When Giulio Cesare asked me to write an introductory note for this album, I instantly thought of how Duettango was born. It came about by chance, out of a personal ambition in 2010 at the Nocera Terinese, between two piano lessons in the rooms of the Conservatory.

My idea was to combine two instruments which at first sight have very little in common, such as the piano and the bandoneon. Up until Astor Piazzolla’s creation, these have always been elements of a sextet or a quartet, where the piano sadly plays a secondary part while the bandoneon constantly and exclusively converses with the violin.

This recording wishes to prove that the piano and the bandoneon can interact splendidly, and if it is necessary they can have a dialogue with the violin or the voice without giving up their virtuosity and an important musical presence. I end this with two thoughts that will always follow me whenever I listen to this album: the first is an homage to Piazzolla, a composer to whom my career as a pianist and musician already owes a lot in many ways; the second is for Fernando Suarez Paz, because being able to play Escualo with the violinist to whom Astor dedicated these extraordinary pages was one of the most meaningful moments of my life.

Filippo Arlia