Piazzolla never employed the saxophone in any of his own various tango ensembles, most likely because its reedy tone would compete with the sound of his own bandoneón. Indeed, as Marco Albonetti demonstrates, the sax can serve as an effective stand-in for that quintessential instrument of the Argentine tango. There’s a danger, though, which is that without the bandoneón’s distinctive rueful whine, the music’s intoxicating strain of nostalgic lyricism can be easily diluted into generic sentimentality. And, in fact, this happens in the rarely heard Años de soledad, a selection from the one album Piazzolla did make with a saxophone in mind: ‘Summit’ (1974), recorded with Gerry Mulligan. Albonetti pays homage to the original by playing it on Mulligan’s instrument, the baritone sax (the rest of the album features soprano sax); but where Mulligan keeps the melody wrapped tightly around the chugging rhythmic accompaniment, Albonetti is more lax, lingering just enough to thwart the all-important sense of momentum. He does much the same thing in Romance del Diablo, and his luxuriant reading nearly nudges the music into ‘easy listening’ territory.

This is a pity, as Albonetti is such a sensitive musician and his arrangements are not only stylistically apt but imaginative. Try ‘Verano Porteño’, for example, where he builds tension by slowly piling up layers of instrumental texture and dissonance. And although I generally prefer Piazzolla played with greater grit, Albonetti’s emphasis on the lyrical does provide some unexpected rewards, as in Libertango, where he locates a mournful, melancholic quality by making the frenetic rhythmic ostinato into something more lilting – like a surfer elegantly riding turbulent waves.

I do wonder if the performances might have been nervier had Albonetti employed a conductor instead of (presumably) leading the Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana himself, or perhaps if he’d recorded the album live. Still, there’s no question that Albonetti has a profound connection to Piazzolla’s music; and if this debut disc doesn’t succeed on all counts, it’s made me eager to hear what he does next. Hopefully it will offer more Piazzolla.