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Bilkent Symphony Orchestra Concert Notes for February 12
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Program for Tuesday, February 12
Conductor: I. Ionescu Galati
Mezzo-soprano: Sophie Pondjiclis
Baritone: Roberto Abbondanza
Bandoneon: Hector Ulises Passarella
Piano: Luis Bacalov
Ministry of Culture State Polyphonic Chorus
Chorus Master: Ýbrahim Yazýcý
L. Bacalov / ”Misa Tango” and “Tangosain”
A. Piazzolla - L. Bacalov / “Adios Nonino” and “Libertango”
Bilkent Concert Hall, 8 p.m. For more information and reservations, call 266-4382.
Pianist and composer Luis Bacalov was born in 1933, in Buenos Aires, where at the age of five he began his music education. Starting his concert career in Argentina, Bacalov researched popular music all over Latin America and worked in this field for the Radio and Television of Colombia, for which he also performed and recorded 19th and 20th century American repertoire for the piano.
From the 1960’s onward, Luis Bacalov has been an active composer for cinema in Italy, France and the United States. In addition to his activities as a composer, Luis Bacalov continues to perform extensively throughout Europe and Latin America as a soloist with the orchestra. He also performs as a recitalist and as a member of his own quartet: piano, bandondeon, percussion and double-bass. During 2000, Deutsche Grammphon released one album dedicated soley to Luis Bacalov. The recording includes his “Misa Tango” and “Tangosaín” for piano and orchestra and his own arrangements of Astor Piazzola’s “Adiós Nonino” and “Libertango” with Bacalov as a soloist. The “Misa Tango” dates from 1997, and, in a way, the experience of displacement can also be seen at the core of this highly ambitious and successfully realized piece. The title in itself suggests as much, and while it might seem a contradiction, it is no more contradictory than that of Rossini’s “Petite Messe Solennelle.” If Rossini can combine solemnity and smallness in the same piece, why shouldn’t Bacalov be able to dance in a mass? It is commonly viewed as a major short coming that the Christian tradition has driven dance out of the liturgy. God is praised through dance in many of the religions through out the world. In the Islamic tradition, the Old Testament, and especially in Gospel music, dance is an intrinsic part of the celebration.
The mass, while comprising the 5 traditional sections, is in contemporary, Spanish, instead of the usual Latin. Melodies, which are short, accessible and folk-like, move over gentle tango rhythms played by the orchestra, with the solo bandoneon featured. Pretty tunes and the tango beat prevail. This recording has been nominated for the 2001 version of the Latin Grammy Awards in the category of classical music.
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