Tango and the End of Civilization

This evening I heard Hector del Curto's Eternal Tango Quintet at the Main Squeeze Accordion Festival in Riverside Park.

Photo by Maria A. Dering

The program was arranged beautifully, a mix of classic and new tangos, starting and ending with driving arrangements of merciless Astor Piazzolla compositions. Listening to these pieces made me think of fin de siecle Vienna, Gustav Mahler, all the doomed heroes of Thomas Mann, Evita Peron, and the dark corners of history. Especially in the 1920s and 1930s, tango seemed to be a harbinger of the end of civilization ...

Photo by Maria A. Dering

Saved by music??

To hear clips of del Curto's group, visit http://www.hectordelcurto.com/eternaltango_project.html

Take heart!