An Authentic Latin Delivery

Delightful, witty and fuelled by passion.

Composer: Piazzolla
Repertoire: Sinfonia Buenos Aires; Bandoneón Concerto; Mar del Plata 70; et al.
Artists: Juan José Mosalini (bandoneón), Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen/Gabriel Castagna
Rating: 3/5

Genre: Instrumental
Label: Chandos CHAN 10419

The Financier and the Cobbler is an opérette-bouffe, one of the many one-acters that Offenbach staged at the Bouffes-Parisiens before scoring a bull’s-eye with Orpheus in the Underworld. The story isn’t much - financier loses daughter and all his wealth to despised cobbler in a card game – but it gave the librettists the chance to satirise the pretensions of the nouveaux riches. The music is delightful: witty, but with a heart as well. The singers despatch it with élan, and they are equally lively in the spoken dialogue.