CLO and Mystic Ballet collaborate on a tango opera

Two area arts powerhouses join forces for a new production.

Connecticut Lyric Opera and Mystic Ballet are collaborating on Ástor Piazzolla's "Maria de Buenos Aires" - a tango opera, as the composer described it. The piece premiered last weekend in New Britain and Middletown and comes to Mystic Stage on Saturday.

The title character in "Maria de Buenos Aires" is a woman - a fallen woman - who ends up in the Buenos Aires underworld.

The singers include mezzo-soprano Abigail Fisher as Maria; baritone Jose Sacin as her lover; and soprano Heather O'Connor as the narrator.

The CLO cast will share the performance with dancers from Mystic Ballet: Sachi Kimura, Marko Micov, Isidro Sequeira, Yuko Tanaka, Sae Takenouchi, Ervin Vallecillo and Alejandro Ulloa Zepeda. The choreography is by Brian Enos.

Adrian Sylveen will lead a chamber ensemble consisting of Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra principals.

- KRISTINA DORSEY

"Maria de Buenos Aires," 7 p.m. Saturday, Mystic Stage, Olde Mistick Village Art Cinemas, Coogan Boulevard, Mystic; $26-$36; also, 7:30 p.m. March 8, Waterbury Palace, 100 E. Main St., Waterbury; (860) 536-3671, mysticballet.org.