José Serebrier - Tango in Blue: Orchestral Tangos (2005)

There's a tendency to classify composers of the twentieth century as progressives and conservatives. Some certainly qualify for these designations, but it's actually more helpful to regard twentieth century music as a field of competing ideas, of "isms," that swept successively across the musical landscape and influenced most composers at one time or another. Most composers, for instance, tried their hands at serialism. Conversely, even Schoenberg, grimly devoted to advancing the art of music, wrote cabaret songs (the Brettl-Lieder). And, as this enjoyable album shows, quite a few composers succumbed to the international allure of the tango. The variety of the 14 orchestral tangos here (a few have lyrics) is the main appeal. There's Stravinsky's muttering Tango of 1940 (played here in a 1953 orchestration), surely the least sensuous tango ever composed. Erik Satie's "Tango perpétuel" from Sports et divertissements cleverly takes up and manipulates the tango's motoric quality. There's a South American tango classic (La cumparsita), an exaggeration of the classic tango style (Jacob Gade's Tango jalousie), two Kurt Weill tango songs, two very different treatments of the tango idea by Morton Gould, two of Piazzolla's darker tango pieces, and more. Conductor José Serebrier contributes two tangos of his own (one of them is "Casí un tango" -- almost a tango); they're not on a level with the rest of the music, but they serve well as a curtain-raiser and intermission. Serebrier and the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra remain sensitive to the various styles involved rather than blaring their way through. This disc recommends itself especially to students in classes covering music of the twentieth century; it's really an instant term paper contained in a CD case. Tango lovers and general pops repertoire listeners will also find it a worthwhile buy or gift.