Omar Massa (bandoneon)
Biography, Audio/Video, Discography, Photos, Concerto repertoire, Programmes
www.omarmassa.com
Biography
Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany)
Regarded by the critics as an expert on Astor Piazzolla’s music – whose work he has interpreted from the age of six – Omar has often been the connecting bridge between classical music and Argentine tango music.
He has performed and participated in projects with internationally renowned artists such as Placido Domingo, Eugene Kohn (Conductor of Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti), Bruno Delepelaire (1st Cello soloist, Berlin Philharmonic), Tomasz Tomaszewski (Concertmaster, Deutsche Oper Berlin), Máté Szücs (1st Viola soloist, Berlin Philharmonic), Markus Däunert (Concertmaster & co-founder of Claudio Abbado’s Mahler Chamber Orchestra), and Janne Saksala (1st Double Bass soloist, Berlin Philharmonic).
Omar has been a pioneer in taking his instrument to concert halls to play works from the academic repertoire, especially those from the European and Latin American Baroque.
As a soloist he has performed with symphony orchestras and chamber groups like the Asturias Symphony Orchestra, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, the Moldova Philharmonic Orchestra, the Biel Solothurn Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Stat Sibiu, the Brasov Philharmonic, the Kamerata Kronstadt among others.
Omar has played in several important venues such as the Lincoln Center (New York), the National Concert Hall (Dublin), the Colon Theatre (Buenos Aires), the Palace of Fine Arts (Mexico DF) and the George Enescu Festival (Bucharest).
As a composer he has written several works, among them his ‘Suite Patagonia’ and ‘Concertango’ were premiered in the Chamber Music Season of the Palace of Fine Arts of Mexico in 2013.
Omar was nominated for the Gardel Music Awards 2014 (most important award in the recording industry in Argentina) for his CD ‘Tribute to Piazzolla’ and 25 years after Astor Piazzolla´s death (2015) his family invited him to play Piazzolla´s bandoneon.
In 2019, Omar founded the ardeTrio together with violinist Markus Däunert (Concertmaster & co-founder of Claudio Abbado’s Mahler Chamber Orchestra) and violist Danusha Waskiewicz (Berlin Philharmonic). The trio released the CD “Tango Concertante” (Ars Produktion) in 2021 which brought Omar Massa several Opus Klassik nominations in Germany, including “Composer of the Year” and “Instrumentalist of the Year”. In January 2021 Omar recorded with the Berlin Symphony orchestra and the conductor Mark Laycock his CD “Nuevo Tango Concertos by Piazzolla and Massa” (Solo Musica label, Germany). With Omar as soloist, this album contains the Piazzolla Concerto as well as the Massa Concerto and two of his new compositions for Bandoneon and orchestra.
Being the Bandoneon, Violin and Piano the key instruments for the interpretation of Tango Nuevo, in 2021 Massa invited Markus Däunert and Pianist Kim Barbier to perform as the Massa Trio, unifying his own musical tradition from Buenos Aires with their high artistic level. The result is a powerful and deeply emotional sound, which raises Tango Nuevo to higher spheres
In addition to his artistic endeavours, Omar has conducted courses and masterclasses on bandoneon and on Astor Piazzolla’s music in universities around the world. His tours have been declared of ‘Cultural and Artistic importance to the country of Argentina’ by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Audio/Video
Photos
Photographer: Michael Reinicke
Discography
Concerto repertoire
Tango for bandoneon and chamber/string orchestra
– Wie Lange noch?
– Complainte de la Seine
(Spieldauer insgesamt 13 min.)
Tango Concerto for Bandoneon, Piano and String Orchestra (15 minutes), comissioned by the Embassy of Argentina in Germany for the Gala concert in Berlin Philarmonic on May 2019. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the partner city arrangement between Berlin and Buenos Aires under the auspices of the Embassy of Argentina together with the Berlin Senator for culture and Europe.
