FlirTango in Oppido Mamertina 2026: Piazzolla versus traditional tango, with live music and dance

Teatro Comunale di Oppido Mamertina · Oppido Mamertina, Costa Viola, Calabria

21 November 2026

On Saturday 21 November 2026 at 6:30 pm FlirTango brings «Piazzolla versus traditional tango» to the Teatro Comunale of Oppido Mamertina, on Via Cavour. It is a concert with dance that sets traditional Argentine tango beside Astor Piazzolla's nuevo tango. On stage are Mariano Navone on bandoneón, Carla Mulas Gonzales on violin and Natalia Meyer on vocals and double bass, with piano. Navone also dances, partnered by Tiziana Arina. The programme includes music by Ángel Villoldo, Aníbal Troilo, Rosita Melo, Carlos Gardel, Enrique Santos Discépolo and Piazzolla. It is the fourth show of Synergia 51, the season of Palmi's Amici della Musica «Nicola Antonio Manfroce» association, run with AMA Calabria. A ticket costs €5, or €15 with a return shuttle from Palmi. Buy online on diyticket.it or book via WhatsApp on +39 379 154 4782.

The concert: «Piazzolla versus traditional tango» on Saturday 21 November

On Saturday 21 November 2026 at 6:30 pm FlirTango performs «Piazzolla versus traditional tango» at the Teatro Comunale of Oppido Mamertina. The AMA Calabria listing calls the group «Flirtango Orchestra», and the Amici della Musica programme calls it «gruppo musicale Flirtango». The title says what the evening is about. On one side is the traditional Argentine repertoire, on the other the new ideas Astor Piazzolla brought in, and the two are compared piece by piece.

The band's sound comes from bandoneón, violin, piano, double bass and voice, and some of the best-known pieces are danced. The programme includes music by Ángel Villoldo, Aníbal Troilo, Rosita Melo, Carlos Gardel and Enrique Santos Discépolo, together with Piazzolla's own music. The titles of the pieces have not been published.

The performers: bandoneón, violin, voice and two dancers

Mariano Navone is at the centre of the evening. He plays the bandoneón and, according to the AMA Calabria listing, the clarinet too. He also dances: the Amici della Musica programme names him and Tiziana Arina as the show's Argentine dance couple. Carla Mulas Gonzales plays the violin, and Natalia Meyer sings and plays double bass. The fourth instrument is the piano.

Tango brings together music, dance, words and song, and this line-up puts all four on stage: the voice for the sung pieces and the couple for the danced ones. We have not found verifiable public biographies of the individual performers, so this page only gives the roles stated by the organisers.

Traditional tango: from Villoldo to Gardel, Discépolo and Troilo

Tango was born in the Río de la Plata region, between Argentina and Uruguay, and the years from 1880 to 1920 are known as the «Old Guard». Ángel Villoldo (1861–1919) was one of the pioneers. His El choclo, from 1903, was presented as a «danza criolla» because tango was still banned in Buenos Aires' smart venues. Rosita Melo (1897–1981) was born in Montevideo to parents from Rionero in Vulture, in southern Italy, and wrote the waltz Desde el alma as a teenager.

In 1917 Carlos Gardel sang his first tango, Mi noche triste. He died in a plane crash in Medellín in 1935, the year of Por una cabeza. Enrique Santos Discépolo was the son of a Neapolitan musician and wrote Yira, yira and Cambalache. Aníbal Troilo, known as «Pichuco», had grandparents from Abruzzo and first recorded as leader of his own orchestra in 1937. He was called «El Bandoneón Mayor de Buenos Aires». Tango has been on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2009.

Piazzolla's revolution and the bandoneón

Astor Piazzolla (Mar del Plata 1921 – Buenos Aires 1992) had a grandfather who was a fisherman from Trani, in Puglia, and a mother from the Garfagnana, in Tuscany. He got his first bandoneón at eight, in New York, and met Carlos Gardel as a boy. In Paris he studied with Nadia Boulanger, who pushed him back towards tango. In 1955 he founded the Octeto Buenos Aires, the start of his nuevo tango, which brought in jazz, dissonance and new instruments. Purists called him «el asesino del tango», the murderer of tango. Adiós Nonino, one of his best-known pieces, dates from 1959, the year his father died. In 1970 he recorded duets with Troilo, and in 1974 he made the album Libertango in Milan with Italian musicians.

