Centenary tribute to Carlos Gardel by the symphony orchestra
Penumbra | Atlanta, GA USA | 03/03/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If symphonic tango is your gourd of maté, then this is a beautiful album. The orchestra sounds gorgeous and the recording quality is first rate. Personally, I miss the more simple arrangement of bandoneon, guitar, piano - and the singing.
In 1890 Charles-Romuald Gardes was born in Toulouse, France. To escape the notoriety caused by his out of wedlock birth his mother immigrated to Argentina. In time he became known as Carlos Gardel, the man who brought the vulgar, uncouth tango out of the bordellos and into polite society.
In life Gardel was an international superstar. In addition to popular recordings, he was a movie star who made films in Argentina, France and USA. In 1935, at the peak of his performing career, Gardel was killed in a plane crash. The immense shock of the popular young idol's death caused his funeral to become an international outpouring of grief that rivals those for Rudolph Valentino or even Princess Diana. Today, over 70 years after his death, his recordings are still popular worldwide. Paintings and photos of Gardel's smiling face are seen throughout Buenos Aires. His memorial statue at Cementerio de la Chacarita is seldom without a lighted cigarette balanced between its fingers, left there an adoring fan.
In 1990, while touring Argentina, conductor Michel Plasson was exposed to and charmed by the tango. Since it was Gardel's centenary year, Plasson decided to put together a symphonic program of Gardel's tangos. A little over a century after his birth, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse would record a tribute to the world famous native son of their city.
Plasson chose composer/arranger Raul Garrello for the project. Garrello knows his way around the material. Born one year after Gardel's death, Garrello has led the Buenos Aires Tango Band since 1981, a group of 35 musicians who give weekly concerts.
The CD contains fourteen of Gardel's tangos, including "Volver" - a song about returning home, which he didn't live to perform in his beloved Buenos Aires. Gardel wrote the music for his tangos and Alfredo Le Pera wrote the lyrics. Gardel may not have written the words, but he certainly made them his own. I miss hearing those lyrics, which I have come to associate with Gardel, but I can appreciate that the tribute is an orchestra version of the man's music only.
The fifteenth and final cut on the CD, "Toulouse-Buenos Aires," was written by Garrello as a homage to both the orchestra of Toulouse and Carlos Gardel. It is both lighter and more modern than the rest of the CD, containing some tango themes and some soaring passages.
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Track Listings (15) - Disc #1