As soon as I saw the announcement for a Piazzolla concert I immediately knew that I wanted to go. The love of this type of music was ingrained in me since I was very young. My mother was no great pianist but she enjoyed both playing the piano and listening to it. In the winter months, just before 5pm when my father was due to return from the office, she would sit at the piano and play. Once he arrived we sat down at the kitchen table for tea en famille.
One music book in which my father had had bound sheets of music, contained both Italian as well as South American sheet music. My mother would play some tangos from it as well as parts of Liszt's Rhapsody No 2 which she loved.
Where did that exotic music come from? It turns out that my paternal uncle who was both artistic and adventurous, had visited Buenos Aires in May 1935 as a young man. There he bought a couple of musical instruments including a mandolin and a guitar which we played with when too young and destroyed, string by string. My uncle also bought sheet music, some for violin (which he played together with the mandolin and guitar) and other pieces for the piano. According to the rubber stamp on the sheet music the name of the music shop was Breyer & Porfirio. According to the internet Hermanos Breyer have been building pianos in Argentina since 1882. Enough autobiography.
It was full house at the Robert Sammut Hall on 2 April and people were still enquiring about tickets even as we were queuing. There was an air of expectancy and indeed, even gaiety. Everyone was relaxed. For me it was a special day as I had not been to a public concert since before the pandemic.
The Arcana quintet was going to entertain us that evening. It is formed by Karl Galea (guitar), Marco Agnetti (double bass), Giancarlo Palena (bandoneon/accordion), Wayne Marshall (piano) and Fiorella Camilleri (flute).
Wayne Marshall's wife, Jennifer and their two children, Martina and James, her mother and father, Rita and Mario, were present together with many young people and a number of personalities.
Needless to say both James and Martina have inherited the music gene for Jennifer herself, as we know is a world pianist. Or perhaps I should say was as she is now a stay-at-home mum since Wayne is so much in demand. But they do join him whenever possible.
When it came to the programme there were eight pieces played, among them two of the most famous: Libertango and Oblivion. The others were: Le Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas; Milonga del Ángel; Resurrección del Ángel and Michelangelo 70.
The audience stood up and clapped rapturously at the end of the concert and asked for Oblivion to be played as encore.
I have to mention that Fiorella on the flute and Giancarlo Palena on the bandoneon were truly outstanding.
The musicians were totally relaxed throughout the evening and thoroughly enjoying themselves, too. For all his fame Wayne Marshall is totally approachable and friendly. His musical knowledge is enormous, as can be expected. I interviewed him some two years ago. His music gene is inherited from both his parents. "My father sang in the church choir and my mother played the piano," I remember him telling me. He was born in Lancashire to parents originally from Barbados who arrived in Britain in 1958. He was a star in the making right from the start. His sisters are both professional musicians.
Both Wayne and Giancarlo Palena on the bandoneon, sometimes commented on a piece which helped the audience to appreciate it better.
I hope there will be more evenings like this. I would love to attend an evening of Ernesto Lecuona's music. Surely there is someone who can organise such an evening?
[email protected]