The bandoneón is Piazzolla's instrument, and Navone's. It is a button accordion invented in Germany by Heinrich Band (1821–1860), who gave it its name, and German emigrants took it to Argentina. Tango players call it the «fuelle», the bellows.

The evening within Synergia 51

FlirTango is the fourth of the seven shows in Synergia 51. The season is run by the Amici della Musica «Nicola Antonio Manfroce», who have been organising concerts in Palmi since 1975, together with AMA Calabria, the A.I.D.A. project and the Municipality of Oppido Mamertina. It is in Oppido because on 1 February 2026 part of the false ceiling of Palmi's Teatro «N. A. Manfroce» gave way. The organisers put it this way: «Theatre in Palmi doesn't stop, it just moves a little».

The full programme is on the Synergia 51 season page. A week earlier, on Saturday 14 November, Trio Felix plays Piazzolla too, on its way from Lied to Neapolitan song. On Saturday 5 December the season continues with guitars and dance in Locura de Guitarras.

Tickets, bookings and the shuttle from Palmi

The Synergia 51 price list gives €5 for a single ticket and €15 for a ticket with a return transfer from Palmi. A pass for all seven shows costs €25, or €50 with the transfer. You can buy online on diyticket.it or by phone on 060406, paying by credit card or through the Money circuit.

There are only two ways to book: a WhatsApp message to +39 379 154 4782 or an email to prenotazioni@amicimusicapalmi.it. Teachers paying with the Carta del docente must attach a copy of the request they submitted. Seats are only assigned after payment, by bank transfer or in cash at the box office on the evening of the show.

The organisers have not published the departure point and time of the shuttle from Palmi. Ask on the same number, +39 379 154 4782.

Mella and the Mamertines: where the name Oppido Mamertina comes from

The town's second name comes from the Mamertines, the followers of Mars, from Mamers, the god's Oscan name. They were mercenaries who came mostly from Campania. The tyrant Agathocles of Syracuse hired them, and when he died they seized Messina. Plutarch tells how they put ten thousand soldiers in the field against Pyrrhus. With the First Punic War, caught between Rome and Carthage, they left Sicily, took refuge in this corner of Calabria and founded Mamertion, a town mentioned by Strabo.

What is left of Mamertion lies in the Mella archaeological park, a short way from Oppido. It is a settlement from the 3rd to the 1st century BC, with paved streets more than seven metres wide and large civic buildings. Excavations began in the 1980s, and 28.35% of the coins found so far are Mamertine, a higher share than anywhere else in southern Italy.

The theatre is on Via Cavour. From Palmi you can take the season's shuttle, which is included in the €15 ticket.

Frequently asked questions

When does FlirTango play in Oppido Mamertina?

On Saturday 21 November 2026 at 6:30 pm, at the Teatro Comunale of Oppido Mamertina.

Where is the show?

At the Teatro Comunale of Oppido Mamertina, also called the municipal Cinema-Teatro, on Via Cavour, 89014 Oppido Mamertina (RC).

Who plays and who dances?

Mariano Navone on bandoneón, Carla Mulas Gonzales on violin and Natalia Meyer on vocals and double bass, with piano. Navone and Tiziana Arina are the evening's Argentine dance couple.

What music will I hear?

Traditional tango by Ángel Villoldo, Aníbal Troilo, Rosita Melo, Carlos Gardel and Enrique Santos Discépolo, set beside Astor Piazzolla's nuevo tango. The titles of the pieces have not been published.

Is there dancing on stage?

Yes. The Argentine dance couple performs during some of the best-known pieces.

How much is a ticket?

A single ticket costs €5, or €15 with a return transfer from Palmi. A pass for all seven Synergia 51 shows costs €25, or €50 with the transfer.

How do I book?

Buy on diyticket.it or on 060406. To book, use WhatsApp on +39 379 154 4782 or email prenotazioni@amicimusicapalmi.it, then pay by bank transfer or in cash at the box office on the evening of the show.

Is there a shuttle from Palmi?

Yes. The return transfer is included in the €15 ticket and the €50 season pass. Ask on +39 379 154 4782 for the departure point and time.

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