Film music has been described as the defining new genre of classical music in the twentieth century. It engages both the ear and the heart of an audience. The masterpieces composed by two Italian film composers in particular, Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone, embody the cultural identity of most Italians and they have become recognised and loved by audiences around the world. The film themes in this album capture the magical combination of romance, melancholy, friendship, and violence. The notes vibrate with such passion that the compositions continue to engage […]

From cinema’s earliest days, most films have had a musical accompaniment of some kind. Even silent films were not viewed in total silence. The rhythm of the music sustained the momentum of action on screen. Since the first screenings by the Lumière brothers and others, the visual quality of films steadily improved and innovations in sound kept pace. Once sound could be added to the footage, music composed for the screen never lost its importance.

In most cases music written for films expresses the main characters’ inner thoughts. In the 1930s […]

Introduction by Marco Albonetti

Amarcord signifies memory, the nostalgic re-enactment of the past. Here, it evokes the idea of joining two instruments, the saxophone and the bandoneón, both of which were invented in the middle of the nineteenth century. The connection is embedded in their history. The bandoneón, created as a more agile substitute for the organ in the world of sacred music in Germany, was brought by German immigrants to Buenos Aires, where it became central to the tango, a music enlivened by rhythmic ideas from Africa and inextricably linked […]

Two apparently distant worlds, two instruments of different appearance, origin, and character, and yet united by a complex and versatile soul, by a history made up of journeys and encounters, roots and perspectives.

Saxophone and bandoneón, the two solo voices of Amarcord d’un Tango, share this unique dimension, this identity which in fact is a non-identity: both came into existence in Europe in the 1840s, the former destined to fill the gap between woodwind and brass and to show itself to great effect in military bands, the latter conceived as a […]

December 2021

AMADEUS Music Magazine, Ruben Marzà

“Non un semplice omaggio ad Astor Piazzolla nel centenario della nascita, ma l’esito di una ricerca decennale sull’opera del compositore argentino e sull’interpretazione del Nuevo Tango… Un lavoro di grande impatto, che unisce brani classici ad altri meno conosciuti del compositore argentino, tra i quali spiccano i quattro magnifici affreschi delle Cuatro Estaciones Portenas.” 5 stars

September 2021

Fanfare Music Magazine, Henry Fogel

“A first-rate Piazzolla collection for soprano saxophone …“With the exception of Oblivion, which is arranged by Pablo […]

“A splendid piece of work, impeccably executed, and a demonstration of great respect for the music of Maestro Piazzolla, which my father, Aldo, with much enthusiasm and commitment, contributed to publish and disseminate. A tribute to the purity of the art form as much as to the work of our publishing house, Edizioni A. Pagani, which, together with my father, I have been proud to lead for many years. Our aim continues to be that of maintaining this level of quality, and stimulating new generations to understand and love the […]

I discovered the music of Astor Piazzolla, who was born on 11 March 1921, on 4 July 1992, the day he died. When RAI, the Italian national television channel, reported the sad news and paid tribute to the great Argentine composer, the network broadcast his music. The strikingly original music that I heard for the first time that day embodied not only the bold rhythms of Argentine tango, but also melodic evocations of Piazzolla’s Italian musical heritage, and the dissonances of jazz and klezmer that Piazzolla overheard when his family […]