(Credit: Kike Barona)

This week Opera Columbus will make history by performing its first Spanish-language opera, Maria de Buenos Aires.” For the historic production, the company has put together a Latino cast that is headlined by the Serbain-Colombian mezzo Monica Danilov.

Danilov will make her Opera Columbus debut in the title role marking also her first major lead role at a major American regional company. She first took on the role of Maria de Buenos-Aires in her native Colombia at the Teatro Mayor.

In a statement regarding her debut and the opera Danilov told OperaWire, “I feel so excited to be performing Maria with Opera Columbus because I am making my company debut in a role that I love so much and that I have performed before. Piazzolla’s opera is so unique and mixes so many elements and instruments that are not found in traditional opera, which makes me so eager to show the audience this amazing tango-opera.”

Over the years Danilov has made a name for in Latin America performing at the Museo Nacional de Bogotá, Teatro Metropoliano, Teatro Colón de Bogotá, Teatro Colsubsidio, Teatro Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Teatro centro de arte, and Teatro Sanchez Aguilar. She has also performed at the Kennedy Center, Americas Society, 92nd Street Y, Avery Fischer Hall, Cairo Opera House, and Salle Ibn Khaldoun-Radio Algerie, among others. Her repertoire includes the music of Bizet, Rossini, Catan, and Puccini, among others.

Recordings

Here is a look at her “Maria de Buenos Aires” when she first sang the role in Bogota, Colombia as well as an aria from “Florencia de Buenos Aires.”