November 7, 2017

  • Piazzolla's Legacy Inspires

     Legacy: Piazzolla Violin & Piano Arrangements

    Tomas Cotik, violin. Tao Lin, piano
    Jeffrey Kipperman, double bass. Alfredo Lerida, voice.
    Alex Wadner, Bradley Loudis, percussion.
    Naxos Records 8.573789
    Total Time:  63:48
    Recording:   n/a (download)
    Performance: ****/****

     

    Tomas Cotik and Tao Lin return to the music of Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) in Legacy.  The release pulls together special arrangements for violin and piano of ten of the composer’s works.  Piazzolla is noted for creating the nuevo tango which essentially took this traditional dance form and integrated it with jazz and classical elements.  It was really in the 1970s, and really the 1980s where his music began to garner more international and critical attention.  His Libertango album (1974) and the Concerto for Bandoneon, the Suite Punta del Este (excerpts of which figured prominently in Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys, 1995), the work he did on the film Enrico IV (1984), and his own take on the four seasons in Estaciones Portenas (which appear here in a fabulous performance) are some of the highlights of a long productive career that also includes an extensive discography going back to 1955.  The selections here were mostly adapted by Cotik and Lin.

    Things kick off quickly with “Escualo” (“Shark”), an almost scherzo-like, driving work with a brief moment for melodic relaxation.  A more sensuous selection, “Vardarito” follows which soon moves rather quickly into some of the noted rapid passage work.  The pieces have these sort of instant improvisational feel to them and is one of the hallmarks of Piazzolla’s musical appeal.  A bit of percussion and double bass lend this a bit more jazzier flare.  These shifts between raw energy and lyrical beauty can make the music seem a bit melodramatic but this is part of the general style as well.  Even in the languid “Milonga del Angel” the tango rhythms begin to slowly pull the energy forward.  The pieces are a good blend of favorites exploring the sheer variety of Piazzolla’s melodic gifts.  A couple selections (“Revirado” and “Jeanne y Paul”) even popped in mid-1970s films (Last Tango in Paris, and Cadaveri Eccelenti).

    Both Cotik and Lin obviously have chosen this program out of their personal love of these pieces and this shines forth in this release very well.  The musical program as a whole works quite well with its stylistic set up prior to the Estanciones Portenas music which is then followed by some of the works used in film and even a song (“Balada para un loco”).  The release is certainly a nice addition to the Piazzolla discography of which there is certainly plenty, but this makes for an excellent hour of engaging and excellent energetic performances.