December, 2010 Review of Piazzolla Videos

There were 1090 videos of Piazzolla’s music posted on YouTube in the month of December, 2010, an increase of 127% over the same month in 2009. 622 (57%) 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 have highlighted my journey through these many videos in this blog.

Forty-five percent of the performance videos were in the classical mode, 13% in jazz, 17% in nuevo tango and 25% in pop.

Here are the most frequently performed pieces this month (Libertango was the most frequently played – 31% of the total; the others follow in order):

1. Libertango
2. Oblivion
3. Adios Nonino
4. Invierno Porteño
5. Verano Porteño
6. Milonga del ángel
7. Histoire du tango – Nightclub 1960
8. Otoño Porteño
9. Histoire du tango – Bordel 1900
10. Histoire du tango – Café 1930

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 60 different countries. Argentina posted the most videos: 98. The top ten posting countries are listed in order here:

1. Argentina
2. Italy
3. Spain
4. Russia
5. USA
6. Japan
7. Brazil
8. Greece
9. France
10. Netherlands

There were six Piazzolla originals posted. Three had been previously posted but three were new to YouTube. Two of those were from the movie, Queréme así, piantao, also known as Astortango. One of those featured a symphonic performance of Adios Nonino, the other contained no Piazzolla performances but did include some Piazzolla family photos not available elsewhere. The third video was from Brazilian television and contained fragments from a quintet performance of Invierno Porteño and an Amelita Baltar performance with the quintet of Balada para un loco.

Quality of performance varied from excellent to bizarre. My choice for Best of the Month is the flute/guitar duo of Marco Ferraguto and Andrea Pace playing Otoño Porteño.

The choice for most bizarre this month is a song and dance performance of Libertango which I find quite appealing but inexplicable.

I have put a table with links to all 1090 videos as well as some more information on the videos on the December, 2010 page in my Piazzolla on Video website.

If the videos don't appear below, click here for the best and here for the most bizarre.

Best Video of the Month


Most Bizarre Video of the Month


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

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