Imagine a summer evening in Buenos Aires, the hot, steamy air, couples sipping wine sitting on the pavement, the rhythmic sounds of the bandoneon coming around the corner… The members of the ensemble Classic+, Julija Karaliūnaitė, Simona Zbarauskaitė, Viktorija Smailytė and Agnė Dūkštaitė, invite the audience to feel part of the history of the tango and to embark on a dark, enchanting and intriguing journey.
“The title of the concert is inspired by the song Balada para un loco (Ballad of a Freak) by the Argentine composer Ástor Piazzolla, which sings: ‘When the loneliness of Buenos Aires grows dark, I will leap over the abyss of your décolletage like a mad acrobat, until you feel that I have brought your heart out of its madness and into freedom. And finally, I look at you and I sing softly: love me like this – madly, madly, madly!” For me, this text very much reflects the wild, vital, passionate, fatalistic essence of tango”, says opera soloist J. Karaliūnaitė.
“Tango is a dance that never leaves anyone indifferent, it was condemned, it was considered a dance for immigrants and the poor, it was even forbidden, but today it moves, it inspires and it never gets old. Just by hearing the tango melodies, the body immediately reacts and all kinds of emotions arise, from sadness to ecstasy, from love to despair, from passion to anger”, says pianist S. Zbarauskaitė.
Tango’s melodies, rhythm and dance steps combine music from different genres. We recognise the milonga, the candombe and even the melodic and sentimental motifs of the hanabera. Accordionist A. Dūkštaitė says: “What I like about tango is that it is timeless: always the same, but also relevant, contemporary, modern, intriguing and flexible to the timbral colours of any instrument.”
Today, the dance is popular all over the world as a way to reveal one’s spirit and to convey unrestrained emotions. Harpist V. Smailytė wittily compares, “Tango is as necessary for my fingers, my head and my soul as the warmth of a fire is for my home…”.