Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires at Cadogan Hall, London, on 30 September 2024
Trey Lee, the Hong Kong-born, Berlin-based cellist of international renown, performs his original arrangement of Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires at Cadogan Hall, London, on 30 September 2024 with the English Chamber Orchestra for its 2024-25 season-opening concert.
The program includes Lee’s new arrangement of Astor Piazzolla’s celebrated tango-classical composition Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) for solo cello and chamber orchestra. Originally for a bandoneon-led quintet, Lee takes us through the four seasons and draws parallels between the industrial rise and frantic urban development of Piazzolla’s twentieth century and the climate crisis it has led to. ‘With the cello as a platform, I seek a sober yet trenchant means to tell the story of our seasons, and, concurrently, create a musical narrative to account for how this crisis unfolds,’ says Lee. Piazzolla wrote each movement over five years as a separate piece; they were later combined to create a complete work.
The premiere recording of the arrangement is featured in Lee’s latest recording, Seasons Interrupted, which was released in May this year on Signum Records. Also featuring the English Chamber Orchestra, the album traces a narrative arc that considers the past, present, and a possible future of our current climate crisis. It is Lee’s first collaboration with the London-based ensemble, the most recorded chamber orchestra in the world.
Directed by Stephanie Gonley, the 30 September concert also explores another contemporary work that has been inspired by the seasons: Max Richter’s The Four Seasons: Recomposed. Combining the old with the new with skill, style and sophistication, the piece is a reinvention of the themes and ideas behind Vivaldi’s original work to allow listeners to hear it in a different way.
For more information about Trey Lee and upcoming performances, click here.
For more information about the English Chamber Orchestra, click here.
The Four Seasons: Piazzolla & Richter at Cadogan Hall, London
30 September 2024 – 7.30pm
Piazzolla – The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, arr. for solo cello and string orchestra
Richter – The Four Seasons: Recomposed
Trey Lee (cello), English Chamber Orchestra Stephanie Gonley (director/violin)
Trey Lee – Seasons Interrupted, featuring the National Chamber Orchestra
Catalogue number: SIGCD791