Adiós Nonino and other great Tangos by Piazzolla

Astor Piazzolla established a standard and signature structural pattern for his tangos with the composition of Adiós Nonino in 1959, involving a formal pattern of fast-slow-fast-slow-coda, with the fast sections emphasizing gritty tango rhythms and harsh, angular melodic figures, and the slower sections usually making use of the string instrument in the group and/or Piazzolla’s own bandoneon as lyrical soloists. This album offers wonderful and stirring new transcriptions of Piazzolla’s works by the late Octavio Brunetti, in which the two instruments – violin and piano – introduce new and vibrant interpretations of several of Piazzolla’s major tango compositions. As a legendary tango pianist, interpreter, arranger and conductor in his own right, Argentine – born Octavio Brunetti, better than anyone else, understood Piazzolla’s musical passion for this form of music. A Grammy® award winner, he performed Piazzolla with a breadth surpassed only by Piazzolla himself. The New York Philharmonic named Octavio Brunetti “inheritor of Piazzolla’s mantle” in their program brochure on the occasion of commissioning Brunetti to arrange music by Piazzolla for cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Octavio Brunetti’s untimely and sudden death in August of 2014 has left a vacuum in this genre of music and the obvious homage Octavio Brunetti paid to Astor Piazzolla through his life’s work. This album is dedicated to Octavio Brunetti for his years of work, interpreting, performing, and imagining Piazzolla’s work, and his brilliant partnership with Elmira Darvarova, Grammy®-nominated violinist and former Concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (the first and only woman-concertmaster in the MET’s history). Together they bring to the public his (and her) passion for the tango on an album which commemorates Octavio Brunetti’s immense commitment and contributions to this musical genre.