Customer Reviews

Sérgio & Odair Assad Play Piazzolla

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At their best, Brazilian brothers and guitar duo Sérgio and Odair Assad play as if they were one person---one person blessed with four arms. With their six previous albums for Nonesuch, they have won renown around the globe for their lush, multi-faceted sound, rich in counterpoints and rhythmic adventure. Since their New York City concert debut as teenagers in 1969, the Assad brothers have collaborated with artists such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. Along the way, they have recorded pieces by composers as varied as Scarlatti and Bach, George Gershwin and Argentine neuvo tanguero Astor Piazzolla. The Assads first meet Piazzolla in the 1970s when they were young music students in Rio de Janeiro. Piazzolla was then reaping his first great rewards for his New Tango, and Brazil was one of the first countries to rave over him, even more so than his homeland. After hearing the Assads play a guitar transcription of one of his own pieces for him at a dinner party in Paris in 1983, Piazzolla vowed to write a guitar duet dedicated to them. The composition, "Tango Suite," has since become a modern classic, and following Piazzolla's death in 1991, the brothers have kept the master's music as a central part of their repertoire. This new album is dedicated to Piazzolla's memory, and features nine of his compositions. They range from "Tango Suite" to parts of Piazzolla's stunning celebration of the four seasons of Buenos Aires. Also included are earlier compositions that have almost been forgotten, chief among them the glorious tribute to Piazzolla's mentor, master bandoneonist Anibal Troilo, "Suite Troileana." The pieces played by just the brothers on this album are charmed by a beauty and lyricism rare among guitar duets. They breathe a certain joy and happiness into the melancholic moodiness of Piazzolla's compositions---due in large part to the light sound of their guitarwork versus the original composer's bandoneon, which is without doubt one of the saddest-sounding instruments of all time. Yet the songs where the Assads are joined by the violins of Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Fernando Suarez Paz or Marcelo Nisinman's bandoneon have even more impact with the third dimension coming from the added instruments providing counterpoint to the guitars. This is a stunning album.

Frankly, I didn't know how I would like this CD. The song selection is marvelous, but I own the Assad brothers' Alma Brazileira and find it to be very uneven and was a little afraid I'd find the same here. I did not and was instead very pleasantly surprised.
This CD bears some comparison to Al DiMeola's Plays Piazzolla album. Both are great albums, but the Assads concentrate more on fidelity to the spirit of the compositions and are less given to experimental wanderings than Di Meola.
Its hard to argue with the choice of music played here. Tango Suite is a difficult piece and rarely offered, but the Assads pull it off wth alacrity. The Suite Troileana is another rarely performed and very demanding piece given a judicious rendering here.
My favorites are a very melancholy rendition of the classic Invierno Porteno, Primavera Portena, Decarissimo and a spirited and very competent interpretation of the rarely performed masterpiece Francanapa.
It helps that Piazzolla violinist Fernando Suarez Paz is present on many tracks. His duo with Odair Assad on Bordel 1900 is exquisitely delicate and dreamlike.
If you like Piazzolla, if you like DiMeola, then you are almost sure to like this sublimely stupendous musical feast. My respect for the talent of the Assad brothers has grown enormously and I recommend this CD most highly.

The other reviewers have given this disc it's due superlatives and I would have to concurr, it is sublime. You will not find a more beautiful, rhythmic or enchanting piece of music. As soothing as it is invigorating the guitar work is a marvel. I play this disc constantly and never seem to ge tired of it. You seem to hear new things with each listen, the guitar work is more dazzling each time. Being somewhat of a novice when it comes to the works of Piazzola I find that this disc serves as a good reference point for becoming more familiar with his compositions that were infused with his impecable standards of Argentine tango. This is definitely an excellent disc that shows off the talents of the fast and furious fingering of the frets by Sergio and Odair Assad. Recommneded for guitar afficionados who love the sound of the violin and bandoneon blended to perfection. These are Piazolla masterpieces that lovers of world beat who like their music flavored with a spicy tango beat will enjoy year after year.

I can't get past the hideous audio quality here. I have owned and listened to CDs for years. This mastering is unbearable. Sounds worse than MP3. The musicians are great, but I can't say that I can enjoy this CD. The instruments sound muddled. It's as if someone copied this to CD from tape, then took out the hiss.

A few of the tracks found on this CD were originally released on previous efforts of the brothers Sergio and Odair Assad; so this disc is a compilation of sorts. But don't let that stop you.
First appearing on the late eighties recording Sergio and Odair Assad play Latin American Music, Piazzolla's Tango Suite, composed expressly for the brothers, has always been a favorite of mine. It just bristled with energy and vitality. The new recording found here is taken at a slower tempo with the most obvious result being a heightened sense of rhythmical accentuation. Piazzolla did once say that the most important thing for a player to understand about his music was the use of accents. Here you will find a feast for the ears and the soul. The other tracks all share this sense of deep sorrow and angular rhythm that drips from the music. I have NEVER been so taken by a recording. Not only does this CD provide guitar playing of the very highest standards but it also gives us one of the best readings of Piazzolla's work ever. Most highly recommended.