Tango without frontiers in Belgrade: from Quintecho’s attitude towards the old school to Galliano’s radical attack on tradition.

Chamber ensemble Quintecho was founded in Belgrade in 2004. It consists of young professional musicians, gathered around specific fusion of classical music and music based on ethno elements. Quintecho began its work by exploring tango, as one of the best examples of the synthesis between folklore and classical elements. Recognized as a unique musical phenomenon, it succeeded in animating the audience of different cultural sensitivity, from classical concert-goers to those who love the most contemporary pop culture trends. The audience so heterogeneous is only a manifestation of a successful realization of the ambitious concept of the fusion between, as it may seem at the first glance, extremely different musical trends.

Quintecho consists of six performers: Sonja Kalajić – violin, Jasmina Živić – flute, Jelena Banković – piano, Isidora Mirković – cello, Miloš Lončar – accordion and Petar Radmilović – drums. (The guitar was replaced by the accordion during changes in the structure of the band in May 2007.)

Their repertoire for this year’s BELEF will consist of compositions of the following authors (Roberto Firpo, Anselmo Aieta, Mariano Mores, Sonja Kalajić, Anibal Troilo, Jose Lusi Padula, Enrique Saborido and Astor Piazzolla).

Richard Galliano has changed the history of the accordion as a popular instrument. Today we can only talk about the accordion before and after Galliano.

During his forty-year long career, maestro Richard Galliano managed, by insisting on melody and rhythm to redefine this instrument in a completely new context, which was before him totally ignored by the jazz festivals (Marciac, Vienna, Montreal, Monterey) and the classic concert halls (Academy Santa Cecilia in Rome, Champs-Elysées Theatre in Paris, Scala in Milan etc. ).

After mastering classical musical education in his youth, his ascent begins when he left for Paris in 1973 and started cooperation with the vedettes of the French chanson like Serge Reggiani, Charles Aznavour and Juliette Gréco.

In 1983 Astor Piazzola invites Galliano to be a solo-performer on the bandoneón for his original score written for Shakespeare's play "Midsummer night's dream" in Comédie-Française. This is how a long friendship began, which was ended by Piazzola’s death in 1992.

Between 1980 and 1983 Richard Galliano shared his vision of the scene with Chet Baker, Ron Carter, Joe Zawinul, Al Foster, Didier Lockwood, Enrico Rava, Toots Thielemans, Bobby Mc Ferrin, Jan Garbarek, Paquito Di Rivera, Michel Petrucciani, Gilberto Gil, Manu Katche, Jan Lundgren and many other legends of the contemporary Jazz.

Although his musical expression is a unique mixture of the Mediterranean, chanson, jazz and classical music, his interpretation of Piazzola’s works, immortalized by the album "Pizzola Forever" and the performances of the septet with the same name, are beyond any doubt the generator of Galliano’s global popularity.

Tangria Quintet, which performs with Mr Galliano on the BELEF, represents a group of world-class French, Venezuelan and American musicians, with whom he made in Sao Paolo his latest album "Luz Negra" (Milan Records, 2007). They are the violinist Alexis Cardenas and the percussionist Rafael Mejias (both from Venezuela), French bassist Philippe Aerts, Brazilian mandolinist Hamilton de Holanda and the legendary American drummer Clarence Penn.

Let nothing prevent you from dancing on the Victor’s Plateau, when you get carried away by emotions!