What a pleasant surprise! A tango program wrapped in an enigmatic, early-music-like cover, cloaked in a mysterious, historical/stylistic concept. There are lots of old instruments, from gambas to baroque cello to lutes and guitars. There’s Monteverdi and Marenzio and Rore. But wait. Is that a bandoneón? And the two singers, an at-once sultry and sensuous Ximena Biondo and the silky-voiced, equally impassioned Furio Zanasi, manage to package Monteverdi and Piazzolla together without pouffing a single period-performance eyebrow. Hmmm. Maybe this concept does work. The arrangements, many of them by La Chimera lutenists/guitarists Eduardo Egüez and Francisco Gato, are first rate, respectfully incorporating stylistic features from 17th-century Italy and more modern Argentina with colorful instrumental combinations. And the vocalists imbue everything they sing with passion, personality, and appropriate attention to this music’s secular, physical, often erotic origins. And speaking of erotic–a second look at the disc’s cover suggests an interpretation quite apart from a refined, artsy still-life and closer to one more earthly (and earthy).
In a way, it’s a good thing that there are no liner notes, no earnest, effortful, scholar-certified attempt to convince us of a direct madrigal/tango link. Instead, we can just sit back and enjoy this fabulous, from-the-heart-and-soul music, whether by Marenzio or Cavalli or Gardel or Borges. The fact is, it’s a wonderful combination of melody and rhythm and ardent vocalism–and that bandoneón really does make sense! All I can say is, enjoy! [7/31/2004]
