A Piazzolla Trilogy

by Karen Gomyo

Overview

The violin figured prominently in many of Astor Piazzolla's ensembles, and recordings of his work by classical violinists do not distort the music's spirit. One of the first to demonstrate that was Gidon Kremer, who used a small, percussive-spirited ensemble that Piazzolla would have found congenial and familiar. There's room for the alternative, more "classical" direction in which violinist Karen Gomyo goes here, beginning with the Leonid Desyatnikov version of the Cuatro Estaciones Portenas ("Buenos Aires Four Seasons") that she performs. This is often described as an arrangement of Piazzolla's work, but it might better be called a fantasy on the music of Piazzolla and Vivaldi, bits of whose own Four Seasons violin concertos are worked into the three-section structures Desyatnikov creates. (He even flips the seasons to account for the hemisphere shift.) Gomyo achieves a lively, brilliant performance of this curious fusion, herself conducting the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire during the coronavirus pandemic; the social distancing of the players here gives the music a big, spacious quality that's in tune with Desyatnikov's ambitions. Gomyo's Piazzolla Trilogy ends with smaller works, the Histoire du Tango (originally for flute and guitar but certainly reasonable on violin and guitar) and three of the Six Tango Etudes, originally for solo flute. The acoustics here are not quite as successful; the church space muddles the music, but Gomyo's rather flashy readings, with her sharp attacks standing in for the percussive quality of Piazzolla's ensembles, complement the Cuatro Estaciones Portenas well. Fans of Piazzolla on classical instruments will want to add this enthusiastic album to their collections. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	08/06/2021
Label:	Bis
UPC:	7318599923857
Rank:	16900

Tracks

1. Cuatro Estaciones Porte¿¿as (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires)~Verano Porte¿¿o
2. Cuatro Estaciones Porte¿¿as (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires)~Oto¿¿o Porte¿¿o
3. Cuatro Estaciones Porte¿¿as (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires)~Invierno Porte¿¿o
4. Cuatro Estaciones Porte¿¿as (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires)~Primavera Porte¿¿a
5. Tango ¿¿tudes for flute or violin solo~¿¿tude No. 3: Molto marcato e energico
6. Tango ¿¿tudes for flute or violin solo~¿¿tude No. 4: Lento meditativo
7. Tango ¿¿tudes for flute or violin solo~¿¿tude No. 5: Quarter Note = 120
8. Histoire du Tango for flute (violin) and guitar~1. Bordel 1900
9. Histoire du Tango for flute (violin) and guitar~2. Caf¿¿ 1930
10. Histoire du Tango for flute (violin) and guitar~3. Nightclub 1960
11. Histoire du Tango for flute (violin) and guitar~4. Concert d'aujourd'hui

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Karen Gomyo   Primary Artist,Violin,Conductor
Stephanie Jones   Guitar
Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire   Orchestra
Ben Soussan   Cello

Technical Credits

Leonid Desyatnikov   Arranger
Robert Suff   Executive Producer
Jean-Pascal Vachon   Liner Note Translation
Julien Szulman   Leader
Irene Zandel   Photography
Andrew Barnett   Typesetting
Horst A. Scholz   Liner Note Translation
Antonio Stradivari   Instrument Design
Paul Sheridan   Instrument Design
Karen Gomyo   Liner Notes
Hans Kipfer   Engineer,Producer,Post Production Mix
Thore Brinkmann   Engineer
Hakan Ekman   Post Production Editor
Francois Tourte   Instrument Design
Victor Pooters   Photography
Carlos Ebert   Photography
Astor Piazzolla   Composer
Eric Johns   Liner Notes