[Tango-L] Review of Ensemble Hyperion at Brussels Tango Festival

[Hippy Bogus]

Hi Shahrukh,

I second your opinion. I attended the first four days of the festival, and I
thought the musicians on Friday and Saturday night were excellent, and in
particular Hyperion and Alfredo Marcucci.

Hyperion also performed a free concert at the Grand Place (or Central
Square) of Brussels the next evening, but I unfortunately missed it.

What did you think about the festival organization and the level of
performances? It was my first proper tango festival (having danced for 2
years mostly in Western Europe).

Abrazos
Hippy


On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 11:16 PM, Shahrukh Merchant <
shahrukh at shahrukhmerchant.com> wrote:

> By a quirk of fate (and OK, some personal schedule manipulation on my
> part :-)), I happened to be at the Brussels Tango Festival, which just
> ended yesterday.
>
> I may (or not ... since it would take a while to write ...) make the
> time to post some observations on the festival, but until then, I feel I
> really need to mention the "featured orchestra" of the festival,
> ENSEMBLE HYPERION -- see their website at www.ensemblehyperion.com
> (mostly in Italian). (They are not to be confused with the similarly
> named "Hyperion Ensemble," which is a chamber music ensemble out of
> Salzburg.)
>
> Undoubtedly, they are well-known to European festival goers, but I had
> never heard them (nor, I admit, of them). They are based out of Italy
> and are simply one of the best Tango orchestras I have ever danced to
> (and sacrilege though it may be to say, better than most out of Buenos
> Aires, at least the ones that play at Milongas there)! (Those who know
> me know that I do not make superlative recommendations like this
> lightly, if at all.)
>
> Their actually play SEVERAL golden-era orchestras convincingly
> (especially Pugliese, but Di Sarli and Donato as well, to name just a
> few), and are excellent musicians.
>
> The ensemble comprised one bandoneon (Alfredo Marcucci, who is really
> excellent and a passionate player), two violins, piano, guitar,
> transverse flute and bass. Franco Luciani joined in on some pieces with
> harmonica (gives Hugo Diaz a run for his money ...). They did NOT have a
> vocalist (which admittedly would be a very tricky addition--perhaps they
> are smart in not including one), but I did not really miss that since
> the DJ'ed music had an abundance of the classic vocals.
>
> I would suggest that North American and Asian Tango organizers consider
> inviting them, or coordinate amongst each other (okay, so I'm an
> idealist :-)) so they can justify a North American or Asian regional tour.
>
> Also, while I have not heard any of their recordings on CD, Tango DJs
> may wish to review their recordings to add to the very thinly populated
> genre of "convincing modern recordings of classic-era arrangements."
>
> Shahrukh
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