Kleinhapl in Graz

Passionate tango with orchestral splendor

Friedrich Kleinhapl with the Camerata Novi Sad

(Bild: Christoph Hartner)

During the Corona period, the Styrian star cellist Friedrich Kleinhapl organized his first summer concert on the Schloßberg in Graz. These have since become a tradition - this year Kleinhapl played tango music with orchestral splendor.

With tango, it can be a little bit more. A little more passion, a little more longing, a little more lard - that was once the scandalous appeal of the tango when it began its worldwide triumphal march. And Friedrich Kleinhapl, who has developed into a true afficionado on the cello in recent years, still knows how to serve this charm today. He has already celebrated worldwide success with his "Pasión Tango" program. With "Gran Pasión Tango", he is now going one better - and replacing the original piano accompaniment with an entire orchestra.

Played with passion
The Camerata Novi Sad sticks to Kleinhapl like a shirt soaked with passion on the stage of the Kasematten Castle Hill Stage and struts with him through the tango oeuvre, which, like this evening, is characterized above all by one name: Astor Piazzola, the great innovator of the genre. Kleinhapl not only plays some of Piazzola's best-known compositions with passion, but also acts as a charming narrator between program items.

The bleeding heart of the tango
Not all pieces benefit from the orchestral pomp that Camerata Novi Sag brings to the table. Especially in the dance moments, there is a lack of agility from time to time. However, in the voluptuous pieces - and there are more than enough of them - you almost want to die of sheer beauty and passion. And that is precisely the core, the bleeding heart of tango.