Released in January of 1991, Five Tango Sensations was a landmark recording by one of the most innovative and progressive ensembles in all of classical music (all of music itself for that matter), the Kronos Quartet, made in collaboration with Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla—revolutionary master of the "Tango Nuevo," which blended traditional tango rhythms with elements of jazz and 20th-century classical music into a heady mix all its own.
The recording featured a single work of the same name, a suite for bandoneón and string quartet written by Piazzolla in 1989, premiered in New York later that year and recorded immediately afterwards by the Kronos Quartet and the composer, who played the bandoneón. The five compositions were, the composer has said, "a musical farewell to life," written after Piazzolla had experienced a grave illness. The recording session with Kronos would be Piazolla's last.
Of the recording session Kronos founder and first violinist, David Harrington, has stated: “I remember being in the studio with Astor Piazzolla when we recorded Five Tango Sensations with him, and his willpower was extraordinary. He just pulled the music out of everybody including himself. That recording took about two hours. We have never recorded any session that quick. It was with an immense concentration that he pulled it all. I learn so much from these experiences, zeroing in on the center of what you are trying to do.”
Wednesday afternoon on Classical Music with Foley Schuler, we'll hear Five Tango Sensations in honor of its 35th anniversary, which will be presented in a potent pairing with another profound "musical farewell to life," the Symphony No. 9 by Gustav Mahler.
You can hear Foley Schuler's musical selections—and stories behind the music—every weekday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.
