Zero hour: is it the beginning or the end of a day?
Piazzola's Tango

Tango is over one hundred years old. Controversies surround its origins. The etymology of the word is also unknown. The core of the controversy is whether the Tango originates from Africa or Europe. Some researchers believe that the word derives from the Castilian tano (to play). Others suspect an African dance behind the name. Its musical roots complicate the situation even further. The Cuban habanera and danzon, as well as the Andalusian flamenco and Southern Italian tunes characterize it just as well as African rhythms. However, most researchers agree that the first Tangos appeared in the final decades of the past century in Buenos Aires. Initially, the Tango was played on the flute, guitar and violin, but became real on the bandoneon, a musical instrument imported from Germany. Bandoneon is a variation of the accordion and the concertina, an instrument used in lieu of the organ in German churches. As opposed to the piano accordion the bandoleon, invented in 1854 by Heinrich Band, has a square casing, the buttons of the descant (principal part) and the bass part are like mirror-images; the pressing of a button sounds a single note, and there are no fixed accompanying chords. Though the bandoleon was a diatonic instrument to begin with, a chromatic version was created in the last phase of its development.

Buenos Aires became the capital of Argentina in 1880. Its grand boulevards, flanked by trees on both sides, a developed electrical power network and good public transport all predestined the city to become the Paris of Latin-America. Immigrants from Italy and Spain flocked to the capital city. The Tango was the dance of the streets, especially during the so-called Old Guard period, ending around the Twenties. To these people Tango was a relief from their every-day miseries, it made them forget the burning pains of homesickness, and the sensuous music made them believe themselves to be irresistible, strong and masculine. Tangos were danced primarily in the brothels of Buenos Aires. As brothels were ordered to close down, the Tango moved to the cafes, cabarets and theaters, marking a new era of the Tango - the New Guard. Its focus shifted from the working class people to the middle class, and although it continued to be a dance, the attention shifted to the performance, the soloists and the lyrics. This was the golden age of the Tango, during which dozens of charismatic performers were raised, among them the most famous Carlos Gardel.

At the same time, during the inter-war period, Europe and particularly Paris became the second home of the Tango. This music was more passionate and wild than one had ever heard before, filled with disillusionment, pain and subliminal sexual desire. It was also during the Golden Age that the first recordings of Tango were published on disks. Max Glucksmann, a German immigrant in Buenos Aires and an agent for Odeon Records, produced and distributed the Tango on disks en masse in Argentina and Europe alike. Leading Tango singers, like Rudolph Valentino and Gardel, mentioned above, became celebrated film stars. Poor Gardel died in a plane crash at the age of forty eight in 1935, soon after he had commissioned a thirteen-year-old boy from Argentina, currently in New York, to participate in his film entitled El dia que me quieras. The young man was called Astor Piazzola and, within two decades, he became the key figure in developing the New Guard, the creator of the new tango.

Piazzola was born in Mar del Plata in 1921, but was raised in the Bronx. In 1937, he moved back to Argentina and settled in Buenos Aires, where he was second bandoneonist in the tango band of Anibal Troilo. In 1940, he met Arthur Rubinstein who was touring in Buenos Aires at the time. Rubinstein introduced him to Alberto Ginastera. Piazzola spent six years as Ginastera's pupil, familiarizing himself with the contemporary music of the time. He composed dozens of symphonies, concertos, sonatas and pieces of chamber music - completely distancing himself from the world of the Tango. When in 1954, as the first prize winner of a music competition he received a scholarship to study at Nadia Boulanger, he was outright ashamed to reveal that he started his career as a bandoneonist and played Tango in cabarets. It was Ms. Boulanger who convinced Piazzola to return to the Tango. When in 1961, he founded Quinteto Nuevo Tango, the New Tango was born in Buenos Aires. His efforts were received by mixed critiques, to say the least. He was convinced that the Tango had European roots. From dance halls he moved the Tango, interwoven with elements borrowed from the Italian opera, American jazz and contemporary music, to the concert halls. It has become clear that with Piazzola the Golden Age ended, and the message of the New Tango was equally relentless.

