Tango anyone?
by Tom Aldridge
Classical Tom Aldridge IVCI Laureate Series Clowes Memorial Hall April 8 As Hispanic culture inculcates itself more and more into our cultural melting pot, we should expect — and strive — to experience greater exposure to music from south of the border. Perhaps a bit surprising, given its specific charter, the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis sponsored — as its next-to-last program in their Laureate Series — a concert of tango music from a singer, two dancers and a five-player instrumental complement. The reason: 1998 fourth-place laureate Svetlin Roussev is the violinist of the group, calling themselves Tanguísimo. Being given special billing for his laureate status in the program booklet neither separated Roussev from his fellow players nor gave him special solo opportunities; he was just one of the boys. The others were baritone José Luís Barreto, bandonionist (a keyboardless accordion) Eduardo Garcia, violist and guitarist Ludovic Michel, doublebassist Romain Lecuyer and pianist Luc Michel. The dancers, who dominated the proceedings when on stage, were Adrian Veredice and Alejandra Hobert. Barreto acted as the MC, peripatetically moving about the stage — and into the audience — with his cordless microphone and his somewhat strained humor. The players were all individually miked, with the amplification needed — and effective — in Clowes’ large acoustic space. More in the form of a “show” or an entertainment with special lighting effects and spotlights for Barreto and the dancers, the MC introduced some of the selections while others blended into one another; none were given in the program booklet. And, as Barreto gave the titles in rapid Spanish, I cannot share with you their names, or their composers — with the exception of the great Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla, who was, of course, well-represented. In fact, his sad, touchingly erotic “Oblivion” ended the first half. Eroticism was, in fact, a big part of the program, mostly residing with the dancers. While Veredice wore various formal suits, Hobert — the program’s only female — dressed in a succession of alluring, colorful gowns with her hair pinned up, then let down. Her movements dominated the tango-centered choreography, her legs wrapping and unwrapping around various parts of her partner’s torso smoothly and supplely. Given a standing ovation, the show was polished and entertaining from start to finish. Maybe next time we can hear more of Roussev.
