Hidden in the depths of our being, latent in almost all of us, lies an extraordinary force — an expressive force of immense eloquence and gravity, a visceral and vital impetus of art — and of life. Such is the Duende. Irrational… cathartic! It boils the performer's blood, evoking Eros and Thanatos, awakening anguish, passion, mystery and death, longing and melancholy, struggle and transcendence. Such is the Duende!

This album is dedicated to that expressive force that inhabits the music of Astor Piazzolla and the visionary poetry of Horacio Ferrer. I have always been moved by the sublime beauty and depth of Ferrer's neo-baroque language. La Romanza del Duende Poeta y Curda is, for me, a creation of alchemy and mystery — surreal and symbolic, filled with fantastic imagery and charged with fertile, overwhelming vitality. It is not poetry to be analyzed: it must be felt. It invites one to be carried away by its pulse, to listen with one's gut, like someone surrendering to the vertigo of music that springs from the soul.

In this album I offer two visions of that work. The first, naked and essential, is for solo piano; the second, in its original form, for narrator and string ensemble. For the latter I invited a dear friend — a true Andalusian duende — António Portanet, whose voice embodies with astonishing naturalness the spirit of Ferrer.

I then decided to interweave both Romanzas with other pieces by Piazzolla. I adapted the first movement of the beautiful Double Concerto — originally conceived for bandoneón and guitar — into a version for bandoneón and piano, together with my dear friend Valeriano Fernández. I also chose two Preludes and Adiós Nonino, works equally imbued with that duende that permeates everything, to accompany the two versions of the Romanza.

I wanted this album to breathe truth. For the sounds to speak for themselves: the friction of strings and pedals, the breath of the bellows, the performer's breathing. For the listener to feel that they are there, by our side, sharing the mystery of music in its purest moment.