Astor Piazzolla’s Four Season’s of Buenos Aires; Q&A with violinist James Garlick

The Northwest Sinfonietta returns to action this week with a program that features eight seasons — Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.”  James Garlick — friend of the Gathering Note, frequent concertmaster with the Sinfonietta, and occasional contributor — took a few moments to talk about Piazzolla’s “Seasons.”  Garlick is soloing with his orchestra for the Piazzolla while Adam LaMotte, the Sinfonietta’s concertmaster, is taking up solo duties for Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.”

Zach Carstensen: Have you ever played the “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” before?

James Garlick: No, this is my first time performing the Piazzolla.

ZC: How is Piazzolla’s “Seasons” different from other pieces you have played as a soloist?

JG: Stylistically, the Piazzolla has a very jazzy and improvisatory feel that differs from standard concerto repertoire.

ZC: It’s my understanding that Piazzolla never intended this suite of tangos to be played together, but here you are playing them. Does the set of tangos work well together?

JG: Piazzolla originally wrote these pieces for his quintet of violin, bandoneon, electric guitar, piano, and bass. Though he often performed these pieces together, they also stand alone as individual tangos.

ZC: Piazzolla is the master of creating dark hued, new tangos. Do these four pieces continue in that tradition?

JG: Yes.

ZC: Your upcoming concert is interesting because Piazzolla’s “Seasons” are being juxtaposed with Vivaldi’s “Seasons.” In what ways is Piazzolla’s piece similar to Vivaldi’s?

JG: Apart from their shared name and inspiration, most of the similarities come from Leonid Desyatnikov, who arranged the version I will perform. He introduced a number of quotations from Vivaldi’s Seasons and scored the piece for violin and string orchestra. Since the seasons in Buenos Aires are opposite of those in Vivaldi’s homeland, Italy, the quotations are from the opposite season. For instance, Piazzolla’s Winter quotes selections from Vivaldi’s Summer.

ZC: Are there any differences?

JG 

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: Not a one.

ZC: Both the Vivaldi and Piazzolla cycles have to be attractive to violinists, do you like the Piazzolla better? The Vivaldi?

JG: The Piazzolla is fun to perform because it’s not only an innovative concerto, but it also introduces a fresh spin on the Vivaldi, a piece that everyone knows and loves. It would be a great challenge to tackle both on the same program someday.

ZC: This is the first concert of the Sinfonietta’s season, what are you looking forward to most over the 2009-2010 season?

JG: Apart from this concert, I’m also really looking forward to performing the chamber orchestra version of Mahler’s 4th Symphony in February. I’m also giving a recital, “The Red Violin,” as part of the Sinfonietta’s chamber music series. I’ll be performing on December 4th at the Good Shepherd Center in Seattle and December 5th at the Tacoma Art Museum.

ZC: Thank you James for taking the time to answer a few questions about your concert this week.