Once upon a time ............(Animæ's Tribune 2002)

The Animae Trio’s admiration for, and involvement in, the music of the Argentine composer, Astor Piazzolla, dates right back to the beginning of the Trio’s existence. It was more by chance than intention that, in those early difficult days of establishing and defining our repertoire, we discovered that the music of the Maestro de Tango Nuevo presented no problems of concensus – we all adored it ! Four Seasons in Buenos Aires, Oblivion and the wildly exciting Revolucionario were immediately taken on board, and were to become sure-fire favorites as encore material. Piazolla’s music proved to be just as popular with our more tradionalist fans as the avante garde. No surprise perhaps when one considers that it represents a kind of sumptious span between the romantic and modern .

Anyone playing Piazolla’s music will tell you of its almost addictive properties. We were no exception and it was in 1997 that we issued our first Piazzolla on CD, along with Charles Ives’ one and only Piano Trio – one of his most notorious pieces. It was the positive reaction of the musical press to this CD that gave us the courage, in the first place, to send a copy to Jose Bragato – the Buenos Aires arranger of Piazzolla music. But then we heard nothing ; our work continued ; new projects consumed our concentration ....... until quite suddenly out of the blue a mysterious parcel bearing an Argentinian postmark arrived on our doorstep.Perhaps those distant European cousins had managed, after all, to produce something half way decent ! The contents of the parcel quite surpassed our expectations – Bragato had enclosed quite a dozen brand new arrangements of pieces by his old friend and comrade Astor Piazzolla. Not only that, he had included 3 pieces of his own – each in itself a magnficent example of modern Argentine folk music. We were speechless, and started work immediately.

Another year had gone by and the parcel’s contents are settling nicely into our repertoire. They have turned out to be hugely popular. 10 years after his death, Piazzolla’s spell lives on – through his music.

In 2001 we issued the double album – 3 minutos con la realidad. Within a matter of weeks it was sold out, though a second edition is now available at stores. On the crest of Piazzolla’s wave, we have toured extensively through Switzerland to top marks from the musical press.

This „tale of 2 continents“ is to be continued ............