Bandoneon on the Run

I don’t know about you, but I’ll never think about Tango again without thinking of last night’s NCO concert. Once again, the orchestra took a school of music of which most of us have a pretty one-dimensional picture and gave it fiber and flesh. Tango, the lusty, emotive music of Buenos Aires, Argentina, cobbled together by immigrants out of random instruments and accidents of global contact, has impacted all strata of society – high to low, brothels to concert halls – a lot like jazz in the US. It definitely impacted the Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Saturday, Oct. 13.

If you were there, please let us know what you thought, or just chime in on Tango. Click “comment” here, or click through to read our blow-by-blow account of last night’s music. Also after the jump, read about new Tango content going up on Uncovered.

The night began by letting the musicians set up the core instrument of Tango, the bandoneon, a button accordion that originated in Germany nearly 150 years ago. On a dark stage, three squeeze box masters of three different schools walked into a spotlight and played in turn: Jeff Lisenby on a keyboard style, John Mock on an English concertina and finally the evening’s star Raul Jaurena with his bandoneon. It has more than 100 buttons, few of them in comprehensible scale order. It makes a different note pushing or pulling. And as Juarena proved, his 1905 hand crafted bandoneon is as emotional as any wind instrument. And actually it was interesting that last night featured strings and percussion, including harp and piano, but no winds. The accordion’s reedy, mellow tones were in the fore all night.

After their stagy entrance, the accordion guys took turns as soloists. Lisenby played the corkscrewy Charlie Parker bebop tune “Donna Lee,” sometimes tackling the difficult melody alone, sometimes with the NCO strings all in unison. A full jazz rhythm section came all the way over to play that one tune, which though not Tango, sort of woke everyone up to the idea that the accordion can kick your butt. Next, Mock played his own composition, Every House In Newfoundland. And that set things up for Jaurena to play a variety of traditional tango, which of course is associated with the mysterious dance of the same name. Well, the NCO had thought of that and invited Raul’s daughter Carolina and Anton Gazenbeek to couple up and do their thing, all slinky and rhythmic in elegant outfits. They had moves. Oh, did they have moves.

The second half of the concert was devoted to “Neuvo Tango,” the orchestrated and sophisticated classical music that was built on its already pretty sophisticated folky forebear. The man credited with making that leap is Astor Piazzolla, the Italian/Argentinean composer. But before him, a core group of NCO strings played a wickedly hard and fascinating piece by a Piazzolla protégé, Osvaldo Golijov. Called Last Round, it payed homage to the master after his death, with dark, complicated harmonies and tons of fluctuating rhythm. Definitely a piece for the music lover to ponder, though I’m sure the slow and somber passage halfway though reached nearly everyone. Pretty hard not to get that. Finally, the Piazzolla, with Jaurena back at center stage, was the much-played Concerto for Bandoneon. I found it rapturous - a passionate journey through all kinds of moods and vibes. Juarena, who’s been playing the piece for years, just owned it. With our ears attuned by the program so far, it was easy to hear the old-school Tango influences, but the piece was definitely classical, definitely 20th century, definitely enjoyable.

As folks filed out, I actually overheard a guy say, “I never liked the accordion until tonight.” Mission accomplished.

Uncovered subscribers have a few Tango items waiting for them at the ArtistShare/NCO Uncovered site. We’ve got an interview with Dianna Holland, president of Tango Nashville about what makes Tango Tango. Her organization co-sponsored and helped organize last night’s event. You’ll find audio conversations with Paul Gambill about the program and NCO musicians about rehearsal. And speaking of rehearsal, we’ve got video footage of Raul working on the Piazzolla with the NCO from Thursday, plus a video interview of Raul in which he demonstrates the bandoneon up close. Coming soon, more rehearsal footage and if you’re good, concert highlights.

Again, please comment.

Comments

[David L. Carlton]

I was stunned. Like, I suspect, a lot of concertgoers, I approached this concert with some trepidation, fearing that it might lend itself to low-quality crossover material. But it was the absolute height of concert-music sophistication, from the dancers, to the careful exploration of the musical history of the musical culture of the tango and the bandoneon, to the awesome climax of the Piazzola bandoneon concerto. I was with a guest, a visiting missionary from Zambia, who was likewise blown away by the experience, and deeply impressed that he could encounter a world-class performance of this sort in a city he had previously known only by stereotype. In the NCO we Nashvillians have one of the real jewels of the concert-music world; I only wish the seats at the Schermerhorn had been filled.

One side note: Speaking as a longtime participant in the old southern tradition known as Sacred Harp singing, I was a bit startled to hear, at the heart of John Monk's "The Houses of Newfoundland," a tune that first saw print in the South Carolinian William Walker's Southern Harmony of 1835: "Sweet Prospect."

[John Mock]

Yes. The concertina tudors used to have sacred tunes in them, and people played quite a bit of sacred music on the concertina in the second half of the 19th century. I wanted to include this bit of history in the piece, so I chose "Sweet Prospect" because it is one of my favorites.
- John Mock

[Kelly Corcoran]

This was my first NCO experience and it was thoroughly enjoyable. I enjoyed the commentary by Paul, the guest artists and orchestra members - a nice balance of individual personalities, education and entertainment. Everything contributed to the overall mood and I certainly left with a greater understanding of Tango! And, man, those dancers were outstanding! Some stunning moves. To see the dancing with the music gave me a deeper understanding of the musical gestures and passion. Thanks for bringing this kind of programming to Nashville!