Tango program makes all the right moves
LEWISTON — In many ways tango, like flamenco, is a multimedia event, meshing music, dance and storytelling into a whole. The rhythms of the music establish an ebb and flow reflected by the muscular coordination and sheer physicality of the dancers, whose movements deliver a plot line of courtship, uncertainty and — sometimes — near consummation.
Friday night found JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra joining forces with Quartango to wend their way through a program of tangos, classic and otherwise.
To top things off, Quartango and the orchestra also helped provide a showcase for Roxana and Fabian Belmonte, a pair of hard-working and talented dancers who demonstrated how impressive and sensual the tango can be when performed with flair and passion.
Both halves of the concert opened with sterling performances by the orchestra, beginning with “Danzon No. 2,” a work by Mexican composer Arturo Marquez that the orchestra has played before but that seemed to garner extra sparkle in Friday night’s performance in Artpark. Folk rhythm lies at the heart of this work, setting up a similar pulse to the one powering tango but with the kind of difference that sets apart nationalities.
After intermission, the orchestra played a stunning arrangement of Astor Piazzolla’s “Tangazo.” The dark, textured tones of cellos and double basses began the piece with all due deliberation before blending with the violins and, eventually the winds and brass. Tempo changes were fairly frequent, and Falletta’s control of musical dynamics during these episodes was a pure joy.
The balance of the program split the chores among Quartango, the orchestra and the dancers. It included solid performances of such tango classics as “El Choclo” and “La Cumparsita” — which Richard Hunt, Quartango’s pianist, hailed as the “Tango National Anthem” — plus such standards as “Jalousie” and an odd arrangement of Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo a la Turk.”
Still and all, some of the most impressive playing was reserved for works by Piazzolla, the bandoneon player and composer whose pivotal role in moving tango from out of the ballroom and into the wider world of jazz and classical concert halls cannot be overstated.
In addition to the orchestral arrangement of “Tangazo,” Piazzolla was represented by performances of the devastatingly effective “Oblivion,” “Milonga del Angel” and the piece de resistance, “Adios Nonino.”
Through it all, Quartango swung like mad, and when they showed up onstage, the Belmontes weaved around and about each other with amazing alacrity. Then, after the orchestra’s concert, a band played a separate concert for some of the audience members who wanted to try out their own moves on the dance floor.
Concert Review
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
“The Tango Returns!” conducted by JoAnn Falletta and featuring Quartango, Friday night in Artpark Mainstage Theater.
