Sonico: The Edge of Tango – Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam

About this event

This concert unites, for the first time, the octet repertoires of Astor Piazzolla (Octeto Buenos Aires) and Eduardo Rovira (Octeto La Plata), the twin pioneers of avant‑garde tango nuevo. Piazzolla once said, “there was a time when Rovira was more revolutionary than me,” acknowledging Rovira’s parallel innovations with daring harmonies and electric guitar. Brussels‑based ensemble SONICO, founded in 2015 and uniquely dedicated to reviving Rovira’s oeuvre, leads the project. Through years of archival research, transcription and touring, SONICO has reconstructed lost and damaged scores, drawing on magnetic‑tape recordings supplied by tango historian Oscar Del Priore and oral testimony from Enrique Lannoo, cellist of the original Octeto La Plata. The result reframes tango nuevo as a shared revolution, presenting both octets’ music side by side. The performance runs without intermission and is designed as an immersive underground tango night.