Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Villa-Lobos on Cultura FM: December 2008

Here are Villa-Lobos performances upcoming on Cultura FM from Sao Paulo. Listen here on the Internet. Times are local Sao Paulo times, one hour ahead of EST.

December 6:
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Doze Estudos. Timo Korhonen (violão)./ Gilberto MENDES - Três Contos de Cortázar. Henrique Morozowicz, Variações Frère Jacques. Mireille Gleizes (piano).

December 10:
13:00 DELICATESSEN com Kika Leoi:
Edmundo VILLANI CÔRTES - "Luz" e "Águas Claras". Cristiano Alves (clarineta). Tamara Ujakova (piano). / César GUERRA-PEIXE - Sonatina No.2. Midori Maeshiro (piano). / Amaral VIEIRA - Sonata fantasia para oboé e piano. Christian Schneider (oboé). Sorina Aust-Ioan (piano). / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Concerto para violão e orquestra. Turíbio Santos (violão). Orquestra Sinfônica Rio. Reg.: Sílvio Barbato.

23:00 NOTURNO - Clássicos Românticos na Cultura FM:
Andre JOLIVET - Chant de Linos. Philippe Racine (flauta). Robert Zimansky (violino). Monika Clemann (viola). Curdin Copray (cello). Xênia Schindler (harpa)./ Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Quatuor. Lontano. Dir. Odaline de La Martinez.

December 20:
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
Leopoldo MIGUEZ - Sylvia - Elegia para cordas op. 22. Orquestra Sinfônica da Escola de Música da UFRJ. Dir.: André Cardoso. / Henrique OSWALD - Sonata. Claudio Cruz (violino). Nahim Marun (piano)/ Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Ciranda das sete notas. Frank Morelli (fagote). Orquestra de Câmara Orpheus. / Francisco MIGNONE - Aquela modinha que o Villa não escreveu. Sexta Valsa Brasileira. Frank Morelli (fagote)./ Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Ária de Bachianas Brasileiras n° 5. Frank Morelli (fagote). Benjamin Verdery (violão).

December 27:
20:00 O MUNDO DA ÓPERA com o Maestro Walter Lourenção:
A voz do meio-soprano Elína Garan?a. No programa obras de Heitor
VILLA-LOBOS, Ruperto CHAPÍ. Jacques OFFENBACH. Richard STRAUSS. Staatskapelle de Dresden. Reg. Fabio Luisi.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Thursday, November 20, 2008

LIFE photos

Tuesday's launch of the LIFE photo archives on Google Images has created quite a stir. Most exciting for me are the great photographs of Villa-Lobos by W. Eugene Smith that show the composer's geniality, intensity, and humanity.

The Smith photos are undated, but they look to me to be from the early 1950s (Smith left LIFE in 1955). Compare Villa in the Smith photos with the three 1945 pictures from the LIFE archive; he has a bit less hair, but just as much vitality. Pictures from the mid- and late-1950s often show an older man dealing with major illness.

Here's a great example of Smith's genius (© Time Inc.):

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Choros vol. 3

2008 has been a banner year for Villa-Lobos recordings; high on the list were the first two discs in the complete Choros series from BIS. In February they released the first volume, with Choros #5 (with Cristina Ortiz), Choros #7 and #11 (with John Neschling conducting the Sao Paul Symphony Orchestra). Then, in May 2008 came the second volume, with Fabio Zanon's Choros #1, and the SPSO musicians performing #4, #6, #8, and #9. (pictured below)


That leaves #2 (3 min.), #3 (4 min.), #10 (16 min.), and #12 (40 min.), and perhaps the two Choros Bis (10 min.), and the Introduction to Choros (10 min.). It adds up to a single well-filled disc.

It's good to see, then, that a new disc in the BIS series is coming soon. Amazon.com shows that Choros vol. 3 is due to be released on Dec. 9, 2008. There's no information yet on the BIS site, but I'll post information here as I receive it.

UPDATE: This didn't take long, thanks to the comment below from ничего (Thanks!). The new disc indeed contains #2, 3, 10, and 12, plus Choros (bis) and the Introduction to Choros, and it's available from eclassical.com. I'm downloading as I type!