Peta Stewart
Nineteen years after his first performance with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and 14 after his second, German bandoneon specialist Lothar Hensel is back to perform in three different concerts with the CPO: in a symphony concert, at Kirstenbosch and in the Franschhoek Chamber Music Festival.
Piazzola’s Bandoneon Concerto
He will perform a selection of works across all three concerts from Piazzola’s Bandoneon Concerto “Aconcagua” at the symphony concert and our tangos including Adios Nonino and Libertango at Kirstenbosch (both with Jonathan Lo on the podium) to Dvorak Five Bagatelles and his own Quintet for bandoneon and string quartet, a world premiere, at Franschhoek.
Tango is increasingly popular around the world, and Hensel with it. Hensel, who began studying the clarinet, fell in love with the bandoneon while a student, and first performed the Piazzolla Concerto in 1994. He has since performed it more often than the late composer himself, and with the CPO in 2007, of course, and with more than half of Germany’s roughly 100 symphony orchestras. Twenty years ago, Hensel was the only professional bandeonist in Germany.
Instrument dealer Heinrich Band
Although the bandoneon is linked to the tango, it’s actually a German instrument, invented more than 150 years ago by instrument dealer Heinrich Band. It is believed that the name evolved from the fact that Band had a unionised factory in the Lower Rhine region, hence the name bandoneon. It was popular as an instrument played in bars until the accordion became more popular.
The bandoneon was taken to Argentina by German emigrants in the 1870s and that was the start of a long and happy relationship as the tango evolved from the milonga. In fact, Hensel says, the best bandoneonists all live in Buenos Aires.
A series of buttons
The bandoneon differs from the accordion, which is often used in South Africa for tangos. The accordion has a keyboard, the bandoneon a series of buttons which means that each button has a different sound when played by each hand and when the player opens or closes the instrument – four sounds for each note then.
Hensel studied in Berlin and when he swopped the clarinet for the bandoneon he then studied in Buenos Aires and Paris. He initially went to a music school in his home town near Cologne. Apart from playing, he was soon arranging songs and other pieces for small tango ensembles or his own quartet and one thing led to another – he is now a full-blown composer as well, with two operas and many pieces for small ensemble and full orchestra to his credit, including his two concertos for bandoneon.
This is, in his words, “the most challenging piece to play because when one composes on a computer or a piano you can hear or imagine how it sounds. When one composes for the bandoneon it has to be played on the bandoneon to really get the picture. It was much easier to play on the laptop than on the instrument,” he laughs. “The piece combines traditional tango elements with modern music, taking the soloist to the limit of his physical and mental performing skills.”
Of course Piazzolla was a great influence on Hensel’s life and he heard him perform often in Argentina, but never plucked up the courage to introduce himself. Does he regret this? Perhaps – a fellow bandoneonist and friend who did introduce himself landed up in New York subbing for Piazzolla in concerts!
Having performed the Piazzolla pieces sometimes three or four times he month, he is totally committed to it.
“It’s a really good concert piece for strings, harp, piano and percussion. Audiences love the piece – at the end you can hear how happy they are! It’s more serious than a tango but so accessible.”
Hensel says one should come to all three concerts because each programme is so different and one can appreciate the instrument in so many ways by hearing the different works.
He will be in South Africa for nearly three weeks from the first to the last concert and in between he and his wife will take a short break to enjoy good food and wine, the scenery on the West Ccoast and a good restaurant to celebrate 23 years of marriage.
The dress rehearsal for the CPO concert on the same day (29 January, 2026) is open to the public at 11am. There will be a pre-concert talk open to concertgoers at 6.45pm.
Who: Bandoneonist Lothar Hensel with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra; at Kirstenbosch and in the Franschhoek Chamber Music Festival
Where: Cape Town City Hall; Beach Road; National Botanical Gardens at Kirstenbosch; Dutch Reformed Church in Franschhoek
When: CPO: 29 January, 19:30; Kirstenbosch: 1 February, 17:30; Franschhoek: 13 February, 2026, 18:00
CPO Concert tickets: Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695 and here
Kirstenbosch tickets: Here
Franschhoek Chamber Music Festival tickets: Here
Dress rehearsal tickets: Here
WS
