Astor Piazzolla

This excellent bandoneon virtuoso and undisputed icon of tango comes from a family of Italian immigrants who settled in Argentina. Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla was born in 1921 in the city of Mar del Plata, from which, however, relatively quickly, at the age of only 4, he moved with his parents to New York. There, four-year-old Astor received his first bandoneon from his father, which he was taught to play by Andrés D'Aquila and on which his first recording "Marionete Spagnol" for Radio Recording Studio in New York was made. In 1933, continuing his musical education, he met Bela Wilda, a Hungarian pianist and Rachmaninoff's pupil, who from then on taught young Astor music and sparked his love for Bach. Thanks to another important person encountered by the young artist, Carlos Gardel, who became a family friend, Astor discovers the world of film by appearing in one of the scenes of "El día que me quieras", which became a significant symbol in the history of tango.
The musician's love for tango was greatly fueled by the violinist Elvino Vardaro, whom Astor was a big fan of, and to some extent this contributed to the fact that at the age of 17 he decided to settle permanently in Buenos Aires. There he performed in many bands, and his goal, which he quickly achieved, was to become a bandoneonist in the orchestra of the great contemporary virtuoso of this instrument, Aníbal Troilo Pichuco. In the meantime, the artist continued to expand his knowledge and develop his musical skills with Alberto Ginastera and Raul Spivak.
Starting from the Suite for Strings and Harp, Piazzolla's works become more mature, both in terms of dynamics and harmony, which become the subject of discussion among classical tango creators. At the age of 28, he felt lost in all of this and decided to break away from tango, abandoning the bandoneon and delving into his musical studies and composing other types of works. Many interesting works were created during this time, in which his own style was defined, such as "Para lucirse", "Tanguango", "Prepárense", "Contrabajeando", "Triunfal", "Lo que vendrá", and finally "Buenos Aires (Three Symphonic Parts)", which won the first prize at the Fabien Sevitzky competition in 1953. At the same competition, Piazzolla won a scholarship enabling him to study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, who after hearing the tango "Triunfal" in the artist's interpretation, said: "Astor, your sophisticated works are well written, but the real Piazzolla is hidden here, never abandon it." This comment completely changed the musician's fate. From that moment on, Piazzolla focused on composing sophisticated tangos.
In 1955, he returned to Argentina, where Piazzolla fought against traditional tango creators by introducing various innovations (e.g. regarding the orchestra lineup). The artist then traveled to the United States, where in the face of his father's death he composed "Adiós Nonino". From 1966, he began a fruitful collaboration with the poet Horacio Ferrer, resulting in the "mini-opera" "María de Buenos Aires" and a new genre called tango song.
The best time for Piazzolla was definitely the 1980s, when he was invited to many tours in Europe, South America, Japan, and the United States with his own ensembles as well as a soloist with symphonic and chamber orchestras. Many albums were released from these concerts. The artist composed "Le Grand Tango" dedicated to cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, whose performance at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, a stage dedicated to classical music, was significant.
Piazzolla's music - peculiar, unique, and undoubtedly saturated with "Argentinian-ness" - influences musicians from all over the world representing various musical genres, such as Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, Kronos Quartet, Emanuel Ax and Arthur Moreira Lima, Al Di Meola, the Assad brothers, as well as numerous chamber and symphonic orchestras.
He died in 1992 in Buenos Aires.

Browsing through recordings of Astor Piazzolla's works on www.youtube.com, I came across a quote from the artist from Revista Antena in 1955, which I believe perfectly captures the Master's approach to Argentine music. Here it is:
"It's true, I am an enemy of tango, but of that tango in their understanding. They still believe in compadrito1, I don't. They believe in farolito2, I don't. If everything has changed, the music of Buenos Aires must also change. Many of us want to change tango, but those gentlemen who attack me do not understand this and will never understand it. I will move forward, against them."
1from lunfardo (Buenos Aires slang) a person by nature quarrelsome, arrogant, and provocative (a recurring character in tango lyrics)
2from Spanish lantern - a common motif in tango lyrics.