Gidon Kremer revisits the work of Astor Piazzolla on this sequel to the acclaimed Hommage à Piazzolla, along with such guests as Caetano Veloso and the Assad brothers. Billboard declared: "It is hard to imagine his nuevo tango being interpreted with more emotive artistry than that of Gidon Kremer."
Gidon Kremer's El Tango is evidence of the violinist’s ongoing admiration and affinity for the music of Argentinean composer and bandoneón master Astor Piazzolla. Kremer's 1996 Nonesuch recording Hommage à Piazzolla met with instant success, as well as critical acclaim: “For all the Piazzolla material out there," wrote the Boston Globe, "I’m not sure that anyone, except perhaps the composer himself, has made as convincing a case for the emotional depth of this music as Kremer.”
El Tango features Kremer with Vadim Sakharov (piano), Alois Posch (double bass), and Per Arne Glorvigen (bandoneón), an ensemble that was created expressly to perform Piazzolla’s music.
This volume of Astor Quartet arrangements of Piazzolla’s compositions also features arrangements by Sérgio Assad ("Revirado," "Che Tango Che," "Milonga per tre"), as well as compositions by Giya Kancheli ("Instead of a Tango"), Juan Carlos Cobian ("Los Mareados"), and Yefim E. Rosenfeld ("My Happiness"). The Astor Quartet is joined by Milva, the Italian singer most closely associated with Piazzolla; the Brazilian guitar duo Sérgio Assad and Odair Assad; and by the Brazilian composer, singer, and guitarist Caetano Veloso, who narrates the poem "El Tango," written by Jorge Luis Borges.
To many, Astor Piazzolla is synonymous with tango. Gidon Kremer is resolute in his regard of Piazzolla as a sophisticated composer, one who was able to reach a very large audience on an emotional level and not merely on an intellectual one. “In my view Astor’s music represents an enormous playing field in which the most divergent emotions are expressed in highly artistic yet simple ways," writes Kremer in the album's liner note. "Piazzolla was daring, honest and uncomplicated, all at the same time ... Piazzolla was a musician with the highest expectations, an excellent and unique composer, who succeeded in linking ideas of the past to the present.”
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced and Engineered by Peter Laenger, Tritonus Musikproduktion, Stuttgart
Recorded December 1996 at Studio Guilaume Tell, Paris
Assistant Engineer: Stephane Briand
Additional Recording on El Tango:
Produced by Jaques Morelenbaum
Recorded May 1997 at Studio Discover, Rio de Janeiro
Additional Recording Coordinator: Paulo Junqueiro, WEA Brazil
Nonesuch Production: Karina Beznicki
Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz
Design by Barbara deWilde
Cover photograph: Tulip, 1985 by Robert Mapplethorpe
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MUSICIANS
The Astor Quartet:
Gidon Kremer, violin
Per Arne Glorvigen, bandoneón
Vadim Sakharov, piano
Alois Posch, double bass
Guest Artists:
Odair Assad, guitar (1, 10)
Sérgio Assad, guitar (1, 10)
Milva, vocals (3, 9)
Caetano Veloso, narrator (5)
