With Piazzolla at the Bowl

The concert of Astor Piazzolla’s Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas / The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, was of historic importance. A public of about 15,000 people came to the concert of the L.A. Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, with the extraordinary performance of Karen Gomio as a soloist. Karen Gomio, a musician born in Tokyo who developed her career in Montreal and New York. She now resides permanently in Berlin. The documentary above brings excerpts of the concert and interviews with musicians that played with him for many years, such as Pablo Ziegler and Fernando Suárez Paz.

Piazzolla was not only one of the 20^th century’s great musicians, but he was also one of the most prolific. His over 3,000 compositions include avant-garde tango music, opera, symphonic compositions and music for film.

Unlike Vivaldi’s concertos, Piazzolla’s Four Seasons wasn’t originally intended to be in four movements.  Piazzolla wrote the first of the four compositions, Summer (Verano Porteño) as a standalone work.  Autumn (Otoño Porteño), Spring (Primavera Porteña), and Winter (Invierno Porteño) came around five years later, in 1970. Piazzolla alludes to some of Vivaldi’s melodies in his own series, yet his composition is unique. The pieces were conceived for his quintet of violin, piano, electric guitar, double bass, and bandoneon, of which he was a virtuoso.

The coupling of Piazzolla’s Seasons with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5 surprised me. It seems to me that the music of Bela Bartok, Stravinsky, Copland, and Gershwin are much closer to his spirit. And also the music of great jazz composers and performers, such as Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan, and Dave Brubeck.

For brief a scheme of his life, you may watch my recent Piazzolla Con Brio film. To learn more about Piazzolla’s complex life, Maria Susana Azzi’s detailed and knowledgeable biography is highly recommended, particularly the expanded new edition in Italian.