Astor Piazzolla - Soul of the Tango (Yo-Yo Ma)

Information

Composer: Astor Piazzolla

1. Libertango
2. Tango Suite (arr. Sergio Assad): 1. Andante
3. Tango Suite (arr. Sergio Assad): 2. Allegro
4. Tango Suite (arr. Sergio Assad): 3. Sur: Regreso al amor
5. Tango Suite (arr. Sergio Assad): 4. Le Grand Tango
6. Tango Suite (arr. Sergio Assad): 5. Fugata
7. Tango Remembrances
8. Mumuki
9. Tres minutos con la realidad
10. Milonga de ángel
11. Café 1930

Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Sergio Assad & Odair Assad, guitars

Kathryn Stott, piano

Nestor Marconi, bandoneon

Antonio Agri, violin

Horacio Malvicino, guitar

Hector Console, bass

Leonardo Marconi, piano

Date: 1997

Label: Sony

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Review

I quote from this disc’s insert commentary: “Tango is more than just notes ... [with its] rhythm that is at once love and dream, pain and reality [and] its special qualities of freedom, passion and ecstasy ... it is dance, poetry, song and gestures, ethos and a philosophy of life.”

Gulping hard after that rhapsody, I turn to the music itself. Yo-Yo Ma is the latest international artist to surrender to the spell of this Argentinian dance now enjoying a new wave of popularity: he can also be heard on the soundtrack of the film The Tango Lesson. Here, surrounded by a brilliant group of experts in the genre (some of them associates of Piazzolla himself), he presents with an evident wholehearted commitment a well-varied programme – ranging from the melancholy or sultry to the energetic or fiery – of Piazzolla pieces both familiar and unfamiliar. Among the latter, Fugata is ingenious, Mumuki richly eloquent, and Tres minutos con la realidad nervily edgy: in this last, Kathryn Stott understandably earned the admiration of her Argentinian colleagues. She also shines with Yo-Yo Ma in an exciting performance of the cello-and-piano duo Le Grand Tango: his playing in the Milonga del angel is outstandingly beautiful. Special mention must also be made of some spectacular virtuosity by the Assad brothers in the Tango Suite. The characteristic bandoneon is featured with the cellist in Cafe 1930; and by technological trickery Yo-Yo Ma partners Piazzolla himself (recorded in 1987) in a confection called Tango Remembrances.

Those who are already fans of this genre will be in no need of encouragement to procure this disc: others would find it perhaps the most persuasive demonstration yet of the extent to which this dance has transcended its low-class Buenos Aires origins.

— Lionel Salter

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Astor Piazzolla (11 March 1921 – 4 July 1992) was an Argentine composer and virtuoso bandoneón player who revolutionized tango. Born in Mar del Plata, he spent part of his youth in New York before establishing his career in Buenos Aires. In 1955, encouraged by Nadia Boulanger in Paris, he committed to developing his distinctive "nuevo tango" style. He founded the influential Quinteto Nuevo Tango in 1960 and composed more than 750 works, including orchestral pieces and chamber music. Though initially controversial in Argentina, his innovations later gained widespread acclaim and international recognition.

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Yo-Yo Ma (born 7 October 1955 in Paris) is an American cellist renowned for his exceptional technique and cross-cultural collaborations that broadened classical music's reach. A prodigy, he debuted at Carnegie Hall at 9, studied at Juilliard, and graduated from Harvard in 1977. Celebrated for his interpretations of standard repertoire, he has also explored diverse genres, collaborating with artists from bluegrass to tango. In 1998 he founded the Silk Road Project to promote global artistic exchange. A prolific recording artist, Ma has received numerous prestigious honors, including multiple Grammy Awards.

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