Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer's 2000 release Eight Seasons is a conceptual masterwork. Kremer, long known for his skillful interpretations of Astor Piazzolla's Argentinean tangos, had the brilliant idea of matching four of the Latin master's tone poems of the seasons in his native Buenos Aires with Antonio Vivaldi's conceptually similar masterpiece "The Four Seasons," alternating seasons between the two works. Besides the conceptual perfection of the idea, the performances are exquisite. Kremer and his conservatory orchestra, the Kremerata Baltica, do a particularly masterful job with the Vivaldi, avoiding the ornate bloat that affects so many recordings of this work. Their performances are brisk and to-the-point, with bright tempos that add a vitality not often found in this rather shopworn old standard. As always, Kremer's solos in the Piazzolla works are absolutely superb, with the dramatic flourishes of the massed string section providing startling counterpoint, especially on the breathtaking "Verano Porteno". Eight Seasons is a truly remarkable work by an underrated performer.

Through his life, Piazzolla’s passion was the music of Argentina, which meant the tango, and through his development of tango nuevo he made “respectable” what originally was urban dance music of the working classes in Buenos Aires. Of course, he did this by taking the very elements that gave this music its earthy appeal–excited, swirling, sensuous melody, pulsing ostinato, syncopation–and recast them in more sophisticated forms, particularly regarding rhythm (including polyrhythmic structures and irregular divisions) and harmonies derived from jazz and classical styles.

Astor Piazzolla belongs to Buenos Aires and to the whole world as well. His music has that secret, that intangible charm and that dose of magic it takes to fascinate musicians and non-musicians alike, whatever their own styles and wherever they come from. His sharply-accented melodies and his lively, persistent rhythms with their ferocious attacks capture you and sweep you along. Then suddenly all that sonic aggression calms down in a slow section and his lyricism, his inexorable melodies, hit you inside. It's the tango, and it goes straight to the soul.

Jan Vogler's new album was recorded in a small studio in New York. He teamed with the fantastic Finnish guitarist Ismo Eskelinen for this recording. ''Songbook'' presents partly pieces originally written for cello and guitar such as 3 Nocturnes by Friedrich Burgmüller (1806-1874) and the first movement of the Sonata for Guitar and Cello by Brazilian composer Radames Gnattali (1906-1988). ''Songbook'' also features several famous works in arrangements for guitar and cello: Cantabile by Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840), the Gymnopedie No. 1 by Erik Satie (1866-1925), the Suite Popular Espanola by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) as well as the famous Aria from Bachianas Brasileiras by the most famous South American composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959).

In the realization of this album I gave all of my heart to the memory of Astor Piazzolla and Jorge Luis Borges. Throughout the whole performance I have tried to reflect Astor Piazzolla’s intense and inimitable style. For that, I had a qualified group of Argentine musicians who contributed all their art to join me in this great project. Jairo’s singing and Lito Cruz’ voice reading poems finish up the framework for this wonderful work by Borges and Piazzolla, which was composed in the 1960’s.

This fine Astor Piazzolla album came on the heels of the tango innovator's universally praised Tango: Zero Hour from 1986. Back again for this outing are Quinteto Nueva Tango members like pianist Pablo Zinger and violinist Fernando Suarez Paz, with guest spots being filled by bassist Andy Gonzalez and Latin jazz alto sax star Paquito d'Rivera. Piazzolla, of course, is in top form throughout, tossing off a wealth of passionate and complex bandoneon solos. Producer Kip Hanrahan also returns from the Zero Hour sessions, providing another spacious-sounding backdrop for the proceedings. Unlike Zero Hour, though, Rough Dancer has more of whimsical feel, with the often perilous shifts in tempo and mood of the earlier record being handled in smoother fashion here…

Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. A virtuoso bandoneonist, he regularly performed his own compositions with a variety of ensembles. In 1992, American music critic Stephen Holden described Piazzolla as "the world's foremost composer of tango music".

Gary Burton's Libertango: The Music of Astor Piazzolla continues the vibraphonist's homage to Piazzolla's nuevo tango, which began with 1996's Astor Piazzolla Reuninon: a Tango Excursion. Here, as on that album, Burton collaborates with former Piazzolla players such as pianist Pablo Ziegler, violinist Fernando Suarez-Paz, and guitarist Horacio Malvicino on stylized updates of the composer's best-known tangos. Burton's vibes weave in and out of interpretations of "Escualo," "Fuga Y Misterio," and "Adios Nonino," which dance along on brisk, jazzy rhythms that nevertheless capture the tango's elegant passion. Libertango is another fresh and worthwhile exploration of Piazzolla's music from an artist.

Inspired by a general love of the tango, and more specifically the tango of Astor Piazzolla, on the part of Yo-Yo Ma, the Soul of the Tango album is a masterful work of the nuevo tango, played by Ma's cello and many of Piazzolla's former associates. Piazzolla's old guitarists Sergio and Odair Assad even showed up to work on a pair of tracks arranged by Sergio: the Tango Suite (consisting of Andante and Allegro). The sheer beauty of one of Piazzolla's tangos is generally enough to warrant the purchase of an album involving them. An album such as this one, where all of the songs (save one: Tango Remembrances, where Ma plays along with outtakes from Piazzolla's recording of The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night album) are compositions by Piazzolla is even better. Add to this the masterful playing of Ma, and the surprising facility in which the cello fits into the tango, and you've got what could become a classic album, if only it weren't on the classical label from Sony.

102 tracks that traces the history of tango. The first 3CDs are dedicated to Astor Piazzolla and contain his most well-known hits such as Libertango, Adios Nonino and Milonga del Angel. CD4 & CD5 cover 50 tracks from the Golden Age of Tango, featuring Carlos Gardel, Osvaldo Pugliese, Anibal Troilo, Juan d'Arienzo, Julio De Caro and others.

Accordion sensation Ksenija Sidorova in a showcase demonstrating the full range and emotional power of her instrument. 'As an accordionist you sort of have to carve your own path, so I consider it my mission in this way to introduce the instrument to a wider audience', she says. The CD contains old and new repertoire, transcriptions and original works. Fairy Tales concerto by Vaclav Trojan, recorded with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, is written in an enchanting and approachable style with beautiful, heartfelt melodies. Arrangements and transcriptions of virtuosic showpieces include Moszowski’s Caprice Espagnol, the scherzo from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (a transcription that has its roots in Rachmaninov’s arrangement) and Grieg’s Holberg Suite. Contemporary composition Who’s the Puppet? was written for Ksenija by Russian composer Artem Vassiliev. Petr Londonov’s Scherzo-­Toccata is a popular piece with accordionists but little-­known to wider concert audiences.

As one might expect, whole concertos dedicated to the tango style and idiom dig a little deeper than shorter pieces intended for use on the dance floor. Astor Piazzolla was one who took the tango far beyond its roots, and the creation of a concerto in which guitar and bandoneon engage in solistic dialogue seems a logical extension of Piazzolla’s ambitions for the tango as concert music.