Although after the military coup he fled to Paris in 1976, and stayed there until 1982, many new tango bands seeking new approaches were formed in Argentina. Upon his return to Buenos Aires, he “gave in”. In 1985, when Piazzola was an internationally acclaimed composer/performer, he was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Buenos Aires. Up until his death caused by a stroke in 1992, he made over forty albums, and collaborated with Jorge Louis Borges, Jeanne Moreau, Gerry Mulligan and the Kronos Quartet, leaving his trace on various genres of music. In his view, his best album was the Tango: Zero Hour, published in 1986, depicting the identical dramatic moments of the absolute end and the absolute beginning. (But the La Muerte del Ángel, the Luna, The Vienna Concert, the Concerto Para Bandoneon / Tres Tangos and the Five Tango Sessions made together with the Kronos Quartet, are equally popular).

The passionate quality of the Piazzola pieces inspired not only Gidon Kremer and Yo-Yo Ma, but also the outstanding violinist Eduard Okoun, who invited those internationally acclaimed musicians with whom he had been in close artistic connection for several years to join the Okoun Ensemble, which was founded in May 2000. The repertoire of the ensemble ranges from baroque to contemporary chamber music, and these pieces are presented in the most varied assemblage of instruments.

The Okoun Ensemble continuously strives to win over new circles of listeners to genres other than classical. In this hommage to Astor Piazzola they chose pieces which on the one hand present a cross-section of Piazzola's oeuvre, on the other hand provide excellent opportunities for re-arrangement for the quintet supplemented by a string quartet and percussions. (The Four Seasons, Oblivion, Buenos Aires Hora 0 or La Muerte del Angel are at the same time among the most popular of Piazzola's compositions.) And though the title piece Oblivion may suggest otherwise, with this obeisance to the composer, the father of the New Tango, they are certain to recruit new enthusiasts.

Távolodó László Marton

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Soloists of the Quintet

Eduard Okoun (1972, Latvia) Took his first violin lesson at the age of 5. From 1980 to 1990, soloist (violin) of top orchestras in the Soviet Union. Has been living in Austria since 1990, where he launched his international soloist career. As a chamber musician he collaborated with well-known partner musicians such as Wolfgang Schulz, Karl Leister, Cyprien Katsaris, Martin Lovett and Alexander Lonquich. He was appointed concertmaster and artistic director of the Salzburg Chamber Orchestra in 1995. Through his commitment to music and artistic flair, the orchestra has become well known worldwide. Together with internationally famed musicians he founded the Okoun Ensemble in May 2000.

Alfred Melichar (1975, Austria) Completed his studies in Vienna and Warsaw. As bandoneonist and accordionist, he gave concerts with reputable orchestras, including the Dutch Radio Orchestra, the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra (Salzburg), the Ensemble Wiener College, and the Austrian New Music Ensemble, and made several records and radio recordings. He taught at the Bruckner Conservatorium (Linz), and conducted international seminars. His repertoire includes mainly contemporary music, and he has participated in the world premiere of pieces by Friedrich Cerha, Violeta Dinescu, Dieter Kaufmann, Tera de Marez Oyens, Karmella, Tsepkolenko, Erich Urbanner.

Ivo Jordanov (1973, Bulgaria) Studied contrabass at the Stara Zagora Music School and with Professor J. Niederhammer at the Viennese Music Academy. In 1992, he became member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, led by Claudio Abbado. He performed with almost every Viennese orchestra and chamber orchestra. Has been living in Salzburg since 1997, and is member of the Mozarteum Orchestra (Salzburg), and the Austrian New Music Ensemble.

Lisa Smirnova (1972, Russia) Studied with, among others, Anna Kantor, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Maria Curcio in Moscow, Salzburg and London. She made her debut in Carnegie Hall (New York) at the age of 20. Since then, she has toured Japan, and regularly appears in various prestigious European concert halls (the Concertgebow in Amsterdam, the Wigmore Hall in London, and the Wiener Konzerthaus). She is invited to major international festivals (the Salzburg Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Lucerne International Festival of Music). Her partners in chamber music performances include Clemens Hagen, Thomas Zehetmair, Benjamin Schmid and the Belcanto Strings Trio.

Wolfgang Pointner (1966, Austria) Studied at the Guitar Institute in Munich, and continued his musical education with Mike Stern, Joe Diorio and Attila Zoller in 1993-94. Founder of the Wolfgang Pointer Trio (1994); their CD, entitled Trinity, came out in 1998. Gave concerts together with Attila Zoller, Don Friedman, Santi Debriano, Ingrid Jensen, Allen Praskin, Lee Harper, Wayne Darling, Erich Bachträgl, Bobby Shew, Bob Mintzer, John Hammond, and Carl Drevo.