Astor Piazzolla - The Cello Album

Tango is to South America what blues is to North America. Astor Piazzolla took this kaleidoscope of music from European immigrants, Caribbean joie de vivre and Argentinean favelas onto the worldwide stage. In captivating arrangements, star cellist Dai Miyata demonstrates the sheer power and passion of this music which still enjoys great popularity today.

Yet Piazzolla actually started out with something quite different in mind. As a student of Alberto Ginastera and supported by Artur Rubinstein, his first compositional influence was Johann Sebastian Bach - until Nadia Boulanger practically jostled him onto his destined path as a composer by scolding him ("idiot!") after hearing his bandoneon prelude...

The "serious" composition lessons also left their mark: Piazzolla's tangos are all superbly crafted. Various instrumentations allow for their charismatic originality to unfold. Dai Miyata is accompanied by world-class musicians including pianist and arranger Atsushi Yamanaka as well as the Verus String Quartet, who add colourful rhythmical accents to their energetic performance.

The bandoneon, of course, plays an integral role - Kazuma Miura contributes this typical tango flavour along with his own arrangement of "Milonga sin Palabras". With this impressive new production from the MDG-Denon series, Dai Miyata shows a completely new facet of his versatile skills, which made him a richly decorated prize-winner of several international competitions.

• Piazzólla: Allegro Tangabile
• Piazzólla: Escualo
• Piazzólla: Milonga sin Palabras
• Piazzólla: Romance del Diablo
• Piazzólla: Tangata
• Piazzólla: Tzigane Tango
• Piazzólla: Violentango

Elgar: Cello Concerto & Vaughan Williams: Dark Pastoral - Dai Miyata, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard (MDG6502181)