DECEMBER 2021 | Ray's Round-up | Festival Echoes (Piazzolla and more)

DECEMBER 2021 | Ray's Round-up | Festival Echoes (Piazzolla and more)

by RAY PICOT

The fantastic line up of events for our mostly on-line Echoes Festival was bursting at the seams with great music and outstanding performances as we celebrated music of two great Argentine centenarians, Astor Piazzolla and Ariel Ramirez. Additionally their music was explored in two podcasts (mixcloud.com/ilams) which feature some iconic performances and less familiar music.

The list of artists who participated are too numerous to mention here, but many have interesting performances captured on Youtube. I have picked out a small group of artists who also have released some memorable related commercial recordings which are available digitally to download or stream, with some also on CD.

Roberto Aussel is simply one of the great living classical guitarists and his masterclass at the Royal Academy of Music was proof of this, as he inspired students through his insightful performances, direction and encouragement. The event centred on Piazzolla’s Cinco piezas para guitarra that came about through a meeting between the composer and this rising star of a guitarist in 1980. His first recording was made 2 years later and appeared on a compilation The Spirit of Buenos Aires on the French Mandala label. The performance abounds with youthful energy that make this reading memorable, however his remake in 2008, on the album Tristón covering music from his native Argentina and Venezuela, represents in his words “ some different articulation and greater expressive freedom”. Undoubtedly born of over 20 years’ familiarity with the music, this recording offers a unique perspective on these pieces. More recently in 2019 Aussel recorded for IBS Classical, a memorable collection titled, Tangos & Milongas; in his notes the guitarist explains his interest in exploring new and unfamiliar pieces and linking together some recently composed milongas and tangos, two dances that are closely linked rhythmically. The result is an absorbing programme in which Aussel unfailingly demonstrates his understated art, beautifully articulated and always absorbing.

Staying with strings but on a smaller scale, the charango in the expressive hands of Patricio Sullivan is elevated above its traditional folk status, creating a rhythmic and dynamic range that quite exceeds its modest size. His live performance was exceptional and mesmerised a rapt audience with a virtuoso performance. During the last couple of years Sullivan has issued a series of solo EPs, some with interesting collaborations, which signpost the direction of his muse. I particularly enjoyed two most recent ones and warmly recommend Charango solo en Paris and Despierta.

After her absorbing live performance Natalia González Figeroa took us on a unique traversal of the complete original music Piazzolla wrote for the solo piano.The music now appears on her recording Piazzolla: Obras desconocidas para piano solo, which is an exceptional recital disc in every way by a pianist who really understands the music. Few people realise that Piazzolla took initial music lessons from a pianist who was a pupil of Rachmaninov and studied the instrument further in early 20’s. His music is quite idiomatic though stylistically many of the pieces precede his ‘nuevo tango’ style, but are often on a large scale and always interesting. The interpretations are excellent and González presents this music, little of which can be heard in the concert hall, in a new light that makes it worthy of evaluation. This Argentine release is only available at present digitally.

The London concert of the cellist Eduardo Vassallo and friends took us back to to 1982 when he and the pianist Cristina Filoso gave the world premiere performance of Piazzolla’s Le Grand Tango. In 1995 the duo recorded the piece as part of a collection, titled Latin-American Masterworks released by for ASV four years later. In the concert Vassallo gave an authoritative performance born of his deep familiarity of the work and the composer’s intentions, which I felt was clearly translated by him and Cristina Filoso in this recording. The concert also included other tangos by Piazzolla, some of which can be found on the duo’s 2005 release by Somm, Tangos of Piazzolla which can also be warmly recommended, featuring characterful arrangements by José Bragato.

Lastly the Cuarteto Gianneo gave us an authoritative performance of Piazzolla’s Five Tango Sensations along with a collection of arrangements with the bandoneon player Horacio Romo. The quartet recorded this piece in 2014 with Piazzolla's very own bandoneon player, Rodolfo Mederos, which must rank as one of the finest recordings of the piece. The recording is available digitally and is coupled with several quartets by other Argentine composers that are also worth exploring.


