34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quintessential Piazzolla, December 26, 2000
This review is from: The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night (Tango Apasionado) (Audio CD)
I bought this years ago as part of an American Clave box set and consider it the finest realization of Piazzolla's later musical visions. All the more remarkable in its greatness is that it was specifically commissioned and so was composed under a certain amount of pressure. As a missionary for the musical gospel of Astor Piazzolla, this is one of the CDs I like to play to introduce his music to those who have never heard of him. Rough Dancer... is a work that is at once sophisticated and yet accessible to the Nuevo Tango neophyte. This is a CD that tells a story of life in the arrabal through the music. While the whole album is excellent, my favorites are Tango Apasionado, Butcher's Death, and both versions of the searing melancholy of Milonga For Three. Paquito d'Rivera's sax on the reprise is nothing short of breathtaking. If I were to make a list of ten must-own Piazzolla CDs, this would be near the top of the list as it is not just essential Piazzolla, but quintessential Piazzolla.
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"... if you try to 'correct' anything I'll shoot you!", April 2, 2002
This review is from: The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night (Tango Apasionado) (Audio CD)
That's what Astor Piazzolla said when he found that Suarez Paz and Kip Hanrahan were trying to edit out some of the "rough edges" of this recording. (This story is from the liner notes.) So, he burst through the door and put a stop to it. And there's just no arguing with his rationale; "...this record needs the darkness of a nostalgic dream. It's music meant to be played by half-drunk musicians in a bordello." Then, of course, he offered to take them both out for a drink. (Well, that's the way I heard the story ...)
This recording achieves exactly what Piazzolla intended, and hearing it, one becomes immersed, an enthralled participant, in that "nostalgic dream". I'm no authority on Tango music. I have Al Dimeola's tribute album to Piazzolla, "The Tango Lesson" soundtrack, and this one. But it's not going to be the last. And if you're not careful, you'll discover, as Paul Valery noted, that "The ear is delightfully connected to the ankle." This is late night music, that pulls you in, wraps itself around you, and leaves you in that last gray hour before dawn, dreaming ...
If you can only afford one Tango album, this is it! !!!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you think you've heard Piazzola's best work..., November 5, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night (Tango Apasionado) (Audio CD)
This was the fifth Piazzola CD I bought, and it should have been the first. Being a saxophone player, I love Paquito d'Rivera's saxophone performance in the reprise. But this is not a saxophone CD. It has some of the most emotional music I've heard from Piazzola. This is one of my most-played compact discs.
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