2023-09-06 07:29:00
Tango is a music created by men. Women play a functional role here. It must serve men, awaken feelings, passions… And for that, it must inhabit the world of sensuality, be available, able to play. To be a distraction and a pleasure for man. Therefore, I believe that in tango women never have the opportunity to feel free to fully express their feelings because they are bound by the limits imposed by the needs of men. That’s why the prospect of singing a male character makes me so happy.
How did you start singing tango?
I was 13 years old and the tango immediately took my heart. I found the opportunity to express myself, to put a lot of passion, sensitivity, feelings. And even feelings that I did not yet know at that age. I didn’t know regarding a breakup, I had never been in a relationship, I didn’t know what nostalgia was. I didn’t know anything. And that is the tango, the tango has all that. For some reason, all of this captivated me. At that age, it was like a game. It all started in the small village where I lived, in Bragado, 250 kilometers from the capital. When I was 17, I left for Buenos Aires. I found work in a tango house, a tourist spot where shows are organized with dancers, musicians and singers. It was very cliché, thought for tourists. And I was a 17-year-old “little girl”, I knew nothing of all that, I took it as a game. I sang very macho songs, and I also sang them as a game.
Inés Cuello has emerged as one of the great “voces tangeras” of the new Argentine generation. — © Marcelo Santangelo
Isn’t it a bit heavy, sometimes, to be a cliché of the “tango woman”?
Over time, I realized what I was doing and that it wasn’t free: it had consequences for me. I had to do a lot of work on myself to detach myself from this character in whose skin I had slipped for several years. It was very hard. And I believe that now I can be honest with myself and with what I want to sing and express. I can choose in the tango the words which touch me and challenge me.
What is your connection to Astor Piazzolla?
Piazzolla introduced a lot of musical influences in tango, classical, jazz… The traditionalists rejected him at first. They thought he was destroying the tango. But in reality, he renewed it. It is thanks to him that the tango was able to travel to major concert halls around the world. I recently sang Piazzolla at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (the most important theater in Argentina) when we celebrated the centenary of the birth of Astor Piazzola. I’m releasing a Piazzolla album this September that I recorded with a tango quintet with whom I had already recorded songs by Carlos Gardel.
María de Buenos-Aires is written for opera or tango singers?
It’s in between. The work was thought to be sung by tango singers.
Are you very strict with the tango repertoire or are you ready for new perspectives and composing?
I haven’t written anything yet but I really want to. I am very respectful and very admiring of all the work done in writing tango. I am not a poet, I am not a writer, writing scares me. But I know that the one and only person who can best express what I feel is myself. And so one day I would love to write my songs.
Bio
Holder of a master’s degree in soloism from the Haute École de Musique de Genève and a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Lyon Lumière, Juliette de Banes-Gardonne made a career as a mezzo-soprano which led her to several Swiss and French stages. She founded the Ensemble Démesure and is now in charge of the musical section at Temps.
Meet at the Grand Théâtre de Genève
Maria from Buenos Aires
From October 27 to November 5, 2023
Brunch, October 8
Lighting, October 17
Cinéopéra, October 21 (at the Grütli cinemas)
Glam Night, October 31
behind the scenes, on November 3rd
1693988196
#Inés #Cuello #tango #heart
