Anne-Sophie Mutter, André Previn, Lambert Orkis – Tango Song and Dance (2003) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Anne-Sophie Mutter, André Previn, Lambert Orkis – Tango Song and Dance (2003)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:16:15 minutes | 1,40 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Tango Song and Dance was composed in 1997 as a set of lighthearted virtuoso pieces for Anne-SophieMutter. At the time, the Tango revival craze had not yet been born, and so the first movement with its purposeful and exaggerated Tango clichés was still possible. The clustered harmonies are not terribly far removed from the sound the traditional accordion makes, and the whole movement should be full of self-conscious poses. Not much needs to be said about the middle movement; the title Song is self-explanatory. The violin predominates throughout, and the accompaniment is simple and direct. The Dance is a bit more complicated. Just when the rhythm threatens to relax into eight beats per bar, it trips over the last note and becomes seven. I doubt whether dancers would be happy keeping time to this, but of course for two instrumentalists it becomes a good deal easier. The ending is percussive and relentless and an unadulterated C major puts the final stamp on things. –André Previn

Anyone would assume from the title Tango Song and Dance that this album contains performances of Piazzolla and friends, representing an effort on the part of Anne-Sophie Mutter to cash in on the recent tango craze. Actually, the only tango-related piece here, the title composition by Mutter’s husband André Previn, was written in 1997 before that trend really got started in classical music. Instead, Tango Song and Dance offers a collection of dance-inflected pieces that diverges from Mutter’s usual serious fare but benefits equally from her commanding musical personality. These performances are great fun and, for the most part, will take you back to the days of the star virtuoso. Previn joins Mutter on piano for his own work, and their complementarity — he is suave, she intense — is delightful. The work sounds not like Piazzolla but like Ravel composing a tango; its final movement is in a 7/8 time that cleverly trips up the tango feel. Some reviewers have reproached the liberties Mutter takes with the Joseph Joachim transcriptions of three Brahms Hungarian Dances, but it’s hard to imagine that Joachim, in Brahms’ own time, would have done any less. Only in a group of selections from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess does Mutter seem out of her element; she executes the Jascha Heifetz arrangements flawlessly, but despite former jazzman Previn’s presence, it ain’t got that swing. Mutter’s usual sideman Lambert Orkis returns to the keyboard for three Fritz Kreisler encores, however (Previn plays only on the Gershwin and his own piece), and Mutter takes command once again with swooping, sentiment-drenched thrills. Fauré’s Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 13, a tuneful piece with a whiff of the music hall, makes an unexpected but satisfying conclusion. In all, a wonderful outing for a great artist who deserved to lighten up. –AllMusic Review by James Manheim

Tracklist:

André Previn (b.1929)
Tango Song And Dance – Dedicated To Anne-Sophie Mutter
1 I Tango, Passionately 5:08
2 II Song, Simply 5:03
3 III Dance, Jazz Feeling 5:23

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
21 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1
4 No. 1 In G Minor. Allegro Molto 3:35
5 No. 6 In B Flat Major. Vivace 3:45
6 No. 7 In A Major. Allegretto 2:19

George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Porgy And Bess
7 Summertime 2:13
8 It Ain’t Necessarily So 2:42
9 Bess, You Is My Woman Now 5:03
10 My Man’s Gone Now 4:22

Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
11 Schön Rosmarin 2:15
12 Caprice Viennois Op. 2 4:16
13 Liebesleid 4:16

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Sonata For Violin And Piano No. 1 In A Major Op. 13
14 I Allegro Molto 9:32
15 II Andante 6:31
16 III Allegro Vivo 3:43
17 IV Allegro Quasi Presto 5:37

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