PIAZZOLLA Life×
1935
LIFE: Acclaimed as a prodigy on the bandoneon, he turns down the chance to tour with tango legend Carlos Gardel. The decision saves his life, as Gardel is killed in a plane crash.
TIMES: An investigation into corruption in the beef industry leads to a fight in the Argentinian senate. Senator Enzo Bordabehere is shot dead in the fracas.
1974
LIFE: Out of favour with Argentina’s military government, he moves to
Italy. There he publishes and records Libertango, his most famous piece. TIMES: Three-times Argentinian president Juan Perón dies aged 78. First elected in 1946, his initial rise to power was aided by the cult popularity of his wife Eva, known as ‘Evita’.
1982
LIFE: He writes Le grand tango for cello and piano for Mstislav Rostropovich. The Russian cellist eventually performs it for the first time in 1990. TIMES: Argentinian forces invade the Falkland Islands and South Georgia in the south Atlantic. Within ten weeks, British forces have recaptured the territory.
1921
LIFE: Astor Piazzolla is born on 11 March in Mar del Plata, Argentina, the only son of Italian immigrants. Three years later, the family moves to New York.
TIMES: An economic crisis caused by a collapse in the price of wool leads to the ‘Patagonia Rebelde’ civil unrest in Argentina’s Santa Cruz province. Many rebel leaders are executed.
1953
LIFE: The controversial scoring of two bandoneons in his Symphony Buenos Aires causes a fight at its premiere. He wins a scholarship to study with
Nadia Boulanger in Paris.
TIMES: The first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix race to take place in Argentina ends in tragedy when Giuseppe Farina’s Ferrari spins off the track and into the crowd.
1992
LIFE: Two years after suffering a stroke that prevents him from performing or composing, he dies on 5 July, aged 71, in Buenos Aires. He is buried in the city’s Jardín de Paz cemetery.
TIMES: Having served a 15-month ban for cocaine abuse, iconic Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona leaves Napoli, the Italian club for whom he has played since 1984.