Maya Beiser and Pablo Ziegler: Two to tango

Maya Beiser performs at (Le) Poisson Rouge in 2009. (Photo © 2009, Steven P. Marsh)

Cellist and pianist-composer pay tribute to tango great Ástor Piazzolla

Maya Beiser, one of the best cellists at work today returns to her roots on Tuesday, Feb. 1, joining tango master Pablo Ziegler, a composer and pianist, for a program of tangos in tribute to the late Ástor Piazzolla.

Pablo Ziegler (Photo by Oscar Balsucci)

Their program, Canyengue, the Soul of Tango, offers Ziegler’s arrangements of some of Piazzolla’s best-known numbers along with some that are rarely heard. Percussionist Satoshi Kateish will sit in on some of the tunes. Performances of some of Ziegler’s compositions and Beiser’s solo rendition of Osvaldo Golijov‘s Mariel, will round out the program.

The Latin Grammy-winning Ziegler was a member of Piazzolla’s band for 10 years, and went on to form his own tango ensemble, so he lives and breathes the fiery musical form.

Beiser, who has developed a solo career as a performer of New Music after a long-running gig with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, is no stranger to tango, either. She grew up in Israel on an Argentinean kibbutz.

“My father, a music lover and avid record collector, had a vast library of tango music, from street tangos to the more sophisticated Nuevo Tangos of Carlos Gardel and Ástor Piazzolla,” she explains. “This music was my connection to my father’s family and history in Argentina. Though we were in Israel, we would spend long weekends drinking Maté, grilling Asado [Argentinian barbecue], listening to Tango, and listening to my father’s stories about Gauchos and riding horses in the Pampas. I love the immediacy, rawness, and earthiness of this music as well as its sensuality and melancholy.”

We’ve heard recordings of some of this duo’s programs, and we think you’ll enjoy them. They’re lively and played with real spirit that will come through even more sharply when performed live. Hear them for yourself by clicking here.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a 7:30 show. (Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street (between Thompson and Sullivan), Manhattan. Tickets are $20 and are available online or by calling (212) 505-FISH (3474). Tickets may also be available at the door.