Friday Night Classical Music: Invierno Porteño by Astor Piazzolla

The weekend is here! This Friday, I'm listening to Invierno Porteño by Astor Piazzolla.

Invierno Porteño (or Buenos Aires Winter) is the 4th movement from Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (or The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) composed by Astor Piazzolla. As the name suggests, each movement in the piece is inspired by one of the four seasons. There is also a close relation to the famous Four Seasons Violin Concerto by Vivaldi, and if you listen closely, you can even hear a few parts that are clearly inspired by the corresponding movement from Vivaldi.

I fell in love with this piece immediately after hearing it and it has slowly grown to become a favourite of mine. The video above features the soloist, Claudio Cruz, and this was also the rendition that I first heard of the piece. The only difference is that it was a higher quality version on television (it seems the Internet is not all-capable after all then!). Even after so many years, this rendition by Claudio Cruz still draws me in and I personally that it is one of the best versions available on YouTube.

Interestingly, Piazzolla did not initially wrote it as a violin concerto, but rather composed it for his quintet with violin, piano, electric guitar, double bass and bandoneón. It was later arranged for violin and orchestra, which, I think, is the version that is being played here.

About the Composer: Astor Piazzolla

Astor Piazzolla (1921 - 1992) was an Argentinian composer and Bandoneon player who specialised in tango music. Piazzolla's music pioneered a new approach to the tango, later termed nuevo tango, that incorporated elements from jazz music, classical music and traditional tango music.