Feldman And Nelson Dog

On LET’S TANGO, Duo Cello e Basso with French double bassist Pascale Delache-Feldman and cellist Emmanuel Feldman invites listeners to experience some of the celebrated genre’s greatest masterpieces. Joined by pianist Victor Cayres, the centerpiece of the album is the duos’ arrangement of Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires that they perform in concerts around the United States including a recent appearance at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Other Piazzolla works with piano include Kicho, an original work for solo double bass and Le Grand Tango, written originally for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. The album also includes a trio arrangement of Por una Cabeza and El Dia que me Quieras by famed 20th century tango composer Carlos Gardel. Full of the longing and passion characteristic of tango music and paired with the rich dynamic range of the bass and cello, LET’S TANGO offers fresh new interpretations of these classic works.

As a songwriter and performer, Willie Nelson played a vital role in post-rock & roll country music. Although he didn't become a star until the mid-'70s, Nelson spent the '60s writing songs that became hits for stars like Ray Price ("Night Life"), Patsy Cline ("Crazy"), Faron Young ("Hello Walls"), and Billy Walker ("Funny How Time Slips Away"), as well as releasing a series of records on Liberty and RCA that earned him a small but devoted cult following.

Pianists Martha Argerich and Nelson Freire are stupendous virtuosos, and there's nothing in this recording of their 2009 Salzburg recital of staggeringly difficult works they cannot play. They know each other so well as old duo piano partners that their playing is stunning in its unity, but their distinctive individuality also comes across. What's most impressive about this recital is how completely Argerich and Freire have made this music their own. Brahms' Haydn Variations sound freer and fresher, more playful, and more profound than ever. Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances are thrillingly rhapsodic, rapturous, and dramatic. Schubert's Grand Rondeau is more lyrical, intimate, and graceful than usual, and Ravel's La Valse more ecstatic and apocalyptically over-the-top frightening than in any comparable recordings, including Argerich's own earlier releases. Captured in wonderfully clear yet wholly present digital sound, the performances on this disc will be compulsory listening for anyone who loves music, any music.

Ever since 1978's Stardust, standards albums have been part of Willie Nelson's arsenal, but 2018's My Way presents a twist on this shopworn tradition: it's designed as a tribute to Frank Sinatra. Album-long tributes to Sinatra aren't uncommon – Bob Dylan devoted much of the 2010s to recording a series of tributes to him – but My Way stands apart from the pack by capturing both the rakish charm of the Chairman of the Board and Nelson's sly elegance. Nelson balances standards from the Great American Songbook ("A Foggy Day," "Blue Moon," "Night and Day," "Young at Heart") with songs written with Sinatra in mind ("Fly Me to the Moon," "Summer Wind," "It Was a Very Good Year," "My Way"), which brings My Way closer to the essence of Frank Sinatra than Dylan's stylized saloon records.

Ever since 1978's Stardust, standards albums have been part of Willie Nelson's arsenal, but 2018's My Way presents a twist on this shopworn tradition: it's designed as a tribute to Frank Sinatra. Album-long tributes to Sinatra aren't uncommon – Bob Dylan devoted much of the 2010s to recording a series of tributes to him – but My Way stands apart from the pack by capturing both the rakish charm of the Chairman of the Board and Nelson's sly elegance. Nelson balances standards from the Great American Songbook ("A Foggy Day," "Blue Moon," "Night and Day," "Young at Heart") with songs written with Sinatra in mind ("Fly Me to the Moon," "Summer Wind," "It Was a Very Good Year," "My Way"), which brings My Way closer to the essence of Frank Sinatra than Dylan's stylized saloon records.