Tango! - Astor Piazzolla / Jan Vogler

$11.99
Label
Sony Masterworks
Release Date
November 11, 2008
Format
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PIAZZOLLA La muerta del ángel. 1,2,3 Oblivion. 1,2,3 Le grand tango. 1,3 4 for tango. 1,4 Las cuartro estaciónes porteñas. 1,2,3 Libertango. 1,3 SCHULHOFF 5 Pieces for String Quartet: Alla tango milonga 1,3 • Jan Vogler (vc); 1 Colin Jacobsen (vn); 2 Vanessa Perez (pn); 3 Moritzburg Festival Ens 4 • SONY 732803 (55:09)


Cellist Jan Vogler (profiled in Fanfare 24:2) is a prominent soloist, and Sony probably hopes to capitalize on his fame by featuring him on the CD cover. However, he’s also the music director of the Moritzburg Festival and an enthusiastic chamber musician who performs with the Moritzburg Festival Ensemble, which devotes this disc to the tango, primarily as reimagined by Astor Piazzolla. Thanks to his seductive melodies and disciplined technique, Piazzolla, like Bach, sounds good in almost any configuration. Here, his tango-inspired compositions, some adapted by other hands to create exciting, well-wrought chamber music, make a strong case for Vogler’s view that Piazzolla was “one of the 20th century’s great classical composers” requiring “a wholly unique and by the same token, classical Piazzolla performance practice.” The superb arrangements by Bratagos (Piazzolla’s friend and colleague) and Zhurban overflow with energetic counterpoint and are infused with the composer’s creative personality. Le grand tango and Four for tango are played as Piazzolla wrote them. In his brief but colorful program notes, Vogler comments on Muerte del ángel ’s fugal form and Four for tango ’s “courageous and avant-garde continuation of the Bartók string quartet tradition translated into tango lingo.” Piazzolla embraced innovation and constantly toyed with form while preserving the essential tango language. His adventurous spirit aroused the antagonism of Argentina’s tango purists, but he triumphed in the end. The one piece not by Piazzolla, Schulhoff’s “Alla tango milonga” (fourth of Five Pieces for String Quartet ) brings a European perspective to bear on tango’s protean possibilities. It’s a haunting work that melds a hint of Slavic Orientalism to tango sensuousness, the whole anchored by the cello’s rich, deep pedal point. The Ensemble is completely attuned to the program’s emotional range, which veers from ferocity to nostalgia or bittersweet lyricism. A dynamic player with a strong tone and sure musical instincts, Vogler has surrounded himself with colleagues of similar ability and understanding.


Hearing this CD, called “Tango!” immediately brought Yo-Yo Ma’s “Soul of the Tango” to mind, in which another world-famous cellist ventures into Piazzolla territory. I prefer Vogler’s versions of the shared items. Ma’s Libertango reminded me of his performance in The Tango Lesson (a film I’d recommend to tango enthusiasts): launched without preamble, the music extends itself by repeating its basic ideas until it just fades away. It’s effectively played, but Zhurban’s transcription creates an absorbing narrative spiced by dazzling counterpoint. Vogler’s Le grand tango is also more to my taste: Ma and his pianist (it’s not clear which of the several listed is playing) sound lethargic compared to Vogler/Perez’s passionate performance. “Soul of the Tango” does have its virtues, i.e., selections not duplicated on “Tango!”, exciting playing by the Assad brothers (duo guitarists par excellence ), and Jorge Calandreli’s duet, Tango Remembrances, which pairs Ma’s cello (recorded in 1997) with Piazzolla’s bandoneón (recorded in 1987). If you want just one CD of this kind, I’d choose “Tango!” for its ingenious arrangements that deftly complement and extend Piazzolla’s original thoughts. Also, the string quartet turns in riveting performances of Four for tango and the evocative Schulhoff.


FANFARE: Robert Schulslaper


Product Description:

  • Release Date: November 11, 2008


  • UPC: 886973280324


  • Catalog Number: 88697328032


  • Label: Sony Masterworks


  • Number of Discs: 1


  • Composer: Piazzolla, Schulhoff, Perez


  • Performer: Jan Vogler