 December 1988)