Iggy Jang's Tango Extravaganza

Program

Tango uttered its first cries and took its first steps in the slums of Buenos Aires, in dance halls, tenement courtyards, and brothels. In infancy, it was a dance, and a style of dance music. In maturity, a third identity emerged, tango as concert music, straddling the classical/popular divide. The great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges observed that “Tango is a direct expression of something that poets have often tried to state in words: the belief that a fight may be a celebration.” This comes close to identifying the art form’s elemental appeal. But perhaps the irresistible paradox shaping Tango’s contours is more truly its pairing of defiance and intimacy, which simultaneously attract and repel on planes interpersonal, kinetic, and musical. Even Tango’s respectable concert version has never lost sight of this crackling tension.

Well into the second century of its history, Tango now manifests itself in myriad modalities and styles, and operates within varied systems of meaning. Dancer Fernanda Ghi has said, “Tango is a language that reflects the diverse influences of the many cultures that helped define it. It is about the land, nostalgia, and communication.” Tonight’s program includes music written by many of tango’s leading lights, representing a number of these varied styles. Among them are:

• Ángel Villoldo, known as the “Father of the Tango,” who made some of the earliest tango recordings
• Uruguayan violinist, pianist and dance teacher Enrique Saborido
• Violinist/pianist Agustín Bardi, who wrote some seventy tangos and waltzes
• French-born Carlos Gardel, who arrived in Buenos Aires at age two, rose to superstardom as a singer and movie idol, then died in a plane crash at the height of his fame, to be mourned by millions
• Osvaldo Pugliese, a pioneer of tango as concert music
• Talented text-setter José Dames and lyricist José Maria Contursi
• Héctor Stamponi, so famous for his waltzes that Astor Piazzolla called him “the Strauss of the tango”
• Mariano Mores, so devoted to the artform that he once said “If there is not money for a sandwich, you listen to a tango and you’ll forget about food”
• The world-famous Astor Piazzolla, who in the words of guitarist Oscar Lopez Ruiz “gave a universal dimension to tango music and elevated it to eternity”
• Singer, composer, and (in tonight’s case) lyricist Eladia Blázquez, who is said to have worked to take the “macho” out of tango
• Bandoneon player Juan Maglio, whose music was so popular that his nickname “Pacho” became synonymous with the word “record,” along with singer-guitarist-lyricist Francisco Brancatti
• and tonight’s pianist, Emiliano Messiez.

—Sasha Margolis