Bolivar Soloists Musica De Astor Piazzolla

Rainer Maillard (producer): "I met the five musicians of the Bolivar Soloists during a recording with Rolando Villazon and was immediately thrilled: passion, playing friends, musicality, virtuosity, temperament – everything flowed out of them in abundance. I asked them if they wanted to make a direct-to-disc recording with me. Well, first I had to explain to them what a direct cut actually is. They had no idea about it – as well, because today all recordings are produced with state-of-the-art technology. There will be a completely analog recording and playback chain, but that's not the point. I explained to them how a typical direct-cut recording works: a single take for an entire LP page, no correction option afterwards, intensive recording sessions with a much higher pulse. I talked about the different feeling of listening to the recording afterwards on LP instead of ON CD, and about the much closer cooperation between musicians and recording team. Finally, a direct-to-disc recording would definitely sound different from a CD production.
So much for my speech. The Bolivar Soloists agreed and it was immediately clear to them: If such a project, then also with works by Astor Piazzolla, their great role model.
Some time passed, and then we finally found a date for the recording of the seven tangos. The sequence of such a recording alone is completely different from an ordinary recording. Of the four days, only rehearsals were held on the first two days, without a microphone even being in the recording room. The reason is simple: preparation is everything. The musicians cannot rely on the technical refinements and possibilities of modern sound manipulation. You can't cut afterwards. You have to play everything as it should be heard later: one to one. Without compromise.
On the third day we only took care of the sound check: The line-ups of the musicians, the positioning of the microphones, level conditions, reverberation rooms, everything was checked and optimized again and again (for listening control we used an analog tape recorder), because the same applies to the recording team as to the musicians: After the recording you can not change the sound anymore.
In the evening of the third day we feel safe enough and finally agreed on the right admission for the fourth day. This time we dared another experiment: friends and colleagues were spontaneously invited to the recording.
And so the direct-to-disc recording finally started on January 17, 2012. The musicians stood in a circle, framed by a small audience. The beginning of the actual recording had to be discussed briefly – after all, the musicians could only start recording when the inlet groove of the lacquer foil was finished cut. And then it started, and there was no turning back. The Bolivar Soloists played like the devils (or like angels, depending on the point of view). We cut a total of five slides, three times the A-side, twice the B-side. Between the recordings there were small breaks in which intensive discussions took place. After the last take (here synonymous with cutting a plate side) the tension dissolved, we lay in each other's arms. The violinist Juan Manuel said that he had never played so well in his life as he did on this recording. What a statement! And what an argument for this admission procedure. Now it was only a matter of labeling the paint foils with a unique number and keeping your fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong during transport and work in the press shop. Because even for the development of a direct-to-disc recording, there is no redo or undo."

Selections:

Side A
1. Decarisimo
2. Fuga y Misterio
3. Allegro Tangabile
4. Tema de María
Side B
1. Adios Nonino
2. La Muerte del Ángel
3. Oblivion