 |
It takes one to tango
Friday,
April 25, 2008 10:00 AM HST
Tango diva Anna Saeki to
play the Palace in Hilo
by John
Burnett
Tribune-Herald Staff
Writer
International tango diva Anna Saeki
will grace the stage at the Palace Theater in Hilo
Saturday night. For the Japanese superstar, it is her
first Big Island concert since 2005, a nearly sold-out
show at Waimea's Kahilu Theatre.
"I really love
Hilo," Saeki told the Tribune-Herald through an
interpreter. It will be her sixth Big Island show. In
addition to her Kahilu concert, Saeki has also played
the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center
and several shows at the Kilohana Room in the Naniloa
Volcanoes Resort.
.gif)
|
|
| Saeki, a former Miss Sapporo, is
known for her fashion sense as well as her music. She
will appear in three different costumes during her
Palace show. Earlier this year, Saeki released a
dual-titled double CD called "Concierto de Anna Moderna"
and "Concierto de Anna Clasica."
"Last year was
the 20th anniversary of my debut," she said. "I wanted
to make a CD of classic tango plus modern tango. The
classic tango music was rearranged for me and the modern
tango concept was to take Maestro (Astor) Piazzolla's
tango and my original tango style to convey the
future."
Horatio Ferrer, one of tango's premier
librettists, gifted Saeki with lyrics of Piazzolla's
music that he penned especially for her, which appear on
the "Moderna" CD. There are both Japanese and German
editions of the CDs. Neither are available in the U.S.,
except as special order items, but can be purchased
through the Harmony of Shining Women Foundation, which
is also handling ticket sales for the concert. Their Web
site is http://ny.hswf.org/, or
e-mail hawaii@hi.hswf.org.
Tickets are $40 advance, $45 door. For advance tickets
or reservations, call 966-7001.
Saeki, who sings
in both Japanese and Spanish, is not the first tango
diva from Japan. The late Ranko Fujisawa was popular in
the 1940s and 50s. But Saeki is a rare bird, taking the
time to master the Spanish pronunciation well enough to
pass muster in the tango's homeland, Argentina, as did
Fujisawa.
"At the very beginning, it found it
very difficult to pronounce the 'r' sounds," she said.
"We don't have the 'r' in Japanese. I could not roll the
tongue, so I practiced. I practiced not just for the
'r,' but for singing the song -- and all of a sudden, I
could roll the tongue."
Saeki said she became
interested in tango the first time she heard
it.
"I was fascinated by the acoustic
sounds of the bandoneon," she said, referring to an
instrument related to the accordion and concertina that
Argentineans embraced as their own when it was brought
to their country in the early 20th Century by German
immigrants. The bandoneon has a special place in the
orquestra tipica, the tango orchestra.
Saeki
became the first Japanese singer since Fujisawa to play
concerts in Argentina. In the two decades she has
recorded and toured, her fame has spread throughout much
of the world. In the past several months, she has played
in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Berlin, Moscow, Paris and
Changchun, China.
"I was accepted with a warm
welcome in Russia and did performances with a Russian
group who played traditional Russian instruments and
played tango, as well, on Russian instruments," she
said.
In China, she gave a benefit concert with
proceeds going to an orphanage and a university for the
economically disadvantaged.
"In Changchun, they
were not accustomed to paying (for music)," she said.
"They were used to having music paid for by the
government. It is the first time admission was charged
for a benefit concert there. There are 600 children in
the orphanage and 1,500 students in the
university.
"They were deeply touched."
On
the Internet: http://www.annasaeki.com/;
http://www.hilopalace.com/.
John
Burnett can be reached at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
 Return to top
Comments
There are 1 comment(s)
comments on this story:
Bruce Campbell
wrote on Apr 25, 2008 12:35
PM:
" Tango diva? In my
dictionary diva is defined as the person who sings the
lead role in an opera. "
Add your
Comments
|
Register
Email this story
Print this story
Subscribe
Return to Search
Results 