Rubinstein on Tango

Renowned Polish pianist Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982) plays excerpts from a few tangos and discusses his early exposure to the genre. From the documentary "L'amour de la Vie" (1969).

Horacio Salgán (1916-2016), the great Argentine pianist, composer and conductor, refers to this footage in an interview with Oscar Himschoot. Relevant excerpts:

"In the early days, there were very outstanding people such as [Agustín] Bardi and [Eduardo] Arolas. If we choose some of Bardi's compositions, we shall find that they have such an extraordinary lyrical character that I recently started to do something that in that past would have seemed to me too audacious. I have begun to make an evaluation of their qualities in comparison with those of the great geniuses of world music. And I find that Arolas, Bardi, [Juan Carlos] Cobián and others have reached a height comparable with that of the greatest composers of the world. Not in the development or symphonic building nor in long-breath works, but in the creation of melodies.

"That point of view is not only a personal thought. There is a film named "For the Love of Life" in which Arthur Rubinstein in person tells us his life and he plays two or three tangos and says that when he hears a tango he is moved to the extreme of tears. In the movie he plays a part of a tango and he asks if that number is not at the level of a sonata by Beethoven. It is a movie where Rubinstein speaks in French.

"About this I can tell you that Rubinstein likes Argentine popular music very much. In the December number of Revista Clásica edited in Buenos Aires, appears an interview to Lalo Schiffrin in New York, who says that he is writing a work in which one of its movements is referred to tango. And he says that tango has reached a height so that it cannot be considered simply a popular music any longer. He mentions Oscar Peterson, an incredible pianist, and I have the luck that he says that he played my tango Don Agustín Bardi before Rubinstein who enjoyed it so much to the point of asking him a copy to study it. And he even says that when he visited Stravinsky in his place, he was then very old and in a wheelchair, the great maestro asked him to play my music."

Spanish original:

"En los primeros tiempos había gente de gran valía como eran Bardi y Arolas. Si tomamos algunos temas de Bardi vamos a encontrar que tienen un vuelo lírico tan extraordinario que últimamente me he puesto a hacer algo que antes me parecía atrevido. Me he puesto a hacer un balance de sus méritos comparados con los grandes genios de la música universal. Y me encuentro con que Arolas, Bardi, Cobián y otros han llegado a una gran altura comparable con los más grandes compositores del mundo. No en el desarrollo o factura sinfónica ni en obras de largo aliento, pero sí en la creación de melodías.

"Esta apreciación no es sólo un hecho personal. Hay una película titulada "Por Amor a la Vida", donde Arturo Rubinstein cuenta personalmente en cámara, su vida y en la que toca dos o tres tangos y dice que cuando escucha un tango se emociona hasta las lágrimas. Y toca en el filme una palie de un tango y pregunta si ese tema no es digno de una sonata de Beethoven. Es una película hablada en francés por Rubinstein.

"A todo esto puedo contarles el aprecio de Rubinstein por la música popular Argentina. En el número de diciembre de la Revista Clásica editada en Buenos Aires, aparece un reportaje a Lalo Schiffrin en Nueva York, quien dice estar haciendo una obra donde uno de sus movimientos se refiere al tango. Y dice que el tango ha llegado a una altura que no se lo puede considerar sólo una música popular. Nombra a Oscar Peterson un pianista increíble y tengo la suerte de que cuente que tocó mi tango Don Agustín Bardi delante de Rubinstein quien se entusiasmó tanto que se lo pidió para estudiarlo. Y dice además que cuando iba a la casa de Stravinsky, ya viejito y en sillón de ruedas, el gran maestro le pedía que tocara musica mia."

Видео Rubinstein on Tango канала Pablo Stafforini