Baroque with bandoneon and chamber/string orchestra
- Organ Concerto (Bandoneon version by Omar Massa) HWV 309 – Op. 7 No. 4 in D minor (16 minutes) Bandoneon and Chamber Orchestra
- Concerto for Harpsichord (Bandoneon version by Omar Massa) RV 780, in A major (10 minutes) Bandoneon and String Orchestra
- Harpsichord Concerto (Bandoneon version by Omar Massa) BWV 1055 – in A Major (15 minutes) Bandoneon and String Orchestra
Programmes Recitals/Chamber Music
From Baroque to Nuevo Tango
1) bandoneon + Boulanger Trio (violin, cello, piano)
Oblivion
Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 553 (bandoneon)
Danza de la Moza Donosa
Trois pieces for violoncello and piano
Trio Élégiaque no. 1 in g minor
Adiós Nonino and Guga y misterio
Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas
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2) Bandoneon + Violin
SOLO BANDONEON
Toccata N7 for Organ from “Secondo Libro di Toccate e Canzone” (1637) (4 min)?
excerpts from Partita by J.S. Bach (5 min)
violin sonata in C major no. 3, Op. 5 (12 min)
violin sonata in g minor (9 min)
violin sonata in d minor, RV 12 (12min)
“Ave Maria” (6 min)
Intermission
“Lo que vendra” (5 min)
Tango Etude 3 or 4 (4 min)
“Bruno & Sarah” (3 min)
“Calambre” (2 min)
“History of Tango”: Bordel 1900, Cafe 1930, Nightclub 1960, Concert d’aujourd’hui (20 min)
“Oblivion” (5 min)
O. Massa, “Avincis Tango” (click, 4 min 37s)
Encore:
Astor Piazzolla, “Libertango” (2min 30sec)
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3) Bandoneon + Piano
Concerto in A Major BWV 1055 (15 min)
Concerto in d minor SF 935 – Op.1 (10 min)
sonata in c minor BWV 1017 (16 min)
Intermission
“Milonga del Angel” for bandoneon and piano (6 min)
Nuevo Tango for bandoneon and piano (3 min)
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4) Bandoneon, Violine, Viola,
Prelude and Fugue in d minor, BWV 554 (4 min)
“Obra de lleno de séptimo tono”. Latin American Baroque from National Cathedral of Mexico (5 min)
Violin Sonata no. 3 Op. 5 (12 min)
Viola Sonata no. 3, BWV 1029 (14 min)
“Ave Maria” (6 min)
Pause
“Pedro y Pedro” (3m 30s)
“Bruno & Sarah” and “Calambre” (5 min)
“Adios Nonino” (6 min)
“Avincis Tango” (4m 30s)
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5) Bandoneon, Violin, Viola, Cello
Toccata no. 7 for Organ from “Secondo Libro di Toccate e Canzone”
Prelude and fugue no. 1 from “8 small Preludes and fugues for organ”, BWV 553-560
Cello sonata in a minor RV 43
Violin Sonata no. 3, Op. 5
Ave Maria
Intermission
Adiós Nonino
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6) Bandoneon, Guitar (with Jerzy Chwastyk)
FIRST PART:
Bandoneon and Guitar:
A.Piazzolla, Adios Nonino (6:30)
A. Piazzolla, Ave Maria (5:20)
Guitar Solo:
Isaac Albéniz – Sevilla (5:30)
Bandoneon and Guitar:
Manuel de Falla, Suite Populaire Espagnole (14 min)
-Bandoneon Solo:
O.Massa, Negro liso-Astor’s Voice (3:30)
Bandoneon and Guitar:
A. Piazzolla, Libertango (3:45 min)
(39 minutes)
SECOND PART
Bandoneon and Guitar:
A. Marcello, Concerto in Dm (10 min)
Guitar Solo:
I. Albeniz, Capricho Catalan (4 min)
Bandoneon and Guitar:
O.Massa, Tango Lullaby (4 min)
A. Piazzolla, “History of Tango”:
Bordel 1900,
Cafe 1930,
Nightclub 1960,
Concert d’aujourd’hui (22 min)
(40 minutes)
All Arrangements by Omar Massa