Piazzólla: Soledad

• Piazzólla’s compositions have been arrranged by Duo Intermezzo in an innovative way

• These artists specialise in the music of Piazzólla

• They have been influenced by both classical and jazz music

More than any other composer since J. S. Bach,Astor Piazzolla achieved the ultimate synthesis of the musical influences acting upon him - from Bach to jazz to classical music of his contemporaries - while remaining true to his Argentine roots. In this dazzling programme, London Concertante goes 'beyond' Piazzolla classics and introduces four newly written works by David Gordon and Adam Summerhayes that pay homage to the master.

London Concertante enjoys an enviable position in the world of classical music where it is regarded as one of the finest chamber ensembles in Europe - a position it has spent the last 17 years striving to maintain. Begun in 1991, the ensemble quickly garnered praise both here and abroad and now gives around 100 concerts a year all over the world. As well as performing regularly for music clubs and festivals in the UK, in the first part of 2008, London Concertante toured to the USA, Cyprus and will be giving concerts in Spain and Turkey later in the year. The group's first release on the Chandos label ("Gypsy Strings") came out to unequivocal critical acclaim. The success of the London Concertante owes much to the exceptional talents of its players, inspired programming by its Artistic Director, Chris Grist, and thrilling leadership under the internationally renowned violinist, Adam Summerhayes.

"played with silky-toned elegance….extraordinary unanimity. The London Concertante members, fine chamber musicians that they are, played with an uncanny clarity of texture…quite exquisite." The Strad

"Drum-tight. This is superb chamber playing" The Scotsman ****

"Quality musicians. Quite excellent…pursuing each new pulse with the unanimity of a shoal of fish. [They] play with tone as soft as velvet, bow strokes that really sing and a Romanticist's wide volume range." Evening Standard

The recording ‘Tango Perpetuel’ features the Take Four Guitar Quartet performing music by Piazzolla, Stravinsky and Ginastera, plus the rather less well-known Patrick Roux, Unto Mononen, Ernesto Nazareth, Stefan Wolpe, Christopher Grafschmidt and Martin Ackerman.

On this anthology the four guitarists illustrate tango’s many facets from the drama of Piazzolla’s Argentinian tango nuevo through the lightness of the Brazilian Nazareth and the subtle irony of European classicists Stravinsky and Stefan Wolpe to tango from Finland and original works written especially for the programme. The Take Four Guitar Quartet - Pia Grees, Johan Fostier, Matthias Kläger and Luc Vander Borght - come from Germany and Belgium but all four studied in Paris under the Spanish classical guitarist Alberto Ponce.

The quartet itself was formed in 1999 and has achieved great success with regular concerts around the world ever since.

This collection of tangos includes compositions by Astor Piazzolla, as well as less well known composers of this popular dance music, such as Anibal Troilo, Pintín Castellanos, Eduardo Donato and Juan Dios Filberto.

Legendary tango performer and composer Astor Piazzolla gained experience of jazz in New York and classical form and technique through studies with Alberto Ginastera. His work lends itself perfectly to arrangement for all kinds of ensemble, and this is the first recording with solo trombone. These popular pieces showcase the stunning playing of multi-award winning soloist Achilles Liarmakopoulos in a variety of moods, including the famous Oblivion, and Le Grand Tango, a virtuoso show-stopper originally written for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

The king of dances, the tango, played by Eckart Runge and Jacques Ammon. There are performances of popular repertoire works such as “El Choclo” by Angel Villoldo and “El dia que me quieras” by Carlos Gardel. With technical brilliance, classical dance rhythms interact with the occasionally off-the-wall, sometimes fugue-like elements of tango nuevo.