I waffled back and forth on this, and then finally decided to post. This was the fourth (and final—and I actually attended all four this year) Naumburg Orchestral Concert; Pablo Ziegler (piano) and Lara St. John (violin) with Andrew Roitstein (bass), Claudio Ragazzi (guitar) & Héctor Del Curto (bandoneón). Of special interest was the fact that six of the twelve pieces on the program had been played by Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992) at a Naumburg concert in 1987. In addition to those six Piazzolla pieces, there were four more Piazzolla and two pieces by Pablo Ziegler.
And therein lies the problem for me. Once I’ve heard the fast version of the Nuevo Tango (a fusion of tango, jazz, and classical) and then the slow version, the other ten pieces on the program are variations on the first two, without enough variation (for me) to be totally enjoyable. On top of that, the two Ziegler pieces were very similar to all of the Piazzolla pieces.
All of the artists played extremely well, and seemed very committed to the music—the individual pieces and Nuevo Tango, in general.
For the record, the six pieces Piazzolla played in 1978 and included in the 2012 concert were: Michelangelo, Muerte del Angel, Tanguedia (La Camorra), Mumuki, Adios Nonino (which I think I’ve heard once before), and Lunfardo. Mr. Ziegler’s (1944–) works were: Milonga del Adios (a piano/violin duo) and Muchacha de Boedo.
That said, the Naumburg organization is by far one of the classiest in the business, and it was a treat for New Yorkers (and beyond) that all four concerts in the series were broadcast live by WQXR (105.9 FM, wqxr.org). The host, Midge Woolsey, was a great MC for all four concerts, as well—dealing with the live audience and with performers from each concert being included addressing the radio audience. I’m glad I heard Nuevo Tango—I just need it in smaller doses.
ConcertMeister
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