Soul of the Tango

Yo-Yo Ma might seem like an unlikely protagonist for the tango, but this intrepid musical explorer has taken his task seriously, collaborating with experienced tango musicians. Ma even participates in a posthumous collaboration with one 1987 Piazzolla recording. Furthermore, while he's obviously the headliner here, he doesn't dominate the arrangements nearly as much as he does the billing and photography of the disc. While the result isn't your essential Piazzolla album (that would have to include more of the composer's own playing), it's an atmospheric and convincing collection, perhaps a good introduction for those who don't know the music. --L.G.

I quote from this disc’s insert commentary: “Tango is more than just notes ... [with its] rhythm that is at once love and dream, pain and reality [and] its special qualities of freedom, passion and ecstasy ... it is dance, poetry, song and gestures, ethos and a philosophy of life.”

Gulping hard after that rhapsody, I turn to the music itself. Yo-Yo Ma is the latest international artist to surrender to the spell of this Argentinian dance now enjoying a new wave of popularity: he can also be heard on the soundtrack of the film The Tango Lesson. Here, surrounded by a brilliant group of experts in the genre (some of them associates of Piazzolla himself), he presents with an evident wholehearted commitment a well-varied programme – ranging from the melancholy or sultry to the energetic or fiery – of Piazzolla pieces both familiar and unfamiliar. Among the latter, Fugata is ingenious, Mumuki richly eloquent, and Tres minutos con la realidad nervily edgy: in this last, Kathryn Stott understandably earned the admiration of her Argentinian colleagues. She also shines with Yo-Yo Ma in an exciting performance of the cello-and-piano duo Le Grand Tango: his playing in the Milonga del angel is outstandingly beautiful. Special mention must also be made of some spectacular virtuosity by the Assad brothers in the Tango Suite. The characteristic bandoneon is featured with the cellist in Cafe 1930; and by technological trickery Yo-Yo Ma partners Piazzolla himself (recorded in 1987) in a confection called Tango Remembrances.

Those who are already fans of this genre will be in no need of encouragement to procure this disc: others would find it perhaps the most persuasive demonstration yet of the extent to which this dance has transcended its low-class Buenos Aires origins. --Lionel Salter, Gramophone

Piazzolla: Las Cuatro Estaciones porteñas, Etc

Scintillating, sexy, electric, elegant, sensuous, risky, robust, and just plain exciting and entertaining--those are some of the words that describe this surprising recording from Les Violons du Roy, the Quebec-based period-performance orchestra usually praised for its first-rate Bach, Handel, and Mozart. Now add Piazzolla to the list of this virtuoso ensemble's repertoire--and "virtuoso" not only describes the orchestra's amazing facility but particularly the artistry of violin soloist Pascale Giguère, long-time member of the group who here shines with big-star brilliance.

Her alternately fluid, fanciful, fiery, and always technically assured first movement (Verano/Summer) of the opening Four Seasons of Buenos Aires tells you all you need to know regarding the high energy and artistic level of what's to come.

Giguère's subtle phrase-shaping and sensual mood-setting in the Otoño/Autumn movement, abetted by her like-spirited orchestral accomplices, captures the essence of tango while proving the genius of Leonid Desyatnikov's violin/string orchestra arrangement of Piazzolla's tribute to Vivaldi (originally scored for quintet with piano and bandoneon). In the same movement's cadenza, Giguère's violin not only sings, but nearly speaks via tricky flicks and digs of the bow on strings.

There's plenty more to savor here, ranging from slow and seductive tangos to, well, fast and seductive tangos--and the playing is world-class throughout. Vibrant sound that captures the grit and fiber and sophisticated swagger of this infectious music completes an ideally entertaining--and did I say surprising?--performance. Highly recommended. --David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

MP3 320 · 124 MB

Piazzolla: Orchestral Works

"Gabriel Castagnas account is full of verve… a fine programme." --Gramophone

"The Swabian orchestra plays sweetly and is luciously recorded: Gabriel Castagna, who is a Piazzolla compatriot and something of a specialist in South American repertoire, clearly has the music in his bones." --International Record Review

"…this very decently played collection is that rare thing nowadays, a Piazzolla disc in which everything is heard exactly as it was written." --The Guardian ‘Classical CD of the Week’

'Gabriel Castagna has already proved himself something of a Piazzolla specialist… all the performances sound affectionate and thoroughly idiomatic, and overall it’s an undeniably enjoyable disc…' --BBC Music Magazine

MP3 320 · 124 MB