The legendary bandoneonist Rodolfo Mederos joins Director Olivier Ochanine and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra for their last concert of the 32nd Classics Season at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) on April 24 at 8:00PM.
The collaboration comes as a result of the partnership between the Argentinian Ambassador Roberto Bosch and PPO Music Director Olivier Ochanine, and is supported by Zenaida Tantoco, board member of the CCP.
It will be a night to remember as the program includes an international mix of Ravel’s ‘Alborada del Gracioso’, Respighi’s ‘Pines of Rome’, and the segment featuring Mederos on various tangos and milongas from South America, with accompaniment of the PPO.
In 2000, Mederos was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award in the category of Best Tango Album for Eterno Buenos Aires (1999), which featured him performing with a quintet comprised also of pianist Hernán Posetti, violinist Damián Bolotín, guitarist Armando de la Vega, and double bassist Sergio Rivas. His successive two albums Las Veredas de Saturno (2000) won a Gardel Award in 2001 while Tangos (2000), a collaborative album with Nicolás “Colacho” Brizuela, earned a Latin Grammy Award nomination in 2001. Mederos commenced the Comunidad-Intimidad-Soledad trilogy — Comunidad (2006), Intimidad (2007), and Soledad (2007) — the first entry in which earned him a Latin Grammy Award nomination for Best Tango Album in 2007.
Aside from being a performer, Mederos is also a biologist, filmmaker, carpenter, teacher and collector. According to his official website, his forceful personality has produced a profound effect on tango, developing a style fraught with popular essence and emotion, and drawing from every single note he strikes a myriad of deep roots and good taste. He has never conceived tango to be a mere local expression, unlike other genres of folk compositions. As a composer, Mederos covers the gamut from popular to symphonic pieces for different instrumental groups. As a performer, he expresses deep-felt musicality. In addition, he has also carved out a career as a teacher and writer of both bandoneon-related matters as well as tango composition and orchestration.
The bandoneon, which Mederos performs with, is a type of concertina (a free-reed musical instrument similar to the accordion and the harmonica) particularly popular in Argentina, Uruguay, and Lithuania.
Ticket prices are P1,500/P1,200/P800/P500//P300, with discounts available to students, senior citizens and groups. Subscription packages are also available for eight (8) or four (4) shows.
For inquiries and subscriptions, call the CCP Marketing Department (832-1125 loc. 1804), the CCP Box Office (832-3704) or Ticketworld at National Bookstore (891-9999).
