al TANGO
The music of the orchestra, as its Spanish name says, invites you to dance tango
al Tango: History
al Tango was created in 2004 by Paweł Wawrzyk, manager of the band, author and producer of its concert programmes, fascinated with tango music and dance for many years.
al Tango is formed by the students and graduates from Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland:
Piotr Rafałko vocal;
Christian Danowicz violin;
Jarosław Kutera accordeon;
Robert Morawski piano;
Marcin Maciejewski double bass;
al Tango: Style and Character
The band plays dancing and concert genres of tango (tango salón, milonga, tango – vals, tango – canción), in vocal and instrumental arrangements.
al Tango gets inspiration from the reach international tango tradition. Most of the pieces were created during the Golden Tango Era (1920-1940), but the band offers contemporary pieces and compositions written at the request of al Tango as well.
The musical style of al Tango joins nostalgia of Osvaldo Pugliese and Aníbal Troilo’s tango orchestras, a romantic spirit a Polish composer Jerzy Petersburski put in his tango pieces and rebellious, emotional music of Astor Piazzolla with contemporary ironic attitude.
al Tango’s repertoire contains modern, or even vanguard, arrangements of old tangos.
An expressive voice of Piotr Rafałko contributes to the unforgettable atmosphere of al Tango’s concerts.
al Tango: Achievements
al Tango debuted in June 2004 at the concert on the fifth anniversary of Warsaw Milonga. Since then, the band has given numerous performances in theatres and clubs, at the open-air and dancing events organised by the Academy of Argentinian Tango in Warsaw.
The band took part in many festivals in Poland, e.g.:
- 61st International Chopin Piano Festival Duszniki Zdrój 2006,
- At the IInd National Retro Song Festival in Cracow (2005), al Tango was awarded the Golden Leaf prize.
- IIIrd Festival of Ibero-American Culture in Warsaw,
- IInd International Music Festival „Costrinella”,
- Ist International Argentinian Tango Festival in Łódź.
- XXIInd Organ and Chamber Music Festival in Słupsk,
In summer 2005, al Tango gave a cycle of concerts with Warsaw Young Orchestra Sinfonia Artis, applauded with great enthusiasm by the public. The repertoire consisted of tangos: La Cumparsita; Caminito (Little Path); To ostatnia niedziela (The Last Sunday); Tango milonga (Oh, Donna Clara); Chitarra Romana (Roman Guitar); Ich Küsse Ihre Hand Madame (I’m Kissing Your Hand, Madame); Jesienne tango (Polish version of Argetinian Nostalgias); Przytul, uściśnij, pocałuj…(Hug, Cherish, Kiss); Счастье моё (My Darling); Taquito militar (A Military Tap); El Tango De Roxanne (Tango du Moulin Rouge), and many others.
In 2005, al Tango made its first appearance on the radio and TV, performing live at the concert in Radio Białystok Studio. al Tango was also a guest star in a Polish Radio 2 programme “Nokturn” (Nocturn) and a TV programme “Kawa czy herbata?” (Coffee or tea?).
al Tango shoots video-clips and makes live audio-visual recordings of its concerts.
al Tango cooperates with tango dancers whose performance gives an extraordinary ambience to the concerts.