Exploring Piazzolla’s vibrant musical influence around the world, this DVD charts the events of his turbulent, complicated personal and professional life through candid and revealing interviews with Piazzolla himself, his family, friends and the great Argentinian musicians who performed with him.

The extended (106 mins) DVD version of Mike Dibb’s new film TANGO MAESTRO includes:
Rare and exhilarating archive sequences spanning 30 years of filmed performances by Piazzolla’s own groups.

Contributions from other virtuoso performers drawn to his music, including Daniel Barenboim - a fellow student of Nadia Boulanger, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton, the Kronos Quartet, the Paris-based Gotan Project, the Tango Pasión dance company, British pianist Joanna MacGregor, Scottish accordeonist James Crabb, and Astor’s close friend Richard Galliano, the French accordeonist and bandoneon player.

Sequences from award-winning director Fernando Solanas’ movies, El Exilio de Gardel and Sur, for which Piazzolla wrote the music.

Also on this DVD is Piazzolla’s last recorded studio performance TANGO NUEVO (1989, restored and digitally remastered), with six complete Piazzolla classics, such as Milonga del Angel, Zero Hour and Adiós Nonino, illuminated by interviews with the maestro.

Plus
PIAZZOLLA: THE MAN AND HIS MUSIC - 54 minutes of additional interviews from Tango Maestro to give further insight into his music with Daniel Piazzolla, Diana Piazzolla, Richard Galliano, Oscar López Ruiz, Horacio Malvicino, Pablo Ziegler, Fernando Suárez Paz and many others.

BONUS TRACK - An alternate take of Milonga del Angel, performed by James Crabb, Joanna MacGregor and members.

Reviews


‘Tango fans who enjoyed last week’s BBC4 documentary about the master of the genre, Astor Piazzolla, will thrill to the news that a much longer version of Tango Maestro is now available on DVD. A 60 minute film was originally commissioned from director-narrator Mike Dibb, who says the project ‘just seemed to take on a life of its own’; and this full version (available from BBC Opus Arte) runs to 105, including previously unseen footage of Daniel Barenboim and Yo-Yo Ma. It’s all here – the full story of Piazzolla’s storm-tossed life, as vibrant as his music.

Restored and digitally remastered, Piazzolla’s last recorded studio performance, Tango Nuevo (1989), is but one of seven complete Piazzolla classics – all suggesting that it truly takes a lot more than two to tango.’
The Observer



Two remarkable films illuminating many hidden facets of the Argentinian Tango King
“Piazzolla was a musical genius,” says film director Fernando Solanas (for whom Piazzolla composed in the 1980s) in Dibb’s Tango Maestro…There is much telling testimony from fellow musicians…Those who played in his bands – including his son Daniel – speak of him with a mixture of utter reverence and remembered terror (of the demands the man and the music made)…These two well-produced films (accompanied by additional unedited interviews) flesh out the hidden depths of a very human composer, who was very much more than the music he wrote but whose music came to be so much more than the man.'
The Gramophone

'Mike Dibb’s brilliantly eye-catching documentary strips away commercially expedient layers and penetrates to the heart of Piazzolla’s legacy. …The range of interviewees - Yo Yo Ma, jazz vibes-man Gary Burton, Daniel Barenboim, Joanna MacGregor - are testament to the universality of Piazzolla’s music, and the production values of this project are first-class. Dibb’s documentary is supplemented by the last studio recording Piazzolla made before his death in 1992 and a smorgasbord of extra interviews and archival performances.'
Classic fM

Awards & Accolades:
Classic fM BEST BUY (August 2005)

CAT NO: OA0905D
FORMAT: All Formats
REGIONS: All Regions
PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9 / 4:3
LENGTH: 213 Mins
SOUND: DOLBY STEREO
SUBTITLES: EN/FR/DE/ES
RELEASED: 01/01/2005
NO OF DISCS: 1