Some artists evoke the past, not simply to engage in nostalgia or vintage exoticism, but to engage with great creativity and find new ways to explore neglected forms. Oana Cătălina Chiţu, a singer born in Romania and based in Berlin, has done just that, by digging into the sultry yet virtuosic repertoire of Romania’s pioneering answer to Edith Piaf, Maria Tănase.
On Divine (Asphalt Tango Records; U.S. release June 11, 2013), Chiţu’s lush alto leads a band that can turn on a dime, powered by driving accordion (the jaw-dropping work of Serbian Rom Dejan Jovanovic), spitfire cimbalom (Valeriu Cascaval’s blazing work on the hammered dulcimer), and a rare sense of timing. Like dancers moving across the floor, the band sways and swings together, reveling in classic songs, while finding catchy, fresh approaches.
Whether tackling sensual love songs, instrumental romps (“Tănănica”), or heart-wrenchingdoinas (“Cântec de leagăn”), Chiţu and her band breathe bold life into the legacy of Romania’s early 20th-century popular music, without losing their contemporary sensibility or experimental drive.
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Born in a small town in northern Romania, Oana Cătălina Chiţu wound up in Berlin, studying jazz and classical voice, but soon found herself drawn back to the old gems of her childhood. Performing the great tango repertoire of the early 20th century—a craze Romania shared with a wide swath of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia—she often heard herself compared to both Edith Piaf and Maria Tănase. She took the compliment, but wanted to go further, not merely imitating Tănase but using her work as a gateway to a lost sound.
"During the years between the World Wars, Bucharest was a very cultural and vibrant cosmopolitan city, often compared to Paris,” Chiţu explains. “Apart from the tango, jazz, and café-concert were also very popular, around that period." These diverse musical forms blended with local sounds, as sleek international forms intertwined with local sounds.
The voice and glamorous face of this musical mixing was Tănase, who performed widely in clubs, theaters, and on the airwaves, supported by a crack band of lăutari (Romany/ gypsy musicians). Her work eventually fell into disfavor with the Communist authorities, branded as decadent and ill-suited for a new socialist society, but Romanians never abandoned their beloved, path-finding diva. They flocked to her funeral in 1963, and kept her memory alive.
Read more: https://www.storyamp.com/dispatch/3219/e4c0afcef20e0b5048aac8f65f3e4639
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