About this Artist

• Biography

Editorial Reviews

The Argentinean composer Luis Bacalov achieved worldwide fame virtually overnight when his score for the film Il Postino won a 1994 Academy Award. Riding on the crest of that successful wave, he composed the sprawling and enchanting Misa Tango -- a novel work that unites Argentinean dance rhythms with an abbreviated version of the Roman Catholic mass. For this world premiere recording, the composer has assembled an all-star cast featuring the veteran tenor Plácido Domingo, newcomer mezzo-soprano Ana Maria Martinez, and the energetic conductor Myung-Whun Chung. Chung describes this wistfully nostalgic music well when he writes of it as "easily accessible but of high quality." Indeed, in the hands of lesser composers, the idea of a tango mass could have easily resulted in rather hokey-sounding music. Bacalov's true achievement is that he has created a genuinely joyful and touching composition. Chung responds to the score's vivid, varied, and constantly shifting colors with nimble grace. Domingo sounds his youthful best, and Martinez sings gorgeously on this recording, revealing herself as a talent to keep your eye on. It is the hypnotically plaintive bandoneón playing of Héctor-Ulises Passarella, however, to which the distinctive Argentinean character of this work owes its greatest debt. The accordion-like, minor-key strains of the bandoneón weave through all the movements of the mass, like a constant nostalgic memory on the part of this Argentine composer who now lives in Italy. The mass is happily accompanied here by three actual tangos: one by Bacalov and two by the greatest tango composer, Astor Piazzolla. Bacalov has orchestrated these Piazzolla tangos -- a most fitting homage to the man who paved the way for the composer of Misa Tango. David Kasunic, Barnes & Noble

Customer Reviews

• Listener Rating: