Half and Half

Examples from Piazzolla's Histoire du tango have appeared frequently in this blog. Over the nearly four months in which I have watched virtually all of the Piazzolla videos posted on YouTube, the four pieces of the "Histoire", composed originally for guitar and flute, have appeared as duets, trios, quartets, etc. For the first time, just half of Cafe 1930 appeared today - the guitar half, played here by talented Spanish guitarist Celso Garcia Blanco. I was amazed. The guitar part stands on its own very well. In its usual form, the ear is drawn to the melodic form of the flute and the guitar is somehow assigned to role of accompanist. The flute has seduced me away from recognizing the beauty of the guitar part. Thanks to Celso and today's video, I now hear it.

But that is only half the story. The other half is almost too big for this blog. Celso Garcia Blanco is no ordinary guitarist. He is one of 90 musicians on their way to perform in Carnegie Hall on April 15 with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. Most might think there is no guitar in a symphony orchestra but Celso noticed the rules didn't forbid them and submitted his audition video anyway. The judges clearly recognized a real talent and the YTSO now includes a guitarist. You will enjoy the full story from Celso himself or you can read about it here.

Celso is clearly a Piazzolla fan. He has also posted a performance video of Libertango.

Celso, on behalf of all those Piazzolla fans out there - Congratulations! We are proud of you!

If the video does not appear below, click here.



To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.

An update: Nina Perlove has posted a video of the Cafe 1930 flute part played in accompaniment with Celso's video. Let's hope we get a chance to see a live performance sometime in the future.