Piazzolla!

A shame there isn't any Piazzolla on the site yet! In an attempt to remedy this, I'll post two recordings of Piazzolla arrangements for piano trio which I've played.

The first one, "Invierno Porteño", is Jose Bragato's arrangement for piano trio, with a flute doing the violin part. It was recorded two years ago at a summer music course, live. From the beginning of the course to the audition we only had about one week to get the piece ready, so in spite of a few err, "accidents", I'm mostly satisfied with the way it went. My partners were H. Bonnardo (flute) and J. Dive (cello).

The second one, the quite famous "Meditango", was recorded a few months prior to that wih a different group. For once the audio quality is great because we were able to record it in a professional studio, thanks to a collaboration between our conservatory and a nearby recording engineering school. The arrangement is our own, and this time I'm playing with C.-M. Dufour (violin) and C. Michon (cello).

Piazzolla - Meditango (Piano Trio) ( 9:10 )
Piazzolla - Invierno Porteño (arr. for flute, cello and piano by Jose Bragato) ( 5:17 )

 

great, inspired playing! Those arrangements are very good also.

It's amazing how Piazolla's music is always touching and highly attractive.

hm... 'Invierno Porteño' sounds too much alike Pachebel's Canon, in the end. maybe it's a paraphrase?

Do you play Tristango? It's one of my favorite Piazolla's tango... but rarely played. It's also very different from his other tangos.

PS: Last wednesday, I watched João Carlos Martins playing and conducting an arrangement of Adios Nonino for Orchestra and piano with few fingers. He was a pianist and recorded Bach's complete (I think) works for piano in the past, but now his hands have almost no movement due to a disease. It was a great playing, and he told us the orchestra received a 9-minute applause in Carneggie Hall after this performance.

 

hm...

I was wondering...
what about copyright?
Piazzolla is such recent composer.

 

I enjoyed these very much
The audio quality of the latter is really good!

 

It is, isn't it ! Although I am not sure if maybe Piazzolla is just a little overrated, his style being quite narrowly focused. But inside that restriction, he has no peers.

I'll listen to these later (no time now).
In the meantime, as you are bringing a new composer to the site, and have an excellent command of English, maybe you can provide a Piazolla biography ?

 

... and this is where I realize that I actually know little to nothing about the man. Time for some reading, I guess! I'll try to cook something up within a few days.

 

These are now up the site ! Have you got that bio done yet ?

 

Whooohooo ... new composer!

I love Piazzolla and really enjoyed these pieces. I didn't realize how much solo piano he had written as well. Good job!

 

I'm sorry, Chris. Because of chronic tendinous issues that have caught up to me, I'm going to have to keep computer usage to a minimum for a while (not to mention piano playing ), so I will most likely not be able to write that biography. Thanks for putting the recordings up, and sorry to leave you hanging like that. If anybody feels up to the task, please be my guest!

 

Well...what would you guys think if I tried my hand at writing the bio?

 

That would be great Sarah ! I love people helping out on bios (there's also Elgar, Respighi, and Janacek to be created :wink: ).

The trick is to get different bios from the web and mix 'n mash them around so as to create something reasonably unique. If you can throw in some tidbit that other bios don't have, all the better. Don't make it too long, and try to cover the main points of life and works succinctly. Dukas, Turina, Sibelius are good examples I think.

Thanks in advance ! You will be credited of course.

 

All right! I will work on this over the next several weeks. And, if schoolwork allows, I might be able to help with one of the other poor bio-less composers. :wink:

 

I'm really looking forward to read the bio written by you, Sarah!
It's for me the first time to see a volunteer of composer-bios.

 

Here are the fruits of my research on Piazzolla. Quite a colorful character, and I enjoyed reading about him! Please let me know what I need to change, and I would be happy to do so.

Sarah Holtz

On March 11, 1921, a little boy was born that would revolutionize the world of tango. Astor Pantaleon Piazzolla spent his first years in the Mar del Plata home of his Italian parents, Vicente “Nonino” Piazzolla and Asunta Manetti. In 1925 the family relocated to New York City.

Piazzolla’s young life changed drastically after his father decided to bring home a bandoneon. The nine-year-old was found to have an amazing aptitude for the instrument. Carlos Gardel wanted to take the boy along on a South America tour, but Piazzolla’s parents demurred, an action which saved the prodigy’s life. Also around this time, Piazzolla commenced piano studies with Bela Wilda.

In 1936, after returning to Mar del Plata, the teen began to be active in local music groups; this allowed him to explore his growing interest in tango. After several years, Piazzolla had the good fortune of entering bandoneonist Aníbal Troilo's orchestra. Troilo took an interest in the young musician and schooled him in Troilo’s own style of tango, which was innovative while remaining within reach of most audiences. Piazzolla continued his studies in music theory and piano, working with classical composer Alberto Ginastera and pianist Raul Spivak. Piazzolla left Troilo’s orchestra in 1944, spending two years as the orchestra leader behind singer Francisco Fiorentino and then several years directing his own orchestra. After the ensemble broke up in 1949 Piazzolla was uncertain about his future in tango and attempted to pursue composing more refined music.

But then Piazzolla won the life-changing opportunity to study with the famed composition teacher Nadia Boulanger. She advised him to pursue tango again from the fresh perspective his classical and jazz training afforded, advice Piazzolla wholeheartedly followed. Immediately he formed Octeto Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, the octet was so innovative that it drew harsh criticism, which led Piazzolla to disband the group and return to New York City.

Piazzolla spent two years in New York City experimenting with Jazz-Tango, an experiment that was not well-received in the least. He returned to Argentina and formed Quinteto Tango Nuevo, a group that proved to be especially popular with the younger generation and allowed Piazzolla to widely experiment with tango form. He made several important recordings and performances with this quintet. In 1972, Piazzolla assembled the Conjunto 9. With this group he recorded several albums, including “Musica Contemporanea de la cuidad de Buenos Aires,” and “Vardario.”

After Argentina’s government changed hands and Piazzolla suffered a heart attack, he decided to relocate to Italy. This move produced the Conjuncto Electronico group and one of Piazzolla’s most famed compositions, “Libertango.” After a time Piazzolla switched from electronic music back to the quintet form he so loved. The new 1978 quintet toured all over the world and grew to be immensely popular. With this ensemble Piazzolla recorded what he considered to be his finest album, “Tango: Zero Hour.”

As Piazzolla’s international popularity surged, his health began to crater. After a quadruple bypass surgery in 1988, Piazzolla managed to recover enough to tour and record, but for only a short time. He was soon struck down again, this time by a stroke, and died two years later on July 4, 1992. His passing bereft the world of a great musician, but he bequeathed a legacy of wonderful music to be enjoyed for ages to come.

 

This is wonderful music wonderfully played! Thanks for posting these pieces.

 

Good deal. During the next couple of months I will try to work on the other bios Chris mentioned, if that would be of any help to you admins.