Don Agustin Bardi (1947) by Horacio Salgan (1916) is performed here by the CT Tango Ensemble during the run of Tango Show El Beso during December 2004 at The Little Theatre – Cape Town.

Stanislav Angelov – Accordion
Jacek Domagala – Violin
Albert Combrink – Piano

 


Salgan only put together his first orchestra in 1944. About it, he confessed:
“The idea of forming it was, in a way, linked to music composing. I began to compose because I wanted to play tango in a pre-established way. I didn’t want to be a composer but to play tangos the way I liked. The same happened with the orchestra. As I liked to play tangos in my own style, the only possible way was having my own group. Then I put it together. There are people who enjoy being bandleaders but I was interested in my pianistic vocation. I had no intention of creating anything”.

A French music critic wrote in “Le Monde” of Paris:
«The orchestras led by Salgán in the years 1944 to 1957 widen the traditional form of tango, deal with the rhythmical aspect in depth and add to it a “Black touch”, creating a new kind of tango trend deeply rooted in its tradition but receptive to Bartók, Ravel, jazz and Brazilian music».

Horacio Salgan (1916) wrote the piece as a musical tribute to another Tango Musician from the previous generation, Agustin Bardi (1884-1941). Meticulous in the detail of his appearance, so was Don Agustin Bardi as a musician. Known as a violinist, guitarist and pianist and composed roughly 70 Tangos. He left school after the Third Grade, but was educated musically by an uncle. Obviously unusually gifted, he joined the orchestra Los Artisanos at the age of 8!

Salgan and Bardi seem to my mind to share a certain “purist” approach to the Tango, preferring straight-rhythmed dance-tangos to the aural choreography of the innovations of Tango Nuevo. Despite their deliberate attempts at containing the basic elements of the traditional tango intact, they none-the-less created a substantial body of very good music that is not only still danced, but continually re-arranged and re-invented by modern performers such as the CT Tango Ensemble.

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EL BESO was produced by El Cacha Dance Company, directed by Heinrich Reisenhofer. 8 Dancers were led by Nur Dreyer and Cherona Reisenhofer-Dreyer. The show was choreographed by Mareli Schroter with live music by the Cape Town Tango Ensemble joined by the Argentinean singer Juan Simon. The ladies’ costumes were personally designed and created by top South African and international couturier Jenni Button.

Visit the show’s producers at El Cacha, with brances in Cape Town SA and Nürtingen, Deutschland . To book or buy CT Tango Ensemble CDs go to Good Music World or E-mail Albert.

Download FREE SHEET MUSIC of Don Agustin Bardi by Horacio Salgan, provided by the Mother of all Tango Sites