BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
Astor PIAZZOLLA (1921 - 1992)
Sinfonia Buenos Aires, op.15 (1951) [26:20]
Aconcagua, Concerto for bandoneón, strings and percussion (1979) [24:58]
Las Cuatro Estanciones Porteñas (1964/1970) [28:20] (arr. L Desyatnikov)
Daniel Binelli (bandoneón), Tianwa Yang (violin)
Nashville Symphony Orchestra/Giancarlo Guerrero
rec. 21-22 November 2009, Laura Turner Concert Hall, Schermerhorn Symphony
Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. DDD
NAXOS 8.572271 [79:38]
It was Nadia Boulanger who said that when writing tangos Piazzolla was really
himself: “Here is the true Piazzolla, “she said, “do not
ever leave him”. Certainly if you hear some of his early piano works,
they are not as representative of the man as his later work, but what of the
early Sinfonia Buenos Aires? Piazzolla wrote this piece following five
years of study with Ginastera, and it subsequently won a competition which
gave the composer a scholarship to study in France. The first performance
was conducted by Fabien Sevitsky, a nephew of Koussevitzky, who also administered
the competition. He approved of the vocal opponents to the piece - “this
is all publicity” he told the young composer. A calamitous opening gives
way to a tango of symphonic proportions. There’s a good working out
of the material and the whole makes a very satisfactory symphonic movement.
The slow movement is a hotbed of sexuality in music and the finale contains
some very exciting music but just isn’t quite up to the standard of
the preceding movements. That said, there’s some very exhilarating and
elemental drumming and blazing brass writing. The orchestration is brilliant
throughout - Piazzolla said that Ginastera made orchestration “one of
my strong points”. It’s a remarkably robust and positive work,
full of colour and rhythm, with memorable tunes and, for such a young composer,
it is amazingly assured in its intent.
Aconcagua, written nearly thirty years later, is an even more confident
work, displaying the hand of a true master composer. Like the Sinfonia,
there’s a wealth of colour and energy, with, perhaps, a slight Stravinskian
feel to some of the gestures, but the music is always true Piazzolla. This
is a real virtuoso Concerto in three movements with an accompaniment
which perfectly complements the needs of the soloist - the ability to sound
over the orchestra and sing freely without being engulfed in a thick background
texture. Incidentally, Aconcagua is the name of the highest Andean
mountain.
Piazzolla’s works have been transcribed for many and various ensembles
and combinations of instruments. I have often felt that Leonid Desyatnikov’s
version of Las Cuatro Estanciones Porteñas (The Four seasons in
Buenos Aires) for violin and string orchestra, which he created for Gidon
Kremer, to be one of the best. This is a nicely fun-packed version for Desyatnikov
includes moments from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Mindful of the
fact that Vivaldi lived in the northern hemisphere and Piazzolla in the southern,
in Piazzolla’s Winter there is a quote from Vivaldi’s Summer.
I have no doubt whatsoever that Piazzolla would have loved this.
The performances are very good, and idiomatic. Binelli is a fine player and
has the spirit of Piazzolla in his playing, Tianwa Yang has exactly the right
swing, and delivers a splendid performance of this very attractive music.
The Nashville Symphony under Giancarlo Guerrero play to the manner born. The
recording is very good, as one expects from Naxos, and the notes, though short,
are worthwhile. This is a very exciting issue and would grace any record shelf.
It will please all Piazzolla lovers, and bring many more into the fold.
Bob Briggs
A very exciting issue.