About this Artist

• Biography

Editorial Reviews

The sultry Argentinean tangos of Astor Piazzolla might not be the first music that comes to mind when thinking of the Alban Berg String Quartet, the ensemble renowned for the precision and lustrous tone it brings to the standard European repertoire. Yet Tango Sensations, recorded live in Vienna in 2003, finds the Berg moving into Kronos Quartet territory with a Latin-flavored disc of music by Piazzolla and other neo-tango proponents, as well as a colorful work by the Austrian composer Kurt Schwertsik. The Quartet understandably gets top billing from EMI, but it's actually the accordion-like bandoneon, played here by Per Arne Glorvigen, that gets more of a workout on the disc; Glorvigen plays throughout the program, both in concert with the Berg (in the title piece, Schwertsik's Adieu Satie, and Piazzolla's Tristezas para un AA) and also in solo music by Eduardo Arolas, Juan Carlos Cobián, and Julio de Caro. He's a fine match with the quartet, supplementing their tightly etched ensemble playing with the loose lyricism and colorful sound of his instrument. The title work, which was originally written for the Kronos, surveys contrasting states of mind: "Asleep," "Anxiety," "Awake," and "Fear" (the Kronos's own recording includes an additional movement, "Loving"), alternating in typical Piazzolla fashion between melancholy and rhythmically pointed writing and achieving a sophisticated synthesis of European concert music and the folksy passion of the tango. Schwetsik's Adieu Satie, inspired by the music of the wacky composer Eric Satie, transports the bandoneon from Buenos Aires to the streets of Paris in a suite of short movements derived from the Frenchman's music, while the three solo pieces show Piazzolla's lasting influence on the neo-tango style he set in motion, and the final work offers an extended meditation for quartet, bandoneon, and double bass -- Piazzolla at his savory best. EJ Johnson, Barnes & Noble

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