Astor Piazzolla; Antonio Vivaldi - Tango Seasons (Cappella Gabetta)

Information

Composer: Astor Piazzolla; Antonio Vivaldi

• (01) Vivaldi - Violin Concerto in E major 'Spring', RV 269
• (04) Piazzolla - Las cuatro estaciones porteñas: Invierno Porteño
• (05) Vivaldi - Violin Concerto in G minor 'Summer', RV 315
• (08) Piazzolla - Las cuatro estaciones porteñas: Verano Porteño
• (09) Vivaldi - Violin Concerto in F major 'Autumn', RV 293
• (12) Piazzolla - Las cuatro estaciones porteñas: Otoño Porteño
• (13) Vivaldi - Violin Concerto in F minor 'Winter', RV 297
• (16) Piazzolla - Las cuatro estaciones porteñas: Primavera Porteña
• (17) Roberto Molinelli - Estate Reloaded

Andrés Gabetta, violin

Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi, bandoneon

Cappella Gabetta

Date: 2019

Label: Sony Classical

https://www.sonyclassical.de/alben/releases-details/tango-seasons

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Review

Piazzolla on Baroque period instruments? I was somewhat sceptical before slipping the CD into the player, but my doubts were quickly swept away by these swaggering, gritty accounts of the tanguero’s Four Seasons in Buenos Aires. Indeed, the strings’ bite and slightly edgy tone sounds stylistically apposite. I also find Roberto Molinelli’s well-wrought and respectful arrangements preferable to the interventionist recompositions of Leonid Desyatnikov recorded by Kremer (Nonesuch, 5/00) and others. Molinelli adds subtle polyphonic detail to bolster rhythmic momentum, and even the few neo-Baroque touches – like the brief harpsichord solo he interpolates near the beginning of ‘Winter’ – give off a faint whiff of psychedelia that’s not out of place in these works from the late ’60s.

Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi’s bandoneón serves as an anchor for the ensemble and his solos are arrestingly expressive – listen, say, to how he makes his instrument weep at 1'17" in ‘Autumn’. But the spotlight is firmly trained on Andrés Gabetta, and the Argentinian violinist really digs in, playing with a fearlessness that was a hallmark of Piazzolla’s own interpretative style. His Vivaldi is equally incendiary; and while we’re fairly inundated with high-octane, period-instrument recordings of these Op 8 concertos, Gabetta’s still feels vital. He favours very fast tempos in the outer movements, but as they have the feeling of one-to-a-bar, they don’t feel at all rushed. He can also be extremely free with the tempo, often going to extremes in order to bring the music’s imagery to life, as he does in the drunken celebration of the opening Allegro of ‘Autumn’. What’s most remarkable, perhaps, is how fresh and spontaneous everything sounds: these may be studio recordings but they convey the frisson of a live performance. Mention must be made, too, of the excellence of the Cappella Gabetta, who follow their leader every step of the way, as well as of the marvellous physicality of the recorded sound.

Estate Reloaded, Molinelli’s rewrite of the final movement of Vivaldi’s ‘Summer’ in the tango nuevo style (with a snippet or two of Piazzolla snuck in), is a clever and satisfying encore.

-- Andrew Farach-Colton, Gramophone

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Astor Piazzolla (March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. Being Alberto Ginastera's student for five years, Piazzolla mastered orchestration, which he later considered to be one of his strong points. He also studied with the legendary French composition teacher Nadia Boulanger at the Fontainebleau conservatory. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. A virtuoso bandoneonist, he regularly performed his own compositions with a variety of ensembles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_Piazzolla

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Antonio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher, impresario, and Roman Catholic priest. Born in Venice, the capital of the Venetian Republic, Vivaldi is regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers. He composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than fifty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. After almost two centuries of decline, Vivaldi's music underwent a revival in the early 20th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi

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The Cappella Gabetta was established in December 2010 by cellist Sol Gabetta and her brother, violinist Andrés Gabetta. The ensemble is a hand-picked team of highly qualified musicians from the same musical background devise repertoires of baroque and early classical music which they perform on original instruments at concerts and in the studio. Since 2011, the Cappella Gabetta has made various recordings for Sony Music and Decca Classics. Concertmaster Andrés Gabetta is recognised as a brilliant baroque violinist who was nominated for a Grammy in 2008.

http://www.cappellagabetta.com/index_en.html

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