This innovative program pairing the seemingly antithetical compositions of Claudio Monteverdi and Astor Piazzolla was first featured at the Ambronay Festival in 2009 and was greeted with nearly universal acclaim. The brainchild of Argentine conductor Leonardo Garcia Alarcon and his ensemble Cappella Mediterranea, this unusual collection highlights the surprising connections and musical synergies present in works that are separated by centuries of time and thousands of miles. Under the baton of Alarcon, the madrigal and the tango are revealed as be musical sisters, both conjuring up powerful emotions - from nostalgia to sorrow to ecstasy - and rich in improvisational freedom.