Saturday, May 31 (5:00 PM), in the Ridotto Gavazzeni of Teatro Donizetti, marks the beginning of the fourth edition of Il Centro della Musica, a series organized by the Teatro Donizetti Foundation in collaboration with the Department of Social Policies of the Municipality of Bergamo. There will be a total of six concerts, always scheduled on Saturday afternoons until July 7, which represent a precious opportunity to enter the city’s main theater, and the space named after a great conductor, on an unusual day and time. An original way to experience the city center, combining the magic of music with being together in the theater.

It begins with a journey into the ever-evocative world of Argentine tango and with the Ensemble of the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra, formed for the occasion by Andrea Coruzzi, bandoneon and accordion, Cesare Carretta, violin, and Nicola Ziliani, double bass.

Tango is a musical genre that originated in the early 1900s; the instrument that most characterizes it, invented in the 19th century by the German Henrich Band and from which it took its name, is the bandoneon. This instrument was used to replace the harmonium in religious functions and, thanks to its small size, traveled on the ships of European migrants seeking economic fortune in Argentina. But it is in the estuary of the Mar del Plata, between Buenos Aires and Montevideo, that tango originated, in an incredible and unique cultural blend between America, Europe, and Africa. It had enormous commercial success and, through the growing production of 78 rpm records, spread to Europe and Italy, enriching the vast tradition of Italian song. What then happened thanks to the great Astor Piazzolla was a real revolution that not by chance took the name of nuevo tango.

A series of famous compositions by Astor Piazzolla – including Adios Nonino, Inverno Porteño and Oblivion – will be at the center of the concert by the “Ensemble of the” Italian Philharmonic Orchestra, along with pieces by Carlos Gardel, the quintessential voice of tango, and the Frenchman Richard Galliano, indicated by many as the most authoritative heir of the Argentine master himself.

The next appointment with Il Centro della Musica will feature, on June 7, the Ensemble Locatelli directed by Thomas Chigioni and the eternal music of Johann Sebastian Bach.