El Chakracanta is a dynamic live record from Italian pianist Stefano Bollani, with two original works of his for piano and orchestra and two tangos by Ástor Piazzolla and Horacio Salgán.
Stefano Bollani's Concerto Azzurro (2017) and Concerto Verde (2019) can be considered works of "classical" composing, in the sense that Bollani has written them for piano and classical orchestra and has, as tradition wants, classically structured them in four movements of distinct character of melody and rhythm, but both compositions are strongly informed by Bollani's very own exhilarating jazz genius and idiom, favouring playful moments of improvisation and freedom that disobey the rules that demand that a pianist shall stick to the rigorously immutable score.
Concerto Azzurro was commissioned by visionary Kristjan Järvi and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. Azure is the colour of the fifth chakra, associated with self-expression and communication. Concerto Verde premiered and recorded with the Sin Fin Orchestra directed by Exequiel Mantega in Buenos Aires in June 2019 for the album El Chakracanta, refers to the colour of the fourth chakra, associated with love.
Both concertos were recorded live in Buenos Aires: Azzurro at Centro Cultural Kirchner on 17th June 2018; and Verde, next to Piazzolla's Libertango and Salgán's Don Agustin Bardi at Teatro Coliseo on 19th June 2019. With Bollani (piano) and the Orquesta Sin Fin, directed by Exequiel Mantega.
Don Agustin Bardi
Concerto Azzuro (Prologue)
Concerto Azzuro (First Movement)
Concerto Azzuro (Second Movement)
Concerto Azzuro (Third Movement)
Libertango
Concerto Verde (First Movement)
Concerto Verde (Second Movement)
Concerto Verde (Third Movement)
Concerto Verde (Fourth Movement)
