La vuelta al tango en ochenta mundos (Around the Tango in Eighty Worlds)
La vuelta al tango en ochenta mundos was a radio programme created, produced and hosted by Guillermo Anad from 1999 to 2002 in Argentina. It began at Radio Provincia in La Plata before transferring to Radio Nacional Argentina in Buenos Aires. The programme used the Tango as a central reference and focal point and combined music, poetry, text, interviews and listener participation in a flexible and dynamic format.
La Vuelta featured prominent Argentine artists and personalities as well as international guests. There were regular live music performances in the studio, for example, the programme of Kurt Weill tangos performed by singer Faye Bendrups and pianist Sergio Balderrabano on the Radio Nacional studio grand piano. Other notable La Vuelta guests included: Dedé Wolff de Piazzolla, María Susana Azzi, Leopoldo Federico, Daniel Piazzolla, Adriana Varela, Emilio Balcarce, Oscar del Priore, Albino Gómez, Acho Manzi, Sergio Pujol, José Gobello, Ben Molar, Horacio Molina, Martirio, Roberto Fats Fernández, Leónidas Lamborghini, Malena Muyala, Martiniano Arce, Rodolfo Braceli, Aníbal Arias, Patricia Barone, Gaspar J. Astarita, Angel Maderna, Rubén Stella, Dante Anzolini, José Bragato, Tamara Kamenszain, Esther Díaz, Luisa Valenzuela.
La Vuelta regularly aired original or first-time broadcast material, for example, the first radio broadcast of the MIT Symphony Orchestra version of Piazzolla's Concierto para bandoneón, featuring Swiss bandoneonist Michael Zisman, conducted by Dante Anzolini (8/5/1999). La Vuelta broadcast an exclusive radio presentation of the CD Puro Verso by Uruguayan singer/composer Malena Muyala; the exchange between Piazzolla and Igor Stravinsky as recalled by their host, Albino Gómez; and the first radio broadcast of Astor Piazzolla supervising the rehearsal with cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and pianist Susana Menedelievich of Le Grand Tango at the Colón Theatre.
A particularly novel feature of the programme was the inclusion of sound collages created by Anad, which were used as separators or themes, for example, a collage of tango singer Roberto Goyeneche 'accompanied' by the music of Vivaldi, or the tangos of Igor Stravinsky used as a background soundscape to Juan Gelman reading his poetry. The unexpected mix of literature, commentary, tango and classical music was an innovation which attracted a broad listening audience.
Special update
Archived recordings of La Vuelta are currently being digitised and will be published on this website soon
Video Clips
View excerpts from the film Versos Tomados (2001) on YouTube
View Tristezas (2015), a photo montage by Faye Bendrups, in memory of the Disappeared in Argentina on YouTube
View Guillermo Anad talking about his life with Tango (2014) on YouTube
View TangoMundo in performance on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3dxq_5gNGJP6uT90rXaJ5w
View TangoMundo in concert on Vimeo
