The "Tango auténtico" national tour is currently ongoing run by Analia Selis, who will arrive on Wednesday the 29^th of May 2024 at the Radio Hall. The Argentinean musician gives us more details in an interview with our colleague Ioana Țintea.

This is a very special moment in your career, celebrating 20 years of artistic activity in Romania and 10 years since you dedicated yourself completely to tango. Looking back, how do you remember your first contact with the Romanian scene? What did you feel at that moment?

My first contact was at the "Golden Stag" Festival in 2004, with a rather large first contact. I don't know if I was ready, to be honest. I was prepared then for that stage, I had never performed on such a big stage. I only remember the good feelings and afterwards everything that happened was great.

What is special about tango? Can you tell us more about the particularities of this musical genre to which you have been totally dedicated for 10 years?

Tango is, for me, a cultural phenomenon, an aesthetic phenomenon. That's what I say in every concert and that's what I promote; that's why it's called Tango autentico. Tango is an unmistakable style. When you listen to tango, it's impossible not to know that it is tango. But a lot of people sing it and a lot of people dance to it without knowing the depth of the musical style. I have a great respect for tango because it is an extremely complex and fantastic genre and I carry it forward in the right way, authentically.

Coming back to the Tango autentico anniversary tour, how did you choose the works for this concert programme at Radio Hall, considering the context of the event. It will be an evening of Romanian interwar tango. Is that right?

It's a project I've been thinking about for a long time, but I've never played it symphonically in Bucharest before and I really wanted to. It's been a wish of mine since I started singing tango 10 years ago. I discovered that I am fascinated by singing in Romanian to people. There are hundreds of fantastic pieces, romances, tango, that were written in that period and that describe the Romania which once was... so I wanted to do this project that materializes my respect and love for Romania, which has been growing for 21 years. I've had a career for 20 years, but I've been here for 21 years.

It was a very long period of work in which I listened to a lot of tango and interwar romances and it was not easy to make the playlist, but there are songs that I couldn't not do because they are fantastic and the most famous... Mână, birjar (Urge along, driver), Vrei să ne-ntâlnim sâmbătă seară (Do you want to meet on Saturday night), Pe boltă când apare luna (On the firmament when the moon comes out), Sub balcon eu ți-am cântat o serenadă (Under the balcony I serenaded you), arranged with a completely different vision. It doesn't sound like it usually does. They are arrangements written by the pianist and arranger I'm touring with, and who will be playing with me and the orchestra on Wednesday; that's Julian Caeiro.

How do you feel about returning to the Radio Hall stage, which you previously described in an online post as a special place for you?

It is fantastic! I'm already feeling nervous. As I said in the post, the Radio Hall is a place I've felt at home for a very long time. I haven't played there since 2019. And now, coming back to the collaboration with radio, I'm talking about the institution Radio România, which is also my partner in the tour, I have to tell you that I felt a huge empathy and love from Radio România and I can't wait for the concert. It's a place where I really want to perform.