Composer: Astor Piazzólla
Performer: Escualo5
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Catalogue: BIS2605
Release: 2021
Size: 1.06 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas
01. No. 3, Primavera Porteña
02. Soledad
Tango Suite
03. No. 1, Allegro
04. No. 2, Andante
05. No. 3, Allegro
06. Bandoneón, Guitarra y Bajo
07. Adiós Nonino
08. Fracanapa
Histoire du Tango
09. I. Bordel 1900
10. II. Café 1930
11. III. Night Club 1960
12. IV. Concert d’aujourd’hui
13. Contrabajissimo
With his tango nuevo, Astor Piazzolla has been welcomed into the world of classical music in a way that no other “non-classical” composer has experienced. His music is played in concert halls around the world, and has been arranged for the most varied forces: symphony orchestra, string quartet, brass ensemble, mandolin orchestra, harpsichord… Taking their name from Piazzolla’s Escualo (“Shark”), written in 1979 for his Quinteto Tango Nuevo, the five musicians that make up Escualo5 have a different approach, replicating the formation that Piazzolla performed with for much of his career: bandoneon, violin, piano, guitar and double bass.
The aim isn’t to recreate Piazzolla’s own performances, however – based in Munich but hailing from respectively Brazil, Germany, Greece and Belarus, the members are soloists in their own right, bringing their individual talents as improvisers and arrangers to the recordings.
The programme that Escualo5 have devised for their first album includes some much-loved as well as less familiar pieces for the quintet setup – Primavera Porteña, Soledad, Adiós Nonino, Fracanapa – as well as arrangements of Tango Suite and Histoire du Tango, originally for two guitars and flute and guitar, respectively.