Piazzolla: Maria de Buenos Aires CD review – sizzling, seductive tango opera

Mr McFall’s Chamber
(Delphian)Astor Piazzolla’s tango opera is fierce and hot-blooded thing, with its swirling text by Horacio Ferrer and deft mashup of fugue, milonga, cabaret, even 1960s psychedelia. The drama inhabits bars and brothels where characters are ultra-vivid but mysterious and a bit supernatural – if Maria represents the city, the bandoneon (played with superb poise by Victor Villena) brings out her most seductive and destructive sides. Edinburgh ensemble Mr McFall