It is a minimalist, performance masterpiece: Horacio Ferrer reciting the lyrics, the poem would be equally correct, he composed in 1969 to accompany Piazzolla's, Balada para mi muerte with the refined and unobtrusive guitar solo work of Juanjo Dominguez in the background of today's featured video. As usually performed, the music and vocal acrobatics are so powerful in this piece that the words lose some of their chilling finality. For example, the performance by Mina and Piazzolla is, to many, the definitive performance of the piece. The beauty of today's video is in the poetry and if you should want to read the poem, you will find it here.
According to the Azzi/Collier book, Le Grand Tango, the relationship between Piazzolla and Ferrer began in 1948 when Ferrer was a student attending a Piazzolla recital. It was renewed in 1955 when Ferrer sought out Piazzolla, perhaps for poetic inspiration, but did not become a collaboration until 1967 when Ferrer encountered Piazzolla just as the idea for the operita, Maria de Buenos Aires, was being formed. He provided the libretto for that operita and continued his collaboration with Piazzolla until 1981. Ferrer continues to be an active writer, performer and commentator - most recently performing just two days ago in the show, Piazzolla y Ferrer, in Torri del Benaco (a topic for the next blog posting).
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