The first album from "Cuarteto Rotterdam" is the indisputable CD of the month. The name of this orchestra, established in 2004, makes reference to the Rotterdam Academy for World Music, one of the best places in Europe to study the tango. Apart from Michael Dolak, the bandoneon player who started with the accordion before quickly dedicating himself to the tango and jazz, the three other musicians, Susanne Cordula Welsch, violinist, Judy Ruks, pianist, and Frances Dorling, contrabass player, each reflect back on classical training. The violinist has been involved in jazz in the past. This album succeeds in softening the contrast that many see between the tango that one dances and the tango that one listens to. With regards to the Piazzolla recording, this initially invites us to give ourselves over to the movements of the soul, during which the body is naturally not entirely absent. The musical development and the selection of the interpreted pieces are the main ingredients here. The ensemble’s beginnings as a dance orchestra certainly contributed to the dynamisation of its interpretations. The title-giving piece Yunta de Oro, written in 1957 and the opener to the album, demonstrates particularly clearly the span between "listening" and "dancing". It is followed by the rerecording of Bordoneo y 900. We remember here that these two instrumental pieces were written by Osvaldo Ruggiero, the first bandoneon player in Osvaldo Pugliese’s orchestra from its establishment in 1939 right through to 1968, at which time he formed his own group, the Sexteto Tango. As a formidable bandoneon player and composer, he was the pivot and lynchpin of Pugliese’s orchestra. Cuarteto Rotterdam has its roots in two musical "main ancestral lines": The lines of Pugliese and of Piazzolla. However, thanks to the group’s comprehensive training at the academy for music and furthermore thanks to the musician’s musical intelligence, they remain open to the influences of others. Anyway, thanks for the homage to Ruggiero, whose musical career should one day be documented in a biography. The interpretation of the waltz Desde el Alma encompasses arrangements that do not disturb the dance, and which exquisitely enrich the ears of the dancer. Wonderful, that they also recorded Milonga del serafin from Coco Nelegatti, to which we recently referred. In this album, the tenderness of this composition marks the "hyphen" between the "Pugliese" force and the "Piazzolla" complexity. Listen to this album for yourself and discover such classics as: Mi refugio, Bahia blanca, Danzarin and a tango from Pugliese Amorando, which to date had only been rerecorded by the Color Tango orchestra. And to finish on a good note, because good things rarely come unaccompanied: Applaud them live in April at the festival Couleurs Tango 2009 because the ensemble have replaced the Vale Tango orchestra at short notice after it cancelled its European tour. La Salida, April-May 2009 |