Les Luthiers, a "successful" and "no slight" farewell to their career

• Les Luthiers Retire from the stage with one last show by Mastropiero

Jokes and laughter resound on stage in full conversation;

even when the talk is about some sadness, they

.

The Les Luthiers group transcended borders and generations to make humor and music from Argentina all over the world and now, with a 55-year career, begins its farewell.

With the care with which a child is cared for, two of its members,

, underline the importance of saying goodbye "with success" and "without the snub" to a career as long as it is successful on this tour baptized

, which starts this week in Buenos Aires.

The two 'historic' members of Les Luthiers -Maronna was one of the founders of the group in 1967,

;

and López joined two years later- receive EFE to talk about retirement, humor and their love story with Spain.

"We deserve a break"

At 74 and 76 years old respectively, Maronna and López Puccio sign the last show of Les Luthiers, the first original in 15 years, after several anthologies, and starring their stellar creation,

.

Along with them will be the so-called '2019 cast': Roberto Antier, Tomás Mayer-Wolf, Martín O'Connor and Horacio Tato Turano.

"It is a great pride", sums up the composer and guitarist from Bahía Blanca when asked about the legacy of this character to universal culture, which, in his opinion, "is the symbol of Les Luthiers; it is the heart, the soul" .

Meanwhile, López Puccio says of him that "he is a character with very faded edges."

"He knew how to be a prototype at some point; he could be a prototype of a teacher, let's say, from the canon of classical music, a Beethoven, a Schumann, a Schubert, and then he started doing

", smiles the conductor from Rosario.

The work consists of an interview with Mastropiero, alternated with "various numbers of various musical genres, such as waltzes, cha cha cha, classical music," Maronna details.

Precisely, the preview of this show in Rosario, last November, added to the

, Lino Patalano, two months before, led them to make "a final decision".

"I think the premiere completed our desire and precisely the opposite of what can be assumed, because it was a success," summarizes López, who adds: "We can retire with a success, with the feeling of

high ".

However, Maronna points out that "age" is the main argument for goodbye: "We deserve a break, a change."

"We love"

The death of Rabinovich, in 2015, and of Mundstock, in 2020

, left a void among their fans, but the musicians say that "there is no concrete part" of the current show in which their "friends, colleagues, cronies, accomplices, partners, brothers", because "they are always going around", says López.

"We love them," he sums up.

That serious, elderly musicians dressed in suits make "refined" humor sounds as bizarre as the instruments invented for their numbers, such as the mandoclet, the nomeolbidet, the

.

But the group's success transcended borders and generations, something they don't even try to fathom.

"We invented a kind of new genre, a mixture of humor with music, where the music is not an accompaniment, but is intrinsic to the dramatic action and brings together many things," says the orchestra director, who adds that the sum of humor that "it is never tacky" and "the culture" allowed them to reach "a

and enjoy it and be an accomplice".

square meter theory

The recent discussion about the limits of making people laugh also affects them who, despite displaying 'white humor', feel that they are under constant scrutiny.

"I seriously believe in the theory of the square meter. Now with so much network, with so many groups, with so many subgroups, people become fanatical about a little truth and that truth has a little color and they look through that little color," López staged , who suggests, however, that "making humor at the time of the

, nor very easy nor very simple".

Maronna agrees with her partner: "You no longer know what you can do without offending someone. This is a difficult time for the humorist."

Buenos Aires is the first stop on this tour, which

and will also visit countries like Mexico and Colombia.

Their stop in Spain, where they will stay for several weeks, confirms the love they feel for that country, where, in addition to

they were also recognized at the highest level: the Order of Isabel la Católica (2007) and received the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities (2017).

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