Tango (1985)

[With] nicely scored chamber music, TANGO is a one-act monodrama asking the single tenor for three different roles, both spoken and sung. The scenario is that of the original World War I tango craze. Quotations from Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and other composers can be heard throughout the work, all colored by the pervasive tango rhythm, pointing up the humor of the hyperbolic frenzy created by the dance. The instrumental writing is all clarity and color, the rhythms vibrant, and the timing well considered.

Mr. Rodríguez's satiric score, played by seven instrumentalists [and sung by] a singer-actor, provides a witty musical commentary, with lurking tango rhythms waiting in ambush.