Astor Piazzolla – The Last Interview

Listen now:

In July 1989 the Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla flew from Berlin to Bristol, UK, at the invitation of a BBC producer. Tony Staveacre was convinced that Piazzolla would make an excellent subject, and so it turned out. One July night, Piazzolla and his sextet played a memorable set before an invited studio audience. He also sat for an interview and talked frankly with Tony about the troubled birth of the musical form he invented – New Tango. It was to be his last public conversation, and never broadcast. Here is that interview for the first time, stirringly illustrated from the sextet session – more than thirty years since Piazzolla’s death.