Language of the Heart

Who exactly is playing here – and playing what – is a challenge to explain. The Santiago Quartet are UK-based but the founding members were once in Mexico's Yucatan Symphony Orchestra and Language of the Heart begins with them performing a selection of compositions by late Argentinian tango maestro Astor Piazzolla. Here they’re joined by Julian Rowlands, a British bandoneón (squeezebox) player steeped in tango. They capture tango's intensity, yet the melancholy sensuality is absent. The last third of the album finds them recording ‘The Birthday Quartet’, a three-movement work by English composer Will Todd. Thus Language of the Heart features a string quartet collaborating with an accordionist in playing string-tango fusion followed by 16 minutes of (accordion-free) contemporary classical music. So do Todd and Piazzolla work together? Not exactly. Going from tango's rhythmic pulse and harsh angst to English classical's austere beauty is quite a leap. Perhaps a Piazzolla album and then a Todd album might have more effectively showcased Santiago Quartet's versatile strings? The music here is beautifully played but the change of focus feels uncertain – and I sense the quartet are more comfortable with classical than they are with tango.