In collaboration with the 'Piazzolla 100' celebrations held at the CCK in Buenos Aires, Argentina's premier arts complex, we present Argentine pianist Natalia González Figueroa performing Piazzolla's complete original works for solo piano - a compelling collection of pieces very rarely performed, characterised by Allison Brewster Franzetti as 'the unknown Piazzolla'. It's easy to see why most pianists eschew these highly classical works in favour of arranging his well-trodden hit songs: these are substantial compositions demanding a virtuosic technique and a willingness to delve into the beautiful but darker and, at times uncomfortable, recesses of Piazzolla's musical imagination, where the listener is taken to a different dimension altogether from the rest of his music.

 

It is in his piano music above all that Piazzolla manages to achieve the holy grail of 20th-century composition: being modern without giving way to astringency. The influence of composers such as Bartok and Stravinsky is evident in the echoes of his teacher, Alberto Ginastera. But this is far from derivative music; Piazzolla's voice is clear, and it speaks in a kind of 20th-century Romantic language that is at once indulgently sumptuous, stark, nostalgic and profoundly melancholic. Imbued with a sophisticated metropolitan sensibility, Piazzolla’s piano writing conveys a sort of refracted, implied tango that irrepressibly evokes the urban landscapes of Buenos Aires. These impressive pieces set Piazzolla firmly and deservedly within the 20th-century Latin American classical piano canon. With spoken introductions in Spanish.

 

Astor Piazzolla Prelude 1953 | Suite No. 2 | Sonata No. 1 Op. 7 | Suite Op. 2 | Three Preludes

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Natalia González Figueroa piano

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Natalia González Figueroa has made a name for herself as one of the most talented and dynamic concert pianists of the new generation. A graduate of the UNA in Argentina, she has also perfected her studies in Spain, Italy, Hungary and the UK, made possible through numerous prizes and grants, in addition to multiple awards in competitions on a national and international level. Her repertoire ranges from Bach to the present day, with special emphasis on Argentine composers and premiering works by living composers, such as Pablo Aguirre and Cristian Axt. In addition to performing across Argentina's most prestigious concert halls, including the Teatro Colón, she has also toured extensively internationally giving recitals and masterclasses. Her performance at Kings Place in London in 2010, where she shared a platform with Martha Argerich as part of the Celebrating Argentina Festival marking the Argentine Bicentenary, was recognised as being of cultural significant by the Cámara de Diputados de la Nación.

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Organised by ILAMS as part of Echoes Festival 2021 in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes, the CCK, and the Argentine Ministry of Culture, with the kind support of the Embassy of Argentina