This release by Germany's piano
Duo Villarceaux doesn't present the selection of tangos you might expect. Its focus is tight: after an introductory pair of tango classics by
Astor Piazzolla, it is devoted to original tango music by German composer Markus Horn. For listeners down with that, the album offers music that stands out from other tango releases emerging from
Piazzolla's classical side. Some of the differences result from Horn's background, which is in European (specifically Dutch) jazz tuition. Whereas many new tangos on classically oriented albums closely reproduce aspects of
Piazzolla's fusions, Horn stretches and expands the
Piazzolla tango in various directions, applying improvisatory thinking to it (which
Piazzolla, despite the outwardly "jazzy" sound of his music, almost never did) or calling for virtuosic feats on two pianos or piano four-hands from the duo. The result is a tango album in which the tangos are varied not just in mood but in form and length. Sample Tren a Constitución, track 4, for an idea: here a tango rhythm is repeatedly reworked into a vaguely boogie-like construction. Horn also takes a shot at reinterpreting the music of
Piazzolla's own mentor,
Anibal Troilo, in a Suite Troileana (tracks 7--10), and he concludes with an expansive set of variations on
Piazzolla's Libertango, another form
Piazzolla rarely used despite the importance of variation as a structural principle in his music. As with other European classical tango releases, this one doesn't feel very dancelike, and it doesn't have the quality
Piazzolla memorably called "mud." Taken for what it is, however, it's quite innovative.