Piazzolla Stories

Editors’ Notes Astor Piazzolla’s music is a powerful blend of passionate Argentine tango, progressive 20th-century classical, and the timeless craft of J.S. Bach. French trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary is a phenomenal player whose virtuosity and musical curiosity bring all of those diverse strands together in this captivating album. Alongside electrifying versions of Piazzolla’s tango classics “Oblivion” and “Maria de Buenos Aires,” Renaudin Vary and her superb team of musicians perform the soulful “Danzas Argentinas” by the composer’s contemporary (and fellow Argentine) Alberto Ginastera. The exquisite “Lux aeterna” by Piazzolla’s one-time teacher, the composer Nadia Boulanger, adds a French flavor, while the solo Presto from Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor showcases Renaudin Vary’s technical wizardry. A beautiful tango by Carlos Gardel, the man who first inspired Piazzolla, brings this imaginative program to a close.