Pablo Ziegler, Astor Piazzolla’s collaborator and pioneer of the art of Nuevo Tango, joins the sensational Christopher O’Riley in an album of compelling, vibrant and moving works for two pianos.

Tango Nuevo is a love letter to the traditions and culture of Argentina, particularly to the city of Buenos Aires. 

“The current tango master and the classical piano/public radio host team up for a duet recording of the kind of aching beauty that real, hard core tango is all about... these two show they understand what it means to bring unbridled passion and fire to a performance that is meant to be fraught with emotion.”   

— MidWest Record

Album Credits

Tango Nuevo / Pablo Ziegler & Christopher O'Riley • STNS 30050

Release Date: 09/09/2016

Recorded December 7-10, 2015 at Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Producer: Dan Merceruio
Engineer: Daniel Shores

Executive Producer: Jon Feidner
Design: Cover to Cover Design, Anilda Carrasquillo
Cover Painting: The Passing, Oil Painting, Justyna Kopania
Production Assistant: Robert Hillinck
Piano Technician: John Veitch
Pianos: Steinway Model D #538137 (New York); Model D #590904 (New York)

About the Artists

For decades, Buenos Aires-born, Grammy-winning pianist, composer and arranger Pablo Ziegler has been one of the most important figures in Argentine New Tango, the vibrant musical hybrid of classic tango, American jazz, and European art music. After performing in tango grand-maestro Astor Piazzolla’s legendary quintet for over a decade, and appearing on iconic Piazzolla recordings including Tango: Zero Hour, La Camorra and Central Park Concert, Ziegler has led his own groups for over 20 years, refining and reimagining the bounds of the modern tango tradition.

Ziegler has performed at major venues and festivals including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Muziekgebouw, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, SFJAZZ, Montreal Jazz Festival, the Ottawa International Jazz Fest, Tokyo Jazz Festival, Birdland, Blue Note and many others.

In 2018 Ziegler released his first solo album on the Steinway & Sons label containing new arrangements of his nuevo tango pieces, and works by Astor Piazzolla, Alejandro Dolina, and Juan Carlos Cobián.

Acclaimed for his engaging and deeply committed performances, the pianist Christopher O’Riley is known to millions as the host of NPR’s From the Top. Now in his fifteenth year on air, O’Riley introduces the next generation of classical-music stars to almost a million listeners each week. He performs around the world and has garnered widespread praise for his untiring efforts to reach new audiences.

Christopher O’Riley has performed as a soloist with virtually all of the major American orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony. In addition, O’Riley has performed recitals throughout North America, Europe, and Australia.

Living by the Duke Ellington adage “There are only two kinds of music, good music and bad,” O’Riley – a proponent of the former in all of its guises – has received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and an equally coveted four-star review from Rolling Stone magazine. O’Riley strives to introduce new audiences to classical music with an almost missionary zeal by performing piano arrangements of music by Radiohead, Elliott Smith, Pink Floyd, and Nirvana alongside traditional classical repertoire. He has collaborated for many years with the flutist Sir James Galway and cellists Matt Haimovitz and Carter Brey.

A prolific recording artist, O’Riley has recorded the music of Beethoven, Stravinsky, Scriabin, Liszt, Ravel, Gershwin, Debussy, John Adams and others for Steinway & Sons, Sony Classical, Oxingale Records, RCA Red Seal, Decca, and Harmonia Mundi.

ALBUM CREDITS

Tango Nuevo / Christopher O'Riley, Pablo Ziegler • STNS 30050

Release Date: 9/9/2016

Recorded December 7-10, 2015 at Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia

Producer: Dan Merceruio

Engineer: Daniel Shores

Executive Producer: Jon Feidner  
Design: Cover to Cover Design, Anilda Carrasquillo

Painting: The Passing, Oil Painting, Justyna Kopania

Production Assistant: Robert Hillinck

Piano Technician: John Veitch

Pianos: Steinway Model D #538137 (New York); Model D #590904 (New York)

About Steinway & Sons label

The STEINWAY & SONS music label produces exceptional albums of solo piano music across all genres. The label — a division of STEINWAY & SONS, maker of the world’s finest pianos — is a perfect vessel for producing the finest quality recordings by some of the most talented pianists in the world.