| Five Tango Sensations | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| Studio album by Kronos Quartet | |||||
| Released | 25 January 1991 | ||||
| Genre | Contemporary classical | ||||
| Length | 26:46 | ||||
| Label | Nonesuch (#79254) | ||||
| Producer | Judith Sherman | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Kronos Quartet chronology | |||||
|
|||||
Five Tango Sensations is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet and Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player Ástor Piazzolla.[1][2] The record was one of a set of three internationally tinged albums released simultaneously, the South-American music of this album being accompanied by the music of South-African composer Kevin Volans on Kevin Volans: Hunting:Gathering and the music of Polish composer Witold Lutosławski on Witold Lutosławski: String Quartet.
Contents |
The Kronos Quartet and Ástor Piazzolla
In 1987, Kronos's executive producer, Robert Hurwitz, had taken Piazzolla, who was on an extended stay in New York City, to see the quartet perform. Backstage, after Piazzolla payed his compliments to the quartet, violinist David Harrington asked if he could call him in a few days; when Harrington called, Piazzolla had already composed "Four, For Tango" for them. (The quartet still plays the piece from photocopies of Piazzolla's original score.)[3] The quartet recorded the piece in November 1987 for their 1988 album Winter Was Hard.[4] They continued their collaboration in live performance; as late as June 1990 Piazzolla and the quartet performed together at a festival in Germany.[5]
The five compositions on this album, "a musical farewell to life," date from 1989, and were written after Piazzolla experienced a grave illness.[6] They were premiered in New York at Alice Tully Hall on 25 November 1989,[7] Piazzolla having flown to New York to play with the quartet for the premiere and the subsequent recordings, which were done in a three-hour session at the Power Station in Manhattan. Harrington remarked that this was the shortest recording session they had ever done, and the quartet noted a "centered sternness" in Piazzolla: according to Harrington, "he pulled the music out of Kronos."[8]
The session with the Kronos Quartet proved to be his last studio recording:[9] Piazzolla, who had revolutionized the traditional tango creating a new style, the nuevo tango, died on 4 July 1992.
Track listing
All music composed by Ástor Piazzolla.
| # | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Asleep" | 5:23 |
| 2. | "Loving" | 6:10 |
| 3. | "Anxiety" | 4:51 |
| 4. | "Despertar" | 6:03 |
| 5. | "Fear" | 4:00 |
Critical reception
Allan Kozinn, reviewing the compositions for New York Times after their premiere in New York in 1989, called them "a set of charmingly melodic tangos in which the group supplied an accompaniment to the composer's urbane performances on the accordionlike bandoneon."[7] Adam Greenberg remarks in his review on Allmusic that "Piazzolla plays his heart out on his trusty bandoneon, and the Kronos players accompany to perfection."[10] Michael Barrett, in the San Antonio Express-News, calls it a "work of tragic beauty."[11]
Personnel
Musicians
- David Harrington - violin
- John Sherba - violin
- Hank Dutt - viola
- Joan Jeanrenaud - cello
- Ástor Piazzolla - bandoneón
Production
- Recorded and mixed at Power Station, New York City
- Judith Sherman, Rob Eaton, Dave O'Donnell, Dan Gellert - engineers
References
- ^ "Astor Piazzola". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2009. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/459226/Astor-Piazzolla. Retrieved on 2009-01-27.
- ^ Gold, Gerald (1991-02-17). "Record Notes; Kronos Takes One to Tango". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE6DB1F3FF934A25751C0A967958260&sec=&spon=. Retrieved on 2009-01-27.
- ^ Azzi, María Susana; Simon Collier (2000). Le Grand Tango: The Life and Music of Astor Piazzolla. Oxford University Press. p. 271. ISBN 9780195127775. http://books.google.com/books?id=E7d4TowoRxQC&client=firefox-a. p. 254.
- ^ Ken, Hunt (1991). Album notes for Five Tango Sensations by Kronos Quartet. Nonesuch.
- ^ Azzi, Le Grand Tango, 275.
- ^ Service, Tom (2003-05-17). "Rev. of Alban Berg Quartet, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2003/may/17/classicalmusicandopera.artsfeatures. Retrieved on 2009-05-01.
- ^ a b Kozinn, Allan (1989-11-27). "Review/Music; Exotica From Kronos". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/27/arts/review-music-exotica-from-kronos.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-01.
- ^ Azzi, Le Grand Tango, 271-72.
- ^ Azzi, Le Grand Tango, 271, 288.
- ^ Greenberg, Adam. "Rev. of Kronos Quartet and Ástor Piazzolla, Five Tango Sensations". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0ifqxqlgldde. Retrieved on 2009-05-01.
- ^ Barrett, Michael (1997-05-11). "Tango re-releases worthy purchases with or without movie connection". San Antonio Express-News: p. 6G.
See also
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
