Ástor PIAZZOLLA (1921-1992)
Complete Tango!
Isabelle van Keulen Ensemble
Rec. 2013-17, Motor Music Studios, Mechelen, Belgium
CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72873 [3 CDs: 186:06]
I had one of these discs to review a few years ago (review) and I liked it so much that I promptly bought the second one then available. Since then, there has been a third, and the three have now been boxed up together.
Piazzolla’s tangos, although in a dance form, are not primarily intended for dancing. In this respect they are more akin to, say, Chopin’s waltzes than Johann Strauss’s. They are portraits of tangos, which he himself compared to a form of chamber music. Isabelle van Keulen, who has a large discography of the normal classical repertoire, fell in love with this music and formed her ensemble especially to play it.
Her ensemble is a quartet, in which she is joined by her husband Rüdiger Ludwig on double bass, Christian Gerber on bandonéon, the button accordion which is an essential feature of Piazzolla’s music and Ulrike Payer on piano. Piazzolla himself tended to use a quintet, adding a guitar (normally amplified) to the ensemble, but van Keulen eschews this, and I have to say that I do not miss it. Several of the pieces were arranged by Christian Gerber specifically for this ensemble.
The pieces are of various lengths, the shorter ones tending to be in a straightforward A-B-A form, while the longer ones may have two episodes. The contrasting episodes are often in a slower tempo than the main piece, and there are some pieces, such as Oblivion and Romance del diablo, which are slow and dreamy throughout. Otherwise, we have the characteristic snap and bit of the tango rhythm. Although van Keulen leads the ensemble, she does not dominate it, and every player has a chance to shine, even the double bass in Poema valseado. When van Keulen does have a solo, as in Allegro tangabile, she plays with impressive virtuosity. The third disc also introduces some effects less apparent on the first two, such as glissandi, percussive sounds made by the player knocking their instruments and, in Tango del diablo, tone clusters on the piano. (These examples are taken from the two discs I have not previously reviewed.)
The playing is full of verve and life, and I noticed particularly the driving bass which often underpins the ensemble, and Piazzolla’s skill in modulating and in returning to the main key with a bang. Although he was not, as far as I know, a pianist, his piano parts are full of interest and occasionally virtuosic. The recordings were made over a period of four years but all in the same studio and the sound has the right degree of resonance and bloom. The earlier disc I had was in SACD, but it seems that all three of these are now issued as ordinary two channel CDs. At any rate, that is how I listened to them.
Piazzolla himself recorded a good deal, but one test of a real composer is whether his works are taken up by others. I don’t myself consider that there are such things as definitive performances, even when the composer is performing. Van Keulen’s versions are very enjoyable and well worth hearing.
Stephen Barber
Contents
CD1 Tango!
Escualo [3:58]
Verano Porteño [6:22]
Invierno Porteño [6:48]
Tristezas de un Doble A [8:58]
Michelangelo ‘70 [3:05]
Contrabajismo [11:51]
Oblivion [4:01]
Libertango [3:58]
Tangata [8:23]
Tanti anni prima [5:12]
Concierto para Quinteto [9:33]
CD2 Grand Tango!
Bando [3:27]
Otoño Porteño [5:59]
Le Grand Tango (arr. Christian Gerber) [12:14]
Soledad [7:55]
Tres Minutos con la Realidad [3:01]
Kicho [6:55]
Primavera Porteña [5:25]
Adios Nonino [8:41]
Tango para una Ciudad [5:58]
CD3 Angeles y Diablos
Allegro tangabile [3:04]
La Camorra 1 [9:10]
Romance del diablo [5:58]
Vayamos al diablo [2:52]
Tango del diablo [4:16]
Poema valseado [3:18]
Fuga y misterio [4:49]
Introducción al ángel [6:11]
Muerte del ángel [2:57]
Resurrección del ángel [6:52]
