This excellent recording was first released a decade ago, but has been upgraded considerably in this package to tie in with the recent rise of interest in tango internationally. A 98-page booklet has been bound into book-bound album design, and it is full of great photographs – not only of Piazzolla himself and some of the performers, but also featuring some of the sexiest and most artistic closeups of tango dancers one is likely to see anywhere. These shots alone – even without the compelling music – would get many viewers very interested in the whole phenomenon. The essays on Piazzolla and the tango are well-written. Also, the remastering seems to have enhanced the sonics of the original release. I have to admit I couldn’t find my copy of the original, but I recall it lacked the snap of Piazzolla’s own recording of the concerto; now it surpasses it, and in better sonics. Perhaps I passed on the original as a result.
There are really two bandoneon concertos here: the Three Movements is called a Concerto for piano, strings and percussion on Piazzolla’s 1983 version on the Milan label. But the primary focus here is on the first concerto – it provided conductor Pons with the basis for the entire album. He was careful to avoid having his and his pianist Vidal’s arrangements for the orchestra overpower the strong effect of Piazzolla’s tango quintet. He modeled all of them on the original quintet of bandoneon, piano, doublebass, violin and guitar – except that he substituted concert harp for the guitar. A few wind and brass instruments plus strings were added, and – as with Piazzolla – they refrained from continuous percussion instruments. He wanted the rough accents of the bandoneon banged on the knee and the sharp chords on the piano to be the elemental forces in the rhythm.
Pons comes to Piazzolla’s music from a versatile and somewhat offbeat place. While versed in the mainstream classical composers, he has recorded albums devoted to Falla, Zappa and a fine recent survey of film music by Nino Rota. His arrangements present a fresh outlook on the music, stressing its classical connections but not overpowering its popular/folk/jazzy rhythms with too much orchestral schmaltz. His version of my favorite Piazzolla tango – Adiós nonino – strikes me as my current favorite of that very heartfelt piece (a tribute to his late father). If you by chance don’t yet have a single Piazzolla recording in your collection, this would be the one to get!
– John Sunier
