 |
 |
|
 |
||
|
TANGOS IN THEATRE AND CHURCH Tango Siempre & Tango Volcano
Nocturno: London's 'fringe' music does not deserve to be critically ignored. Huge audiences listen to music in the foyers of the Festival Hall and National Theatre, sometimes causally, sometimes intently, and outside one can encounter accomplished instrumentalists scraping a living. Tango Siempre's website takes you to a well organised world apart, with biographies of these versatile and multi-talented musicians and samples of the music to hear. At the NT they held a large pre-theatre crowd captivated by their flair and virtuosity, sharp arrangements by members of the group, each taking solo spots and making the most of them. It was an absorbing hors d'oeuvre before a concert evening at SBC next door and the surrounding atmosphere was conducive to enjoying the music. It is understandable to be wary of CDs on sale at gigs, but theirs is a fine studio production which is unreservedly recommendable:- purchase contact.
* * * * * Tango Volcano An Evening of New Tangos at St Cyprian's Church Glentworth St, London NW1 27 May 2003 Violin: Lucy Waterhouse Piano: Roger
Davison Bandoneón: Kristina Kuusisto Guitar: Nigel Woodhouse
This event was a showcase for newly composed tangos, in association with the BMIC (British Music Information Centre) and the SPNM (Society for the Promotion of New Music). Tango Volcano aims to be at the cutting edge of tango music, and are dedicated to creating a repertoire of new tangos by composers of today. Tough choices had been necessary after an overwhelming response to their call for new tangos in SPNM's new notes magazine (Jan 03) and they attracted a large audience to a thoroughly enjoyable evening of premières, framed by two favourites from their repertoire. The chairs were rearranged in a semicircle for greater informality, and Argentinian wine flowed. It was a convivial evening, transforming a church which can be a little bleak in other familiar 'new music' circumstances. The composers present came up to introduce their approach to the tango, Michael Zev Gordon perhaps speaking for others too about the qualities of 'fierce dignity, melancholy, nostalgia annd yearning' of the increasingly popular genre, which he decided to respect with a 'straight' tango. Although there was talk of variety, and even of 'amazing harmonic complexities' which, if present, had passed me by, I was surprised at how cautious were most of the composers for an SPNM sponsored event. I noted particular pleasure in the tangos by Gordon, Helenius from Finland, Zyatlov from 'north of Siberia', Woodhouse (assimilation of traditional with a modern twist and a big build up to the climax), Brooke (fired by her 'gap year' in Argentina) and Bryce (letting us hear each instrument on its own). I enjoyed most of them as they came and went, but they left blurred memories next morning. No question of the expertise and professionalism of these versatile musicians; their guitarist is often to be seen with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Lucy Waterhouse has been reviewed recently playing piano trios. I did however feel that some of the playing was a little inhibited and well behaved; a little more abandon would not have come amiss, and perhaps some of that Argentinian wine might have helped? To appreciate the potential of the tango as a genre for the new music of today, try and hear something of the huge collection of tangos commissioned from composers worldwide by the late Yvar Mikhashoff in his revelatory Incitation to the Tango CD, and also some of the innovative tangos for today in Alicia Terzian's Tangos & something more . Enjoy surfing these links, and if (as one of the composers admitted) you knew nothing about the bandoneón, amaze yourself by visiting Christian's Bandoneón Page !
|
Tango
Siempre National Theatre Foyer 6 March 2003
& CD Nocturno
Angel
Viloldo 