Schubert and Tango in Concert at Havana’s Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís
The music of Austrian composer Franz Schubert and a journey through Argentina via tango will set the tone for next week’s concerts at the Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de Asís, in Havana’s historic center.
Both programs, conceived by artistic director and producer Helson Hernández, will take place on May 21 and 22. They bring to the stage the eighth edition of the Havana Schubertiade and a promising tango recital celebrating the iconic genre of the Río de la Plata, respectively.
This year’s return to Schubert’s work features one of the most profound and complex cycles in his Lieder repertoire, as highlighted in the official press release.
In early 1827, Schubert was 30 years old and had less than two years to live. It was during this time that he began composing Winterreise (Winter Journey), a cycle of 24 songs set to poems by Wilhelm Müller—a contemporary of Schubert’s, almost his exact peer in age and lifespan, though the two likely never met. Müller died just as Schubert was beginning work on this monumental vocal work.
The song cycle tells the story of a solitary, desolate figure who doesn’t so much struggle against fate as surrender to it, clinging to only the faintest glimmers of hope throughout a bitter and symbolic winter journey.
This year’s Winterreise takes on a unique form, presented by three Cuban tenors: professor Roger Quintana and rising talents Jorge Luis Guzmán and Yubal Caleb. They will be accompanied by pianist and maestro Vilma Garriga.
The performance is part of the 2024 Havana Schubertiade and will also mark the 77th anniversary of CMBF—Cuba’s National Classical Music Radio—with support from the Austrian Embassy in Havana.
The following evening, on May 22, the evocative sounds of tango—the most iconic musical genre of Argentina and declared Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2009—will fill the historic basilica.
Pianist and arranger Rosa García Oropesa will accompany flamenco vocalist Andrés Correa, who will bring his powerful voice to classic tango standards that have become timeless jewels of Argentine music. Drawing from his deep command of cante jondo, Correa immerses himself in the tango tradition with emotional depth and flair.
Cuban singer María de Jesús will appear as a special guest, and dancers Leonardo Rodríguez Torres and Amy Bermúdez Díaz, members of the TangueArte project, will lend their artistry to the performance.
Tangos de Concierto promises to be an unforgettable Havana evening of music, dance, and song—an immersive cultural journey through the land of Carlos Gardel, Libertad Lamarque, and Astor Piazzolla, to name just a few.
This cultural event is presented with the support of the Argentine Embassy in Cuba as part of its historic Semana de Mayo celebrations, along with the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana and CMBF Radio, in honor of the station’s 77th anniversary.
Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez
