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By
the 1950s, the traditionalists were already becoming irritated with Astor
Piazzolla, who had returned from his studies in Paris (with Nadia Boulanger)
and had promptly set out upon a successful international career with his
own personal redefinition of the tango and the milonga. His move to New
York in 1959 at the behest of the record companies, radio and television,
must have seemed like an insult to the critics and the establishmentfor
what he was 'exporting' had little or nothing to do with the time-honoured
forms.
The
man causing all the trouble carried on regardless. Working with one new
ensemble after another, he was constantly discovering new tonal possibilities.
And finally, just when, at the beginning of the 1970s, a campaign was organised
against him -when, by coincidence, the military dictatorship had just seized
power in Argentina - the so-called 'traitor to tradition' began to meet
with approval abroad, which was the last thing the reactionaries back home
wanted: after all, what is forbidden cannot exist.
At
the end of the sixties, Piazzolla founded the Conjunto electronico (electronic
ensemble), an ensemble whose make-up had nothing in common with conventional
bands. The bandoneon did still play a leading role - but electric guitar,
electric bass, organ, saxophone, and flute? Imagine Beethoven's symphonies
in big-band sound, or Bach's Brandenburg Concertos on the gamelan!
Against
this background, it is entirely comprehensible that in countries where
the tango and milonga had always been regarded as 'imports', opinion was
a good deal less hostile. Yet, Astor Piazzolla also had his followers in
Argentina, as is demonstrated by this live recording of a concert in Buenos
Aires, which contains some of his best-known numbers, and which, moreover,
featured the singer Jose Angel Trelles as a major attraction.
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