Odense

Then I think he spoke Spanish, but then, he did repeat it in that English: "There are some people here who speak Spanish, so I'll read something in that language. But I was told not to read Chaco". !!!!! The audience laughed, but obviously only mt friends from HoT, whom I'd told what had happened the evening before, knew what he was talking about. I would have never, ever expected this reaction to my daring comment! I couldn't believe it, and you can imagine my ears perked up. What would he read, then? Otoño catalán? The one about the catfish and the hook? Something by Pablo Neruda? Viggo continued to speak English, because he said it was the bridge language, between people who spoke Spanish and those who spoke Danish. The quote is not verbatim, but he said something like this:

"There was a man in Argentina named Carlos Gardel, who died in 1935, I think, he sang and wrote tango and he's huge in Argentina, he's held very high there, he's like, I don't know, Elvis Presley (although I was thinking, "try god"). Gardel traveled extensively in his life, he also spent some time in France in the 20's, when the First World War had been over 10 years, less. One day, he went into a cemetery, where a headstone caught his attention". (When he said this, I knew which tango he was going to refer to. Unbelievable! He was going to read that tango???? I said "ohmygod", loud enough for the people around me to hear. A man sitting in front of me turned around and nodded at me, as if saying "that's right", as if he knew Gardel. I was listening with every pore by then).

"The headstone was engraved with the names of five young men, five dead brothers, all fallen around the same date, and Gardel imagined the suffering of the mother of those five sons. This experience inspired him to write a tango". (Viggo took a piece of paper in his hand). "I wrote this from memory and maybe there is something missing or maybe some word is wrong. It's called "Silencio".

There was no doubt now: he was going to read "Silencio"! I was still thinking he was going to read. If you know about tango, it's the very emotional one written by Gardel, Alfredo Le Pera and Horacio Pettorissi, which talks about the white haired mother who got five shiny medals instead of her five sons: "Silence in the night / everything is quiet now / the muscle sleeps / ambition rests..."

Viggo opens his mouth... and he starts singing! Singing!! You could have heard the collective gasp coming from 400 mouths and hearts for miles away. My blood just boiled its way up from my feet to my ears, I thought they were burning up. I can't accurately explain the feeling, the emotion Viggo put in his rendering of those beautiful music and lyrics. To think that most people in that theater couldn't understand what he was singing about, nor had any idea who Carlos Gardel was! But he made the language barrier disappear, because I am sure everybody present was being transported by that moment's emotion. Viggo sang the whole tango, repeated choruses and all; he sang it much more slower than Gardel did (at least, the version I knew) and it sounded all the more plaintive for the passion put into it, reading from the sheet of paper in his one hand, moving the other to emphasize words. When he was almost finished, he abandoned the reading and looked at the audience, putting even more emotion in his interpretation, until he finished with the last verse and note. For a few seconds, people remained transfixed, but then they applauded, and I applauded, when I managed to get over the shock. For a long time. It was, without a doubt, the highlight of the evening. You could see that Viggo enjoyed the fact that people appreciated what he'd just done, and me more than anybody. I still can't believe it. After having had the cheek to practically order him not to read Chaco, which did make me feel embarrassed, because it's not that I don't like Chaco, I do, but well, instead of filing it under " crazy comments", look what happened. I thought, maybe he'd planned all along to do this, but he did say he'd written the lyrics from memory and he did say at the very beginning that he had been told not to read Chaco, almost in a sarcastic tone. Anyway, even if it was embarrassing in hindsight, thank the heavens that I thought of saying it. Thanks to Viggo, in the name of all his fans in Argentina and the rest of the Spanish speaking world.

Coming back from the heights to which Viggo had just sent us was no easy task, but the reading did continue. This Gardel tango and the Back to Babylon poem also linked to the main theme of the evening, the need for people to express themselves freely, artistically and politically, specially in the current times. Viggo regretted that several countries had backed the course of the US government in regard to Iraq, and he mentioned Spain, Iceland and Denmark, but curiously, not Britain. (I'm sooo glad Mexico said a big "no" to the invasion, I would have hated it if he'd mentioned it). He quoted then James Joyce (1882-1941): "When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets." What more can one say. He proceeded to read works by some New Zealand poets, whom he got to know and appreciate during the practically four years that he's stayed connected to that country, in which his con also feels like home.

dedicated Fossils to the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq, started looking for something in Danish but ended up reading Hillside, and then quoted Hans Christian Andersen, since we were in his place of birth: “Every character is taken from life, every one of them, not one of them is invented. I know and have known them all.” He read "Camera" (1978 or 79) by Jeannette Stace, "A Visiting Card" (1987) by Gregory O'Brian; something by Bob Orr, but I can't remember the name; he continued with a poem that he said was more like a riddle, and is called that, by M.K. Joseph, a riddle he admittedly hadn't quite understood yet: "I am, because I am..." Then came an excerpt from a very long poem by James K. Baxter, written in the 70's, which has no title, although he said he'd call it "Two Ducks" since it goes: "I have seen at evening two ducks together".

Dedicated once again to the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq, he read Fossils, which was written a long time ago but is still relevant in view of what has been happening the last few months. He was going to read something in Danish, but then changed his mind and read Hillside in English, instead. And since we were in Odense, the city where Hans Christian Andersen was born, he couldn't leave out a quote by that author: “Every character is taken from life, every one of them, not one of them is invented. I know and have known them all.” Quite fitting. To finish, he returned to Danish with Forårsmarked, Spring Fair, the one that is so evocative, "They roll over on the swells..." He thanked the audience and we applauded gratefully. I was distracted by the gentleman who had turned around when I'd said "ohmygod" while Viggo was explaining the back story to "Silencio", we talked about it, he also knew Gardel and the cemetery story, so he also knew what he was going to interpret. Meanwhile, Viggo, or somebody else, had informed the audience to remain in their seats, that the book signing was going to start from the back to the front. Oh, dear, we were in the third row. But hey, it was only fair, and who's going to complain about contemplating Viggo for hours and hours?

Well, the poetry reading couldn't have turned out any better, even though I was sad that I didn't understand Danish, but at least I knew which poems he was reading. I've been told he speaks the language well, but he seemed a bit nervous reading Danish, it sounded fluent to me, although his tone seemed a bit more monotonous than when he read English.

You can go to this address for the tango's lyrics, and listen to an audio clip, with Carlos Gardel's original recording. (For his biography, choose "G" and then his name. (Thanks, Sandra!) Note the background chorus, Viggo obviously didn't sing those, but my mom wrote them down for me as well :) She couldn't believe he'd sung a tango, one of her favorites, no less!
Go to this page for the English lyrics.