One might reasonably ask what could be the point of arranging
Piazzolla's tangos to eliminate the bandoneón, the big German-Argentine concertina that
Piazzolla played and that was one of the defining features of the tango in the first place. The best answer is that
Piazzolla himself, whose profound mixture of a popular dance form with the techniques of French neo-Classicism continues to reveal its riches, wrote a good deal of "classical" music without the bandoneón, and furthermore had a relaxed attitude toward the forces used to perform his music. In any event,
Piazzolla has stood up well to the numerous arrangements of his music for the conventional instruments of the classical orchestra, many of them designed to flatter the talents of a particular soloist. This disc by the Swiss group
Triade, with arrangements by its clarinetist
Alain Chavaillaz, stands out in its aim to provide a close replica of the textures of
Piazzolla's own recordings of his works. The arrangements might seem to favor
Chavaillaz's own clarinet, but what's actually happening is that the clarinet is being made the stand-in for the reed sounds of the bandoneón, with the other instruments -- flute, violin, cello, and most importantly piano -- filling out the dense, atmospheric counterpoint that gives
Piazzolla's music its passionate gloom. In this kind of a setting, the question "why?" emerges once again, but there's no question that this disc, which is made up mostly of
Piazzolla hits (Fracanapa of 1963 is the only really unusual item), can make you forget at times that no bandoneón is sounding. Clarinet players who can gather the requisite group of accompanists might wish to try to play these arrangements by ear, and they certainly don't dilute the virtues of
Piazzolla's music.