Ravinia 2025 Issue 6

performing ensemble founded in 1960, provided a sounding board for many of his revolutionary experiments. Though now widely praised, Piaz- zolla’s innovations originally suffered much con- demnation from “nostalgic” tango traditional- ists. However, he brushed off such criticism with the conviction that “my tango meets the present.” In 1965, Piazzolla paid dual tribute to Antonio Vivaldi’s Le quattro stagione (The Four Seasons) concertos and the Nuevo Tango of Buenos Aires in his composition Verano porteño (Summer in Buenos Aires—residents of the city are called porteños , or “people of the port”). This piece was one of his three contributions to the incidental music for Alberto Rodríguez Muñoz’s play Mele- nita de oro (Hair of Gold), along with the instru- mental tangos C’est l’amour and Al compás de los tamangos . Piazzolla composed three additional “season” pieces— Otoño porteño (autumn), Pri- mavera porteño (Spring), and Invierno porteño (Winter)—before making a live broadcast and recording of the complete Las cuatro estaciones porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) at Buenos Aires’s Teatro Regino in 1969. The original instrumentation of Las cuatro esta- ciones porteñas —bandoneón, electric guitar, violin, piano, and double bass—reflected the distinctive makeup of Piazzolla’s Quinteto Nue- vo Tango. Arrangements for other instruments began to appear as the work’s popularity grew. Italian-born Argentine cellist José Bragato (1915–2017) published his piano trio arrange- ment of Las cuatro estaciones porteñas in 1970. The Bragato family had moved from Udine, It- aly, to Buenos Aires when José was 13, seeking musical opportunities in the Argentine capi- tal. The teenager resumed piano lessons until a flood destroyed his family home—including the piano—in 1930. José next began studying cello with Ernst Peltz, a German member of the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón. By the age of 20, Bragato was concertizing as a classical cel- list with his father Enrico (flute), older brother Bruno (flute; a member of the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón), and younger brother Enrique (bassoon). His interests in folk and popular mu- sic led to membership in several Argentine tan- go and Paraguayan guarania orchestras. Bragato joined the cello section of the Orques- ta Estable del Teatro Colón and became prin- cipal cellist of the newly established Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires in 1946. Two years later, he won the principal cello position in the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón. Bragato’s reputation as a skilled classical and tango mu- sician attracted the attention of Astor Piazzolla, who invited him to join his Nuevo Tango en- sembles—Octeto Buenos Aires and Orquesta de Cuerdas—in 1955. Bragato continued to perform in various configurations of Piazzolla’s ensem- bles for more than two decades, before fleeing the bloody military dictatorship in Argentina for Brazil in 1976. DANIEL BINELLI (b. 1946) Fantasías de Buenos Aires Born in Quilmes, a coastal town located ten miles southeast of Buenos Aires, Daniel Binelli grew up immersed in tango. His father, a black- smith and amateur musician, gave Daniel his first bandoneón at age 9. The younger Binelli joined Lorenzo Barbero’s Orquesta de la Argen- tinidad at age 15: “I played with people twice my age.” Three years later, he won a contest on tele- vision Channel 13 (“El Trece”) in Buenos Aires, performing Piazzolla’s Picasso . Binelli joined the legendary Orquesta Osvaldo Pugliese, led by the revolutionary and politically controversial pia- nist Osvaldo Pugliesi, in 1968 and remained with the ensemble as bandoneón player and ar- ranger until 1982. Binelli joined Piazzolla’s Nuevo Tango Sextet in 1989, touring internationally and recording with the ensemble until Piazzolla’s death three years later. He served as music director, arrang- er, and bandoneón soloist with Tango X2, an Argentine dance company that toured interna- tionally, from 1990 until 1997. In addition, Binel- li performed with and arranged for Tango7, an ensemble based in Switzerland, during this pe- riod. His solo appearances include engagements with orchestras around the world, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Symphony, Sydney Symphony, and Tonhalle-Orchestra Zürich, among numerous others. Binelli made his debut with the Chicago Symphony, under the direc- tion of Giancarlo Guerrero, in 2019. The Fundación Konex honored Binelli with its Diploma of Merit—Tango Instrumentalist in 1995. Later, the bandoneónista was featured in the 2004 BBC documentary Tango Maestro: The Life and Music of Astor Piazzolla , and, as Mu- sical Director of Tango Metropolis, in the 2005 PBS documentary film Tango: The Spirit of Ar- gentina , produced by WLIW in New York City. Daniel Binelli A skilled composer and arranger, Binelli has written music for symphony orchestras, cham- ber ensembles, solo performers, dance compa- nies, film soundtracks, and, naturally, tango or- chestras. He released Fantasías de Buenos Aires , an album of original compositions featuring the Lincoln Trio, in 2024 on Acqua Records. Binelli dedicated the project to the late Ted Viviani, the Executive Producer of Extreme Tango. “As a composer, I have dedicated my life to ex- ploring tango in all its dimensions, from short pieces to chamber and symphonic works. In most cases, I have drawn on the rhythms of tan- go, milonga, the criollo waltz, and candombe. The latter originated in Uruguay, brought over through African immigration in the early 20th century. “ Fantasías de Buenos Aires consists of two works, each comprising three movements: The first— Fullness , Gratitude , Abundance , and the second— Rainbow I, Rainbow II, Rainbow III. These two works for piano trio were composed with virtuoso performers in mind, such as those of the Lincoln Trio. Fantasías de Buenos Aires is … inspired primarily by the city of Buenos Ai- res. In it, I’ve fused contemporary tango with symphonic rock, French music influences, and jazz, as found in cities like New York. “These compositions are a synthesis of the mu- sic of Buenos Aires: the rhythm of tango is pres- ent in Fullness , while the andante of Gratitude explores and develops contemporary music. In Abundance , the rhythm of the Buenos Aires mi- longa in 2/4 is clearly present. In Rainbows I, II, and III, I have fused tango and jazz. These three movements evoke the sonic imagery of two cos- mopolitan cities: Buenos Aires and New York.” Fantasías de Buenos Aires was nominated for the 2024 Latin Grammy for Best Classical Album. ASTOR PIAZZOLLA Café 1930 from Histoire du Tango (arranged by the Lincoln Trio) Who better to trace the “history of the tango” than the originator of Nuevo Tango—the late Ar- gentine bandoneónista Astor Piazzolla? His suite for flute and guitar entitled L’histoire du tango , written sometime before 1985 and subsequently arranged for other instrumental combinations, traces this almost century-long evolution of tan- go in a four-movement survey. Simultaneously, Piazzolla placed his own career and music within a broader historical/musical context. Bordel 1900 captures the tango’s seamy origins within the bordellos located in the slums outside Buenos Aires. Tango evolved from the milon- ga, an Argentine adaptation of an Afro-Cuban dance-song genre, the habanera. Within three decades, people of all classes had embraced the tango, even those in polite society ( Café RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 65 PETERSCHAAF