Notes and Editorial Reviews
PIAZZOLLA
La muerte del ángel. Melodía en la menor. Tango en la menor. Milonga sin palabras. María de Buenos Aires:
Fuga y misterio; Yo soy María
1.
Ave María. Oblivion.
1
Aire de la zamba niña. Le Grand Tango. Libertango
•
Tomas Cotik,
1
Glenn Basham (vn); Tao Lin (pn)
•
NAXOS 8.573166 (59:35)
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Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla (1921–1992) was an Argentine bandoneon player and composer who revolutionized tango music. He brought it from its beginnings as a 19th- and early 20th-century dance to its zenith as modern music for the concert hall. His concept of nuevo tango combined it with elements of jazz and classical music.
Fanfare
readers already know violinist Thomas Cotik and pianist Tao Lin for their Centaur recording of Schubert. Of course, they take in a completely different approach to the tangos on Naxos. Whereas their Schubert was smooth and silky, their Piazzolla is edgy, sexy, and raw. Cotik and Lin take us from Piazzolla’s
Tanguano
of 1951 to his 1986 description of a girl performing the Zamba, a native Argentine dance. In between, they document some of the myriad changes in the composer’s musical palette. His fast and rhythmic
The Death of the Angel
was incidental music for a 1962 play that ended with the angel dying after his fight with a devil. In 1965 a new muse, Norma, tempted the composer who was in the process of divorcing. He thinks of Norma in his smooth Melody in A Minor, but refers to her as poison. The operetta
Maria de Buenos Aires
is one of Piazzolla’s best-known works. It was performed at Long Beach Opera in California in 2012. The two pieces played here accompany Maria’s wandering through the city of Buenos Aires, first as a streetwalker and later as a ghost. It is during the second stroll that we hear some of the composer’s most evocative music, played by the two violins and piano that accompany her. Glenn Basham of the University of Miami’s Frost Institute plays the second fiddle with a singing tone.
Libertango
is Piazzolla’s example of the new music of the 1970s. He intertwined rock and jazz influences with melodic tango and came up with a new and most viable form of concert music. By this time, the tango that had once been a dance from the wrong side of town had matured into modern classical music that would soon be played by symphony orchestras all over the world. Tango’s relative, the milonga, has come along with it, adding a bit of spice to the confection from Argentina.
In 1982, Piazzolla wrote his elegant
Grand Tango
and sent it to the great Russian cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich. The cellist did not recognize his name and set it aside. When he did eventually look at it, he was astonished at the composer’s talent, but it was not until eight years later that he premiered the work. Sofia Gubaidulina arranged the version heard here. The instrumental
Ave Maria
and the pleasant milonga
Oblivion
are pieces that Piazzolla wrote for the 1984 Italian film
Henry V
. The next year he began to write pieces detailing the history of tango from bordello dance music to international concert specialty. He follows its rise to the café, the nightclub, and the 1980s concert hall. Some of the music is sultry while other works are fast, rhythmic, and ornamented to show the exquisite virtuosity of Cotik and Lin. They finish with a rousing dance called
Libertango
. It is a perfect finale for this CD of catchy, toe-tapping music. Many other artists have recorded Piazzolla’s works, but not with violin and piano. The sound on this disc is clear and the performances precise. I think that lovers of tango music will definitely want this fascinating disc.
FANFARE: Maria Nockin
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Works on This Recording
1.
Tanguano by Astor Piazzolla
Performer:
Tomas Cotik (Violin),
Tao Lin (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Argentina
2.
Milonga sin Palabras by Astor Piazzolla
Performer:
Tomas Cotik (Violin),
Tao Lin (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Argentina
3.
Melodia in A minor by Astor Piazzolla
Performer:
Tomas Cotik (Violin),
Tao Lin (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Argentina
6.
Libertango by Astor Piazzolla
Performer:
Tomas Cotik (Violin),
Tao Lin (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1974; Argentina
7.
Le Grand Tango by Astor Piazzolla
Performer:
Tomas Cotik (Violin),
Tao Lin (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Argentina
8.
La muerte del Angel by Astor Piazzolla
Performer:
Tomas Cotik (Violin),
Tao Lin (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1962; Argentina
9.
History of the Tango by Astor Piazzolla
Performer:
Tomas Cotik (Violin),
Tao Lin (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1986; Argentina
11.
Enrico IV: Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla
Performer:
Tomas Cotik (Violin),
Tao Lin (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1984; Argentina
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