passatori - accordion, bandoneon,
orchestra
Richard Galliano: Opale Concerto
(1994)
Astor Piazzolla:
Oblivion
Richard Galliano: San Peyre (extracted from the
suite of the same name)
La Valse à Margaux
Mélodicelli
Habanerando
Astor Piazzolla: Concerto pour Bandonéon (1979)
Richard Galliano (accordion,
bandoneon) I solisti dell' orchestra della Toscana
Recorded Florence, Italy,
6, 7, 8 October 1998 Dreyfus FOM
36601
Crotchet
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If you are, as I am, a major fan of Astor Piazzolla, tangos, and music with
that certain Latin charm, passatori is a CD you will want in your
collection. Richard Galliano tells us inside the stylish fold-over cover
of his childhood dreams of becoming a concert artist and the consequent
difficulty of doing so as an accordionist and bandoneon player. That is,
until he met Astor Piazzolla in the early 1980s. He mentions the problem
of 'finding a fit' for his rather difficult instruments until he realized
that he could follow Astor's path of using folk and popular music as a starting
point.
He found a fit-a very good one if this CD is any indication. Recorded in
Italy in late 1998, mixed in Paris and mastered in London, produced by Francis
Dreyfus and all under the artistic management of Galliano, this is an extremely
successful collection of tangos and other works by Piazzolla and Galliano.
The CD features Richard Galliano on accordion and bandoneon, nicely backed
by I solisti dell' orchestra della Toscana. Galliano's opening concerto is
a fitting tribute to the master and is followed by Piazzolla's haunting
Oblivion. These works, like the next two, are for accordion and string
orchestra. For many of us, certainly for me, the accordion is a difficult
instrument to like but Galliano's handling of it is irresistible. The excerpt,
an Andante from Galliano's suite San Peyre, makes me want to hear
the entire piece. La Valse à Margaux is, obviously a waltz
with a haunting quality. Indeed, all the shorter works between the two concertos
are haunting and all demonstrate masterly handling of the accordion. I was
taken with the sad feelings of the Habanerando, the first piece for
bandoneon on this CD. As in the preceding Mélodicelli a piano
is added to the string orchestra, and Habanerando also features a
harp. Piazzolla's bandoneon concerto, frequently recorded, is given a wonderful
reading here with the string orchestra augmented by harp, piano, and percussion.
It is demonstrably the best piece on this CD, but this is not to say that
the Galliano works lack merit and interest. The arrangement of the CD merely
points the listener to the 'best for last.'
Richard Galliano orchestrated his compositions and conducted I solisti for
the recording. For me he has succeeded in producing an appropriate paean
to his hero and a CD which I have found myself listening to repeatedly. I
can only wish that Galliano had included one more piece to fit into the remaining
thirteen to fourteen minutes available on this 60-minute CD.
Reviewer
Jane Erb
