We recently recorded our string duet of the famous tango La Cumparsita by Rodriguez. Here are Roger’s comments:
Music is not always beautiful. Music is real. It is alive. Music is something from the soul and any copy will not have the same vitality as an original idea. When Jo and I rehearse we are thrown into a drama. Do we agree? Do we argue? You will see this in the drama in La Cumparsita on our website video. First we argued, yes. Was it sexy? Was it sad? Well, we took opposite corners in this and fought it out; not with words, but in the performance.
Following the violinists improvised opening there’s a powerful claim on the senses from the cello … how can the violinist follow this passionate cry? The violinist moved into the character then, not of the overbearing pride of the man – determined to assert himself at all costs – but as if seeing into the sorrow that the tango also depicts as the sad, haunted world of such a dancer. It was here that I found the soul of the music dwelt; always to be matched and occasionally mastered by the sensuous cello playing. RS