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News News Archive Concert Reviews CD Reviews Musicology Newsletter	DECEMBER 2021 \| Ray's Round-up \| Festival Echoes (Piazzolla and more) DECEMBER 2021 \| Ray's Round-up \| Festival Echoes (Piazzolla and more) by RAY PICOT The fantastic line up of events for our mostly on-line Echoes Festival was bursting at the seams with great music and outstanding performances as we celebrated music of two great Argentine centenarians, Astor Piazzolla and Ariel Ramirez. Additionally their music was explored in two podcasts (mixcloud.com/ilams) which feature some iconic performances and less familiar music. The list of artists who participated are too numerous to mention here, but many have interesting performances captured on Youtube. I have picked out a small group of artists who also have released some memorable related commercial recordings which are available digitally to download or stream, with some also on CD. Roberto Aussel is simply one of the great living classical guitarists and his masterclass at the Royal Academy of Music was proof of this, as he inspired students through his insightful performances, direction and encouragement. The event centred on Piazzolla’s Cinco piezas para guitarra that came about through a meeting between the composer and this rising star of a guitarist in 1980. His first recording was made 2 years later and appeared on a compilation The Spirit of Buenos Aires on the French Mandala label. The performance abounds with youthful energy that make this reading memorable, however his remake in 2008, on the album Tristón covering music from his native Argentina and Venezuela, represents in his words “ some different articulation and greater expressive freedom”. Undoubtedly born of over 20 years’ familiarity with the music, this recording offers a unique perspective on these pieces. More recently in 2019 Aussel recorded for IBS Classical, a memorable collection titled, Tangos & Milongas; in his notes the guitarist explains his interest in exploring new and unfamiliar pieces and linking together some recently composed milongas and tangos, two dances that are closely linked rhythmically. The result is an absorbing programme in which Aussel unfailingly demonstrates his understated art, beautifully articulated and always absorbing. Staying with strings but on a smaller scale, the charango in the expressive hands of Patricio Sullivan is elevated above its traditional folk status, creating a rhythmic and dynamic range that quite exceeds its modest size. His live performance was exceptional and mesmerised a rapt audience with a virtuoso performance. During the last couple of years Sullivan has issued a series of solo EPs, some with interesting collaborations, which signpost the direction of his muse. I particularly enjoyed two most recent ones and warmly recommend Charango solo en Paris and Despierta. After her absorbing live performance Natalia González Figeroa took us on a unique traversal of the complete original music Piazzolla wrote for the solo piano.The music now appears on her recording Piazzolla: Obras desconocidas para piano solo, which is an exceptional recital disc in every way by a pianist who really understands the music. Few people realise that Piazzolla took initial music lessons from a pianist who was a pupil of Rachmaninov and studied the instrument further in early 20’s. His music is quite idiomatic though stylistically many of the pieces precede his ‘nuevo tango’ style, but are often on a large scale and always interesting. The interpretations are excellent and González presents this music, little of which can be heard in the concert hall, in a new light that makes it worthy of evaluation. This Argentine release is only available at present digitally. The London concert of the cellist Eduardo Vassallo and friends took us back to to 1982 when he and the pianist Cristina Filoso gave the world premiere performance of Piazzolla’s Le Grand Tango. In 1995 the duo recorded the piece as part of a collection, titled Latin-American Masterworks released by for ASV four years later. In the concert Vassallo gave an authoritative performance born of his deep familiarity of the work and the composer’s intentions, which I felt was clearly translated by him and Cristina Filoso in this recording. The concert also included other tangos by Piazzolla, some of which can be found on the duo’s 2005 release by Somm, Tangos of Piazzolla which can also be warmly recommended, featuring characterful arrangements by José Bragato. Lastly the Cuarteto Gianneo gave us an authoritative performance of Piazzolla’s Five Tango Sensations along with a collection of arrangements with the bandoneon player Horacio Romo. The quartet recorded this piece in 2014 with Piazzolla's very own bandoneon player, Rodolfo Mederos, which must rank as one of the finest recordings of the piece. The recording is available digitally and is coupled with several quartets by other Argentine composers that are also worth exploring. Site design and content copyright © 1998-2023 The Iberian and Latin American Music Society, all rights reserved. ILAMS is a registered charity, No. 1092749