April Review of Piazzolla Videos

There were 490 videos of Piazzolla’s music posted on YouTube in the month of April, 2009 – down slightly from the 514 videos found in the previous month. 385 (79%) of the videos were performance videos featuring live performances. The others were videos which used Piazzolla’s music as a sound track for photo or video montages. I highlighted my journey through these many videos in this blog.

Forty-two percent of the performance videos were in the classical mode, 24% in Nuevo tango, 22% in pop and 12% in jazz.

Here are the most frequently performed pieces this month (Libertango was the most frequently played – 24% of the total; the others follow in order):

1. Libertango
2. Oblivion
3. Adios Nonino
4. Verano Porteño
5. Histoire du Tango - Cafe 1930
6. Otoño Porteño
7. La muerte del angel
8. Invierno Porteño
9. Concierto for bandoneon and orchestra
10. Histoire du Tango - Nightclub 1960

The top three on this list seem to be fairly stable month-to-month but the bottom seven change every month.

The performance videos came from 49 different countries. As might be expected, Argentina posted the most videos: 83. The top ten posting countries are listed in order here:

1. Argentina
2. Italy
3. France
4. USA
5. Russia
6. Spain
7. Germany
8. Ukraine
9. Netherlands
10. Romania

There were 7 videos posted which featured performances or interviews with Piazzolla. Two of these have not been posted before on YouTube although one is available on a commercial DVD.

Quality of performance varied from excellent to bizarre. My favorite performance of the month was the Camerata Porteña's version of Escualo. Although the instrumentation is a bit unusual, the sound is pure Nuevo Tango.

The choice for most bizarre this month was difficult. I have chosen a video which is more unusual than bizarre. It features a father/son duo playing saxophone and drums in a video titled Garden Piazzolla. It makes me wonder if Astor Piazzolla ever sat in the garden with his bandoneon while his grandson, Pipi, played drums.

I have put a table with links to all 490 videos as well as some more information on the videos on the April link in my Piazzolla Video Website.