The tango. Emerging from the ghetto areas of Buenos Aires during the 19th century, the tango has been passionately beloved and deeply scorned as the years have passed. In the 20th century, it was proclaimed as a lifestyle, and this was a victory for the courageous master of emotions, Astor Piazzolla. Now the tango has become a sign of the times in European culture. This also applies to Latvia, where the dance represents the yearnings of Nordic people for the Sun.
“When we talk about beauty – the beauty of architecture, art, people and love – then it is our obligation to include Piazzolla’s music in the programme, because it seems to me that because of the language of nostalgia, it resurrects a better world,” says Gidon Kremer, who has nurtured the idea of the Sempre Tango programme for many years. By bringing the music of Piazzolla into the world’s most ornate concert halls, Kremer has confirmed the maestro’s own belief that “my tango has always been meant more for the ear than for the feet.”
The music of Great Astor will create emotions of the motherland this evening, and his spirit will also be part of Osvaldo Golijov’s Last Round, which has been declared to be a noble monument to Argentine tango.
And then there are we who live in the North. The first to compose a tango not for the cinema or theatre, but instead for a classical concert genre, was Georgs Pelēcis with his Buena Rīga (“Astor Piazzolla, Oskars Stroks and Me”) (2001). The melodies of the tango from Buenos Aires flow together here with the music of the Latvian king of the tango, Oskars Stroks. A true dream in the form of a fantasy!
One year later, Arturs Maskats became very famous because his international hit Tango, but this evening let us listen to an opus that he composed last year – Midnight in Rīga. The composition is dedicated to Žanis Lipke and his wife Johanna, who rescued Jews during World War II and were brought together by loyalty, love and self-denial throughout their lives.
Musicians:
Gidon Kremer, violin
Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė, cello
Andrei Pushkarev, vibraphone
Anastasia Voltchok, piano
The Kremerata Baltica chamber choir
Programme:
Osvaldo Golijov, Last Round
Georgs Pelēcis, Buena Riga (“Astor Piazzolla, Oskars Stroks and Me”)
Arturs Maskats, Midnight in Rīga
Astor Piazzolla, Three Opuses for Piano and String Instruments
Astor Piazzolla, Vardarito and Grand Tango
