In 1958, at the Manhattan Towers Hotel in New York, Heitor Villa-Lobos conducted Bidu Sayão and the Symphony of the Air & Chorus in his late masterpiece Floresta do Amazonas. I was pleased to see some photographs of the recording from the wonderful photo archives of the Museu Villa-Lobos Website.
These are not the usual snapshots, but professional photographs that really give a feeling for what it was like to be there during these historic sessions. Here's a lovely picture of the great Bidu Sayão:
This shot shows what a big undertaking this was. With Villa-Lobos, less is not usually more; more is barely enough. By the way, wasn't Villa lucky to get so many of his large-scale works recorded, and in many cases by excellent musicians.
Villa-Lobos's close friend Walter Burle-Marx, the composer and conductor, was an advisor on this project. Here he is with Villa-Lobos; I don't imagine too many conductors bring a guitar to the podium with them. This is all about authenticity for Villa!
What a lovely photograph of Villa-Lobos and Bidu Sayão! These two shared a special musical bond; they go way back! I've seen this one photograph very often over the years. I wish I know who took these shots.
Here's the back-end of the mass of musicians assembled to record Floresta do Amazonas. I'm a bit puzzled by it; I only see one celesta in the score. It's been suggested that perhaps they doubled the instrument to allow it to cut through the orchestra and chorus.
Floresta do Amazonas began as a film score, for the MGM feature Green Mansions, starring Audrey Hepburn & Anthony Perkins, and directed by Hepburn's husband at the time, Mel Ferrer. The Hollywood experience wasn't a success for Villa-Lobos, but I believe he had some respect for the veteran film composer Bronislaw Kaper, who understood the studio system better, and who used some of Villa's music in his own eventual score. Everything worked out in the end, though; Foresta do Amazonas turned out to be one of Villa's late masterworks. Here are Bronislaw & Heitor together in Hollywood:
The United Artists recording on LP is a collector's item; you can buy a re-mastered CD here. There are also a number of very good new recordings on CD and the streaming services. Here is the Symphony of the Air recording via YouTube:
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