The Argentine tango began as the music of the dispossessed
marginalised class of the poorer port areas of Buenos Aires yet it found
acceptance first in England, France and the United States before it
received universal recognition in Argentina - and not just by the underclasses
but universally as symbol of national pride, national aspiration, and
national sorrow.
The bandoneon is a square-built button accordion invented
in Germany in the 1840s but eventually taken up in Buenos Aires as the
chief instrument of the tango bands. Piazzolla studied traditional classical
music with Alberto Ginastera and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. His
distinctive brand of tango - "tango nuevo" – is characterised
by chromaticism, dissonance, and elements of jazz so Piazzolla’s compositions
for large ensemble, as in this collection, is a fusion of traditional
tango, jazz and classical music. Dutoit’s Montreal players and his soloists
capture the vivid colour and sensuality of these works perfectly.
The tango melody of Adós Noninio
is probably Piazzolla’s best known work and certainly the most frequently
performed. It was written, in 1959, in fond memory of his father who
died after complications following a street accident. This orchestral
arrangement, dating from 1981, begins unsettlingly and somewhat abrasively
with rasping percussion before the mood mellows and becomes affectionate
and nostalgic. The Milonga del ángel is a soft
sensual slow moving tango, very atmospheric suggesting a sultry moonlight
night, with gossamer boudoir curtains billowing gently. Oblivion
has the oboe murmuring a plaintive song of yearning against luscious
mid-range string harmonies with the bandoneon commenting and picking
its way through the texture. Danza criolla breaks the
spell: it is wild and abandoned, bouncing along joyfully in resplendent
colours. Tangazo, without bandoneon, is intense and densely
constructed with a slow and ruminative, almost tragic, opening that
gives way to high spirited and humorous material dancing away, the rhythms
infectious and the orchestration inventive. This joy alternates with
slower passionately romantic tango figures.
There are two three-movement works. The Double Concerto
for Bandoneon and Guitar adroitly contrasts and blends the two instruments.
The Introduction is introspective and slightly melancholy, the Milonga
voluptuous and the Tango lively. More impressive and imaginative is
the purely orchestral Tres movimentos tanguisticos porteños.
It opens on a furtive, almost sinister note then a piano figure announces
a seductive challenge with the tango figures passing through a variety
of moods: pensive, torrid - even an exotic jungle excursion might be
imagined. The Moderato central movement is tenderly nostalgic but moodily
seductive too with tempo and rhythm gradually heating. The jungle evocation
is recalled, giving way to material that might suggest a sophisticated
dinner party with the guests suffering a certain ennui. The Vivace concluding
movement is a proud tango employing fugal figures, colourful glissandi,
and bouncing rhythms pegged by bold timpani rolls. A work that invites
your imagination run riot.
Hedonistic, exotically coloured tango music in vivid
orchestral dress played with conviction and enthusiasm. Just the thing
to banish dull winter blues.
Ian Lace
Daniel Binelli (bandoneon)
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