Ramón Ayala, emblem of the music of the Litoral and one of the great references of Argentine popular music, was honored this Sunday night at the Kirchner Cultural Center with an emotional concert witnessed by the 95-year-old missionary artist, who was applauded by an audience that enjoyed performances by Nadia Larcher, Cecilia Pahl, Walas, from Massacre, and the ensemble from Costa a Costa from Entre Ríos.
“Olé, olé, olé, olé Ramón, Ramón”, sang the audience in several passages of “El viejo Río que va”, name of the presentation that was held in a crowded National Auditorium, to celebrate the work of “El Mensú” , musician, poet, plastic artist, composer and performer, who saw the show sitting in the front row.
“…look at the light, enjoy your life and everything emanates from your being…”, Ayala recites in a recording that was heard at the beginning of a 45-minute concert, divided into two segments, one instrumental and the other sung, and in the that young and not so young appreciated the beauty of some of his pieces in respectful versions, mostly crossed by a halo of freshness.
The show is part of the cycle “Trajectory”, dedicated to emblematic musicians and marks the beginning of a series of activities that will take place in different parts of the country to honor the work and life of Ayala, who throughout his life composed more than 300 songs.
His “great” melodies -as he himself describes-, his contemplative look at nature, and in particular at the life of the jungle and the river, and the depth of his poetry, are some of the features of an enormous work that also encompasses painting.
In the first segment of the presentation, a piano, strings and percussion orchestra performed a selection of instrumental works de Ayala with arrangements and direction by Juan de Dios Rivas: “Alma de lapacho”, “Corochiré” and “El gualambao”, the latter with the participation of a dance couple made up of Patricia D´Onofrio and Lucas Cidade, who enhanced the delicacy of the composition with an inspired choreography.
In the second part, which featured musical direction by Maru Figueroa, the group interpreted Ayala’s classics such as “Posadeña Linda” in the sweet voice of Cecilia Pahl; “Portrait of a Fisherman”, in an energetic version performed by the outstanding Nadia Larcher; and “El mensú”, with Walas –singer of the rock band Massacre and nephew of Ayala–, who from his personal imprint surprised the public with the special shine that the fact of singing in a different register and looking at his uncle gave him. from the stage.
In addition, the emotion that emanated surely had to do with the fact that this song had a story that directly involved him, since it had been created by his father, the violinist Vicente Cidade, together with his older brother, Ramón Ayala.
For the closing, “El cosechero” arrived, one of the best known and sung songs of Ayala’s work, in the voices of the three singers and of the audience that followed the song from start to finish and accompanied with clapping.
Also participating in the concert were César “Cacho” Bernal on percussion, Santiago Martínez and Belén Arriola on violins, Maite Unzurrunzaga on viola, Juan de Dios Rivas on cello, Jéssica Juárez on double bass, Chela Martínez Bader on flute, José Bulos on piano, Natalio Sturla on accordion and Maru Figueroa on guitar; while the general production was in charge of Naty Zonis.
After the concert, the Nation’s Minister of Culture, Tristán Bauer, together with the Undersecretary of Management of Spaces and Special Projects, Martín Bonavetti, presented Ayala with a plaque in recognition of her career.
“We are deeply excited to have you here. Long live Argentine music and long live Ramón Ayala!” Bauer said, thanking the composer for his creations, who also received a hug from Tucuman guitarist Juan Falú.
exotic and sensitivehis songs were performed by great artists such as Mercedes Sosa, Joan Manuel Serrat, Horacio Guarany and Liliana Herrero, among others, and are part of the most precious of Argentine popular music.
In an interview with Télam conducted a few years ago, Ramón Ayala spoke about his music and particularly about his melodies, and said that they tend to be “symphonic”, the product of an inner formation, “of an inner taste that one treasures and goes growing inside of you, not imitating anyone but having the patterns of great melodists”.
“I have watered a lot in classical music, I do not stay in the singsong, in the folkloric field there are repetitions that instead of enlarging the genre, they make it smaller, it is a matter of internal viruses”, defined the artist born in Posadas on the 10th of March 1937.
