French pianist Christine Chareyon concluded a six-city tour of ‘Un Argentin A Paris’ - a selection of the works of Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla — organised by Alliance Francaise. She dipped into the repertoire of the founder of the nuevo tango style and emerged with pieces that were by turns upbeat and moody. Here she shares her love for the tango and connection with India.

What drew you to Piazzolla’s work?

I’ve known his work since I was a teenager. I listened to him during my free time, or what you might call “my own space”, while I studied the works of other composers. The story of this concert began with other concerts, other musicians who played only tangos. Three years ago I was working with a cellist, Marie-Claude Douvrain, and a violinist, Sebastian Couranjou, who played Piazzolla’s music. It was like a souvenir from my teenage years, and I decided to create a solo piano concert of his work.

How did you imagine his work in an Indian context, and what was the audience’s response?

They were completely moved by the music. In some places there were Indian musicians who were familiar with Piazzolla; for example, in Goa I met three violinists who play his work and had a wonderful exchange with them. Also in Goa, another violinist told me he had played Piazzolla’s Libretango as accompaniment to a Bharatanatyam dancer. In Chennai, students asked if they could have my arrangements. Piazzolla’s work has such an immediate effect in India, and I think that was why I proposed to do this tour, because I was sure the Indian audience would love it.

You visit India frequently and have collaborated with local artists, including the contemporary dancer Preethi Athreya. Tell us about that.

Preethi Athreya is a friend of mine, and in 2009 we began discussing a very interesting composition, “Light Has No Arms To Carry Us” by Gerard Pesson. Pesson had been visiting a very ill friend of his, and found on his bedside the same book he was reading at the time, Les Sandales de Paille (Straw Sandals) by Pierre-Albert Jourdan. He opened it at random and found a page with nothing but that phrase — “light has no arms to carry us”, and from this he composed. The piece is particularly exciting because of its three-beat rhythm, which to me is reminiscent of a heartbeat. Preethi worked on it in Chennai, while I worked on it in Paris, and the foley artist Celine Bernard (who had worked with the acclaimed choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker) also entered the collaboration. We came together at a residency in Alliance Francaise Madras, which culminated in a performance in 2012. This year, Preethi performed it as a solo, with videos of me onscreen while she was onstage.

What is the potential of multimedia in modern performance, as used in your collaboration with Athreya?

I think it’s very delicate, because the most important thing for me is live art, in the here and now. But my next project, which I conceived in Delhi during this tour, will focus on the piano in cinema. I plan to have video projections not only from films, but also ones that capture my mood, what I have in my head when I play certain compositions. This project will definitely be brought to India, because here the connection between film and music is so immediate. I am very excited by this, and hope to perform it in February 2014.

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