The violin figured prominently in many of
Astor Piazzolla
's ensembles, and recordings of his work by classical violinists do not distort the music's spirit. One of the first to demonstrate that was
Gidon Kremer
, who used a small, percussive-spirited ensemble that
Piazzolla
would have found congenial and familiar. There's room for the alternative, more "classical" direction in which violinist
Karen Gomyo
goes here, beginning with the
Leonid Desyatnikov
version of the
Cuatro Estaciones Portenas
("
Buenos Aires Four Seasons
") that she performs. This is often described as an arrangement of
's work, but it might better be called a fantasy on the music of
and
Vivaldi
, bits of whose own
Four Seasons violin concertos
are worked into the three-section structures
Desyatnikov
creates. (He even flips the seasons to account for the hemisphere shift.)
Gomyo
achieves a lively, brilliant performance of this curious fusion, herself conducting the
Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire
during the coronavirus pandemic; the social distancing of the players here gives the music a big, spacious quality that's in tune with
's ambitions.
's
Piazzolla Trilogy
ends with smaller works, the
Histoire du Tango
(originally for flute and guitar but certainly reasonable on violin and guitar) and three of the
Six Tango Etudes
, originally for solo flute. The acoustics here are not quite as successful; the church space muddles the music, but
's rather flashy readings, with her sharp attacks standing in for the percussive quality of
's ensembles, complement the
well. Fans of
on classical instruments will want to add this enthusiastic album to their collections. ~ James Manheim