MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


Support us financially by purchasing this from

Astor PIAZZOLLA (1921-1992)
Legacy
Escualo [3:02]
Vardarito [6:48]
Milonga del angel [6:00]
Las cuatro estaciones portenas [21:35]
Adios Nonino [5:46]
Introduccion al angel [5:00]
Jeanne y Paul [4:36]
Balada para un loco [5:03]
Revirado [3:23]
Fracanapa [2:36]
Tomás Cotik (violin)
Tao Lin (piano)
Jeffrey Kipperman (double bass)
Alex Wadner, Bradley Loudis (percussion)
Alfredo Lerida (voice)
rec. 2014, Gusman Concert Hall, Coral Gables, Florida
NAXOS 8.573789 [64:01]

Astor Piazzolla was one of the leading tango composers and performers of the last century. He revolutionized the tango by fusing it with elements of classical and jazz, creating a new style aptly described as “Nuevo Tango”. Over his lifetime he wrote more than 3000 pieces, many of which are still being discovered. He was also a virtuoso bandoneonist, and performed with many stylistically different bands and musicians.

This album is a commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pizzalloa’s death. It contains a mix of his works, selected and performed by violinist Tomas Cotik and pianist Tao Lin. Tomas was born in Buenos Aires and is a well-known recording artist. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Violin at Portland State University. Tao was born in Shanghai and performs regularly throughout Europe, Asia and North America. The two musicians have been recording together since 2010, and have previously recorded another Piazzolla album, Tango Nuevo, released by Naxos in 2013.

Escualo, or “shark”, composed in 1979, is a driving piece marked by suspense, dynamic rhythms and jagged syncopation. Piazzolla was inspired to write it after being jolted awake from a sleepy morning fishing trip by an enormous shark on his line. The slashing violin melody is matched and complemented by a quick and steady series of piano bass chords and runs, musically reflecting the drama on the sea. Vardarito is an interesting tribute to bandleader and violinist Elvino Vardaro, a long-time musical associate who performed in Piazzolla’s first Quintet and later in his Octet. Tomas and Tao are joined by double bassist Jeffrey Kipperman and percussionists Alex Wadner and Bradley Loudis, the group alternating slow and dreamy duets with rattling up-tempo ensemble verses. Milonga del angel, or “Angel’s Milonga “ was composed in 1965. It is a slow, delicate ballad with a fine tango milonga arrangement having the melody alternately shared between piano and violin, with sensitive dynamics and key changes.
Las cuatro estaciones portenas (The Four Season of Buenos Aires) was written between 1960 and 1970. The collection was inspired by Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”, and the four movements can be performed separately or as a set, in any order, as by each contrasting they complement the whole. Revirado, composed in 1963, alternates a light-hearted piano dance accompanied by raspy percussion, with a slower, elegant violin segment for a fine overall effect.

Piazzolla’s most famous tango, Adios Nonino, was written in 1959 after his father died. It is a dynamic, melancholy classic that alternates tense, anxious passages with slower, grieving segments that, together, mirror the phases of saying a final good-by. Tomas and Tao capture the essence of the piece with beautiful phasing and sensitivity.

A four page flyer is included, with notes and comment by music journalist Fernando Gonzalez. The sound quality is excellent.

Bruce McCollum

 



Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing