Brussels Philharmonic and SONICO bring Astor Piazzolla’s music to life with bold new symphonic tango arrangements by Alejandro Schwarz, alongside previously unreleased works by Eduardo Rovira.

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When the support for traditional tango began to crumble in the mid-1950s, Piazzolla travelled to Paris to refine his classical composition skills under the famed Nadia Boulanger. She encouraged him not to deny his Argentine roots and to unite tango with symphonic music. The tango nuevo was born!

Piazzolla championed a modern expression of traditional tango, enriched with nods to classical writing and jazz. Eduardo Rovira, sometimes called “the other Piazzolla,” likewise infused his Tango Moderno with the influences of Stravinsky, Debussy, and Bartók.

The Belgian ensemble SONICO, with a direct line to Buenos Aires, has spent the past decade exploring the roots of contemporary Argentine music. Now, together with Brussels Philharmonic, they take the leap into a symphonic adventure.