Amsterdam Sinfonietta & Candida Thompson - The Argentinian Album (2014)

‘I can’t imagine a more diverse palette of sounds, styles and colours than the three composers on this recording. They are unmistakably Argentinian yet tantalisingly different. Between them they represent the vibrant fusion of cultures that exist in Argentina today. In order to give full justice to their music, we researched their personal tastes, sources and sound worlds, looking for the influences that shaped them.’ Candida Thompson, artistic director, violin (liner notes)

Amsterdam Sinfonietta performs ingenious programmes featuring well-known repertoire combined with commissions, new arrangements or rarely performed works.

On this brand new recording they combined Ginastera’s unique masterpiece ‘Concerto per corde’ with Golijov’s effectively written showpiece ‘Last Round’ and Piazzolla’s ‘Four Seasons’ in Leonid Desyatnikov’s arrangement. Candida Thompson listenend to Piazzolla’s own recordings of this work and decided to mirror the flexibility of his band by using a small string group consisting of 6 violins, 3 violas, 2 cellos and bass for their performances.