Astor Piazzolla: Aconcagua/Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas

There are too many random, unfocused, greatest hits cover albums of Piazzolla’s work, so it’s good to see a record devoted to two complete masterworks: Concertoitalic Aconcagua and the Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (Four Buenos Aires Seasons) – both recorded live. Martynas Levickis is a young (born 1991) virtuoso Lithuanian accordionist, long fascinated with Piazzolla. Here he is joined by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra for the first piece, which was only posthumously named for South America’s highest peak. It’s a towering work – pun intended – from the very start, and Levickis hammers his way into the percussive phrases with the virility of a young Andinist and knows when to withdraw and eke out the slow, visionary sections.

Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas, which would be moving even if you played them on spoons and a triangle, are here performed alongside the Mikroórkestra chamber orchestra, with whom the soloist has a long, close relationship. Here the piano has as much of a lead role for long periods, and the strings alternate with the accordion; even the ‘Verano Porteño’ (Summer) movement is rendered with brooding melancholy, and that’s exactly how it should be. Accordion can sometimes sound thinner than the traditional tango bandoneón (button accordion) but on this album it doesn’t; this is partly due to the choice of compositions, partly because the orchestras are superb, and partly because Levickis has a manner of playing that recalls the subtlety and bravado of Astor Piazzolla at his best. A fine homage.