Alpha Classics is now doing tango too? It looks like it. With the album Piazzolla: Balada para un loco by French accordionist Théo Ould, the label is entering a new field with an old acquaintance – a year ago, Ould already presented an album with Alpha Classics featuring works by Rameau, Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and other greats of classical music. Now, something different: almost an hour of tango with Piazzolla: Balada para un loco.

Ould has selected twelve pieces, seven of which he arranged himself for strings and accordion. He has enlisted the Serbian quartet Quatuor Bilitis to play the strings, although their first violin is a flute, and they are complemented by Blanche Stromboni on double bass. The admittedly rare vocals are provided by mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti. And what would Piazzolla say about that?

Of course, we don't know for sure. What is certain, however, is that the verdict will be mixed, as Ould claims the right of youth to be exuberant and zealous now and then. Libertango: Introduction begins very atmospherically and builds to a furious tempo that would presumably be a challenge to dance as expressively as it is played. Two adjectives just mentioned do, however, characterize the album: "atmospheric" and "expressive."

Inverno Porteno, for example, begins with a truly thrilling tenderness and fragility, before shifting into an equally thrilling drama, which in turn shifts to gentle tones. And all of this happens quite naturally; the accelerando accelerates with measure, the ritardando flows out gently. Everything is just right.

And that everything is just right is, again, a characteristic that permeates the album. Many of the pieces are arranged not as tango overtures, but as a dramaturgy of life in all its facets.

And Piazzolla would certainly have liked that. (Thomas Semmler, HighResMac)

Théo Ould, accordion
Quatuor Bilitis
Blanche Stromboni, double bass
Marina Viotti, mezzo-soprano

Photo: Théo Ould ©Lisa Roze