This album takes focus on the vocal music of Astor Piazzolla. Most of Piazzolla’s sung compositions were born in collaboration with the poet Horacio Ferrer. Lost love, passion, oblivion and endless longing had always comprised the soul of the tango, but in his librettos Ferrer introduced the music to a host of forgotten mythical characters like the maniac, the drunk, the proletarian, the boy from the street, the angel, the soldier, the clown, and the witch. His poetry is intense, unbound, and it weaves the red thread through these songs. The tango operita Maria de Buenos Aires, premiered in Buenos Aires in 1968, is often considered the apex of the Piazzolla-Ferrer collaboration. The piece uses the Bible as its background text, with the messianic main character Maria’s journey depicting the story of tango itself. The death of Maria in the first act is an allegory for the death of the old tango, and the resurrection in act two portrays the birth of a new tango, tango nuevo. This music embodies an endless sense of longing. We dedicate this record to our beloved friend Jaakko Kuusisto (1974-2022), who was the heart of our ensemble and a source of inspiration to us all. On this recording, the sorrow of losing Jaakko mixes with the gratitude for the unparalleled joy and adventure of playing this music with him.