Tango becomes Electra
Theatregoer's choice
Por Alfredo Cernadas Quesada
BUENOS AIRES HERALD. Viernes 12 de septiembre de 2003
Greek mythology has been the source of countless theatrical works, spoken, sung and/or danced since the dawn of the theatre. Several episodes related to the Iliad were turned into tragedies, such as the saga of the ill-fated members of the House of Atreus.
The murder of Agamemnon inspired Sophocles and Aeschylus to write works that in turn inspired many playwrights and composers (O'Neill, De Cecco, gluck, Strauss, Milhaud). Including Betty Gambartes, who adapted Sergio De Cecco's play El reñidero (The cockfight ring) and, with the collaboration of Diego Vila, turned it into a tango opera, Orestes.
It all started when Gambartes was approached by Ricardo Klapwijk, who had been asked to present an original tango work at the World Music Theatre Festival that takes place in the Netherlands. Incidentally, Ricardo was the male half of the famous Ricardo & Nicole Dutch tango dancing duo whose members met in Buenos Aires and for years showed that dance all over the world. Now the duo has split and Ricardo is a producer of shows. Gambartes proved quite an appropriate choice for she has ample experience as a musician (she was a concert pianist for several years), director and writer. In fact, her Discepolín, based ion tango lyricist and composer Enrique Santos Discépolo has been playing to full houses in the Teatro Alvear since its premier.
She turned to composer Diego Vila, also an experienced and talented theatrical musician, who had already collaborated with her on several successful occasions. They actually had already been toying with the idea of Antigone but they eventually came across De Cecco's drama and decided it was what they needed. The work is based on the story of Elena and set in a seedy Porteño neighbourhood in the early 1900s, involving typical knife-wielding guapos and malevos (tough guys) and their moral codes. The cockfighting ring symbolizes the world in which the characters are trapped. Gambartes rewrote the text and Vila composed a score for a tango sextet and the rest is history.
The work met with resounding critical and public acclaim wherever it was staged and one of the cast members, mezzo Susanna Moncayo, offered the production of Orestes to Buenos Aires Lírica, who will present the local premiere next Thursday 18 al 8pm, with the original cast. A luxury cast, in fact: it's headed by Julia Zenko, who has already been much admired in the title role of Piazzolla's María de Buenos Aires, as the vengeful Elena (Electra); Carlos Vittori, the unforgettable Jean Valjean of Les misérables, as Orestes; Rodolfo Valss, one of the best local actor-singers, is cast as Morales, their father's killer, and Moncayo is Nélida, her lover and the sibling's mother. No less than Oscar Araiz is in charge of the choreography and the ubiquitous Mini Zuccheri designed the costumes. Needless to say, Gambartes directs and Vila conducts. Other performances are schedule on Sunday 21 and 28 at 6pm and Friday 26 and Saturday 27 at 8pm, at the Teatro Avenida (Avda. De Mayo 1222). |
