Transgressions: SpiriTango Quartet SpiriTango Quartet & Fanny Azzuro

• 1 Milonga Pa'la Mattina (Live) 03:35
• 2 Odeon (Live) 02:40
• 3 Tico-Tico no fubá  (Live) 03:39
• 4 Vuotonga (Live) 03:27
• 5 Cabeceo (Live) 05:37
• 6 Opale Concerto: Allegro furioso (Live) 06:54
• 7 Opale Concerto: Moderato malinconico (Live) 05:50
• 8 Opale Concerto: Allegro energico  (Live) 06:11
• 9 Impression Tango (Live) 05:51
• 10 Para Descansar: Valse (Live) 04:13
• 11 Para Descansar: Intermezzo (Live) 03:03
• 12 Para Descansar: Tango (Live) 04:39
• 13 Romance del diablo  (Live) 07:48
• 14 Camorra III (Live) 11:30
• Total Runtime 01:14:57

Info zu Transgressions: SpiriTango Quartet

After eight years of performing together, the SpiriTango Quartet nowproposes mind-blowing original versions which are almost transgressive. They bring a freshness and a novelty which goes beyond the scope of traditional tango.

Indeed most of the pieces on the album are French works from modern-day composers, adding another dash of boldness. Such was SpiriTango’s original aim: to assert themselves with a great deal of personal inspiration.

As one of many diverse transgressions, here the accordeon completely replaces the bandoneon –the emblematic tango instrument– while bringing a palette of unique colours. Returning this instrument to its rightful position has been the quartet’s challenge for many years.

At the heart of the programme, SpiriTango premieres the Opale Concerto for accordeon and orchestra, composed by Richard Galliano and arranged for a chamber orchestra performance.

We also revisit the famous Astor and his Camorra III, echoing the mafia world of his era. Piazzolla was a transgressor throughout his life and the creator of concert tango, called nuevo tango. His Romance del diablo is performed here, for the first time ever, as a quartet version. This work contains heartrending harmonies, leading to damnation.

The ensemble doesn’t only focus on famous tango pieces, but significantly promotes two young French composers, Matthieu Stefanelli and Alexandre Fontaines, through two original works: Cabeceo and Para descansar. In the world of tango and of music in general, which is male-dominated, SpiriTango has taken on another important battle: to bring female composers into the limelight. On this occasion, it is Graciane Finzi, with her Impression Tango.

Finally we are transported to Latin America with the Argentinian composer Luis Caruana through the famous Brazilian pieces Odeon and Tico-Tico. These exhilarating hits with swaying rhythms have been entirely arranged by the group. They put forward a personal version which goes beyond the codes of the classical music world.

Fanny Azzuro, piano
Thomas Chedal, acccorodion
Fanny Gallois, violin
Benoît Levesque, double bass

The SpiriTango Quartet


Closeness, friendship, enthusiasm and creativity: these four words sum up the SpiriTango Quartet.

In their seven-year existence, they have explored a huge and varied repertoire ranging through traditional tango, tango nuevo, contemporary music and first performances.

After studies at the Paris Conservatory, notably with Ami Flammer and Jean-Noël Crocq, in 2013 they released their first critically acclaimed album, Rage, devoted to the music of Astor Piazzolla. This was followed in March 2015 by a second release, Chin Chin, on the Paraty/Harmonia Mundi label, which saw them tackling other composers. This disc was selected as CD of the week by the Brazilian radio station Cultura FM. They have undertaken further study with Richard Galliano (at the Académie de Villecroze, at which they were invited), Hervé Sellin and Juan José Mosalini, as well as participating in masterclasses with the Ébène Quartet.

They have performed in venues across France and beyond (including the Metz Opera House; the Invalides, the Sorbonne, the Paris Chamber Music Centre and the Salle Cortot in Paris; the Lyon Opera Amphitheatre; the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi; the Royal Conservatory of Brussels; and the Studio Ernest Ansermet in Geneva), and have been invited to perform at numerous festivals, including the Radio France Montpellier Festival, the Sully-sur-Loire Festival, Piano Campus, les Pianissimes, Musique en Bourbonnais, Midis-Minimes and the Internationale Konzerttage Mittelrhein. They are becoming established across Europe, performing in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, and their performances are frequently broadcast by France Musique, France Inter, RFI, FIP, Radio Classique and the Swiss station Espace 2.

Their artistic focus is on original acoustic interpretations at the meeting-point of tango and chamber music, in which the rich traditions and the demands of the two musical worlds cross-fertilise one another. Moreover, with a view to developing the repertoire for their ensemble, they make a point of premiering and promoting new works by contemporary composers, with a particular emphasis on the younger generation. They have worked with Graciane Finzi, Alexandre Fontaines, Mathieu Stefanelli, Celia Triplet and Étienne Kippelen, and in 2018 they will give the first performance of a suite composed by the jazz pianist Olivier Calmel. They have also developed a special relationship with the Belgian composer Frédéric Devreese, who has arranged a number of his works for them.

After successful collaborations with the guitarist Tomas Gubitsch and the Ballet de Lorraine, they plan to present a programme of sung tango with the mezzosoprano Cecilia Meltzer and to inaugurate a partnership with the percussionist Vassilena Serafimova, while also preparing to tour South America in 2019 and 2020 and working on a new album, to be released in September 2018.

Booklet für Transgressions: SpiriTango Quartet