Piazzolla: Time of Life

by Geir Draugsvoll, Mette Rasmussen

Overview

The music of Astor Piazzolla, like Bach's, retains its essence through a wide variety of arrangements. This release by the accordion-and-piano duo of Geir Draugsvoll and Mette Rasmussen, probably stretches the bonds more than most other albums of its kind, and stands out from the general run of Piazzolla arrangements on the market. Though the contents are billed as arrangements for accordion and piano, they lie a bit to the left of "arrangements" on the freedom spectrum. Draugsvoll's classical accordion sounds quite different from Piazzolla's bandoneon (also known as a German concertina), and the player makes a virtue of this, not simply transcribing Piazzolla's lines, but adding a good deal of ornamentation to them (sample the Autumn movement from Los cuatro estaciones portenas, for a taste). You might or might not prefer the accordion's somewhat harsher tone as compared with the bandoneon, but the duo's performances are crisp. The accordion-piano combination is a rare one, but in Piazzolla there's no reason that should be true: Piazzolla's famous quintet included a piano to give its music rhythmic oomph, and Rasmussen accomplishes that while filling in a good portion of the interior lines from the Piazzolla originals. The players obviously have fun, as you can hear especially in the song adaptation Chiquilin de Bachin. This album was recorded in Denmark in 2015 and not released until 2019 on Naxos, with no explanation of the time lag. Piazzolla and accordion lovers, however, will be glad to have it. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	05/10/2019
Label:	Naxos
UPC:	0747313389674
Rank:	237875

Tracks

1. Tanti anni prima (Many Years Before)
2. Las cuatro estaciones porte¿¿as (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires)~Primavera Porte¿¿a
3. Las cuatro estaciones porte¿¿as (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires)~Verano Porte¿¿o
4. Las cuatro estaciones porte¿¿as (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires)~Oto¿¿o Porte¿¿o
5. Las cuatro estaciones porte¿¿as (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires)~Invierno Porte¿¿o
6. Oblivion
7. Michelangelo 70
8. Milonga del ¿¿ngel
9. Double Concerto 'Hommage ¿¿ Li¿¿ge'~Introducci¿¿n
10. Double Concerto 'Hommage ¿¿ Li¿¿ge'~Milonga
11. Double Concerto 'Hommage ¿¿ Li¿¿ge'~Tango
12. Chiquil¿¿n de Bach¿¿n ('The Little Boy at Bach¿¿n)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mette Rasmussen   Primary Artist,Piano
Geir Draugsvoll   Primary Artist,Accordion

Technical Credits

Marc Casanovas   Engineer,Producer
Anton Houtappels   Photography
Anatolijus Senderovas   Arranger
Thomas May   Liner Notes
Geir Draugsvoll   Liner Notes
Astor Piazzolla   Composer
Mette Rasmussen   Liner Notes