AFTER a taster of Finnish tango in 2012, this lesser known musical genre will return to the Slovak capital on May 28.
This time, instead of a more intimate, smaller band, famous Finnish tango singer Harri Kaitila will perform with Mikko Helenius (FIN) on bandoneon, Miriam Rodriguez Brüllová (SK) on guitar, Marián Svetlík on violin, with the entire Symphonic Orchestra of the Slovak Radio (SOSR), conducted by Mario Košik.
The programme of the May 28 concert, which starts at 19:00 in the building of Slovak Radio on Mýtna 1, will include works of Finnish and Argentinean composers (including several by Astor Piazzolla) and the ‘Slovak Tango’ by Igor Bázlik.
Finnish soloist, tenor Kaitila, explained for The Slovak Spectator the special aspects of his homeland’s brand of tango: “Finnish tangos are very romantic and emotional, but the feelings are more hidden and not as explosive as in Argentinean tangos,” he said. “The tempos of Finnish tangos are normally slower, and the melody line, written in minor, goes down. In Argentinean tangos it is common for the melody line to be written in Major and to go up!”
“The Finnish tango is a mix of Russian romance and German march, i.e. military music,” he continued. “It is a simple variant of the Argentinean tango, easy to dance, so that the Finnish man and the Finnish woman walk slowly in the rhythm of tango, get close to each other and only listen to the words! They don’t have to talk to each other, and that is the perfect way, especially for him, to get close to her. And she has absolutely nothing against it!”
Admission is free, but due to the limited capacity of the room tickets for the 7th concert of the SOSR in the 2013/2014 season should be booked or pre-arranged in advance via the branches of Ticketportal (in Radlinského 27, Polus City Center, Avion, Aupark Bratislava). More information can be found on allevents.in, the website of the Slovak Radio, or on Facebook.
