Re: Recording Technology and Concert Tango

[astrid <astrid @RUBY.PLALA.OR.JP>]

Stephen wrote:
 Concert tango music
> could not be adequately captured on pre-1950s recordings, and therefore
> dance music dominated.  As the recording technology evolved, and the
> subtleties of concert music could be captured, the music played for
> recordings changed, and hence expectations about what would be played at
> live performances also changed.

Taking the risk of being labeled another herstory-teller, I would guess that
concert tango arrived with the compositions of Astor Piazzola. In my
knowledge he was the first tango composer who made music designed for
listening and not dancing, and maybe the only one who could call somebody of
the class of a Rachmaninov disciple his piano teacher.
Subtleties in music played at performances existed long before tango was
ever invented, so in my opinion, even though Stephen's theory sounds
possible, the transition from dance music only to concert tango may not have
had much to do with that. As a matter of fact, tango not made for dancing
met with great opposition in Argentina at first, as probably everybody
knows.
Astrid
>