Primitive Canticles

In this photo from the Library of Congress, dancer Martha Graham is shown in a pose from Two Primitive Canticles, a ballet from 1932 with music by Villa-Lobos. The ballet was divided into two sections: "Ave" and "Salve", but I don't know what the music was.

New York World's Fair Music Festival

 

Walter Burle Marx conducts the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra in this long program full of Brazilian goodies, part of the World's Fair Music Festival. This program is from the excellent NYPO Digital Archives.

Nonetto from Greece

An excellent version of one of my favourite Villa-Lobos pieces, the Nonetto. Vladimiros Symeonidis conducts the Contra Tempo Chamber Orchestra and the Mixed Choir of Thessaloniki. Thanks to Rodrigo Roderico for the heads-up on this.

Through The Night from Brazil

One of my favourite programs on BBC Radio 3 is Through The Night, which features music in concert from around the world. Heard during the small hours of the night in the UK, it's prime-time listening here on the West Coast of North America. The latest episode includes some great music from Sao Paulo.

An OSESP concert from 2014, conducted by Isaac Karabtchevsky, begins the program. Two of the works were later recorded (in the studio) for the latest Naxos release in their Villa-Lobos Symphonies series: the ballet Uirapuru and the cantata Mandu-Carara. The great cellist Antonio Meneses is featured in another important work, the Fantasy for cello and orchestra.

It's also great to hear Maestro Karabtchevsky conduct the Heliopolis Symphony in some more Villa-Lobos. More on that worthwhile social and musical endeavor here.

Also, stick around for some guitar music from my favourite Villa-Lobos guitarist, Norbert Kraft. This program will be available for the next 30 days.

New Symphonies disc: with Mandu-Çarará!

 

The latest CD in the excellent Naxos Symphonies series comes out next month. Symphony no. 12 is another big piece, written in New York and finished on the composer's 70th birthday, March 5, 1957. I'm looking forward to hearing this; Isaac Karabtchevsky and OSESP are making a big splash with this series (numbers 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10 are out so far).

But for me the most exciting work on the new disc is Mandu-Çarará, a cantata written in 1940 (a period when Villa-Lobos was working on his Bachianas Brasileiras series). This is the first commercially recorded version of this piece. I've heard recordings of live broadcasts, and it's a really impressive piece. It'll be a chance to hear Naomi Munakata's Sao Paulo Symphony Choir & Children's Choir at their best as well.

I'm also looking forward to hearing what Karabtchevsky and OSESP make of Uirapuru, an early masterpiece written under the influence of Stravinsky, which is well-represented on disc (including the ground-breaking Leopold Stokowski version from 1959).

The release date is March 30, 2015 in the UK, April 14 in the US.

Symphony no. 10 video from Naxos Records

From Naxos Records, highlights from the latest release in the complete Villa-Lobos Symphonies series. Isaac Karabtchevsky conducts Leonardo Neiva, baritone, Saulo Javan, bass, and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) and Choir.

A little help, please...

Here's another picture from the Brazilian National Archive:

 

The picture was published on February 2,  1952 in Correio da Manhã, but there's no indication of who these gentlemen are. I'm pretty sure that's Walter Burle Marx on the left (and tolerably sure about the guy with the cigar!). Can anyone help with the identities of the other two?

15-two, 15-four, and a pair is six

After 20 years in the Villa-Lobos on the web business, it's pretty rare for me to see a new picture of Villa-Lobos on the web. Here's one I haven't seen before; it was posted earlier today by the Brazilian National Archive on Twitter, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Villa's first public concert.

Há 100 anos Villa-Lobos realizava o 1o. recital com obras suas. Do acervo do @ArquivoBrasil o compositor em 1957. pic.twitter.com/9XVlzj9800

— Arquivo Nacional (@ArquivoBrasil) January 29, 2015

This is Villa's normal chaos as he composed. Always a cup of coffee; always a cigar. Is that a crib board on the table?

Bachianas Brasileiras no. 5 for Choir and Guitar

 

Here is something special: a new arrangement for choir (SATB) and guitar by Bob Chilcott of that most arranged of pieces, the Bachianas Brasileiras no. 5, originally written for soprano and an orchestra of cellos. I love the textures.

For the next month you can listen to the BBC Singers and guitarist Sean Shibe in this concert, featured today on the programme Radio 3 Live in Concert. BB#5 begins at 43:00.

Rio 450 and Villa-Lobos

On March 1st, 2015, the city of Rio de Janeiro celebrates the 450th anniversary of its founding in 1565.

One of the key celebrations will be a special series of concerts with the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (which celebrates its own 75th anniversary in August). Roberto Minczuk will conduct all 9 Bachianas Brasileiras in two concerts, on March 7th (#1, 5 with soprano Rosana Lamosa, 8 and 4) and March 8th (#2, 3 with pianist Jean-Louis Steuerman, 6 and 9). Those concerts are also conveniently close to Villa's March 5th birthday.

Other Rio 450 concerts this year feature such composers as Tom Jobim, Marcos Portugal, Henrique Oswald and Francisco Mignone.

Marcela Rahal sings Magnificat Aleluia

Mezzo Soprano Marcela Rahal sings the magnificent Magnificat Aleluia, which Villa-Lobos wrote in 1958 (the year before his death), with the Orquestra de Câmara da USP and Coral da ECA.

Verde Velhice

Here's something you don't come across every day: an orchestral work by Villa-Lobos that hasn't been performed since the 1920s.



Verde Velhice is short piece written in 1922, called 'Divertimento' in the unpublished score (held by the Museu Villa-Lobos). This performance at the 2014 Festival Villa-Lobos is by the Orquestra Sinfônica da UFRJ conducted by Marcelo Ramos. This music was last heard when the composer presented it in Sao Paulo in 1926.

Here is more information on the piece, from Villa-Lobos: Sua Obra, 1.0 (2009):

VERDE VELHICE (1922, SP)
Adagio
Muito Lento
2fl, 2ob, 2cl(Bb), cl baixo, 2fg, 4cor, 2trp, 3trb, tuba, tímp, tam-tam, hp, pf e cordas
AUTÓGRAFO (MVL): 34 x 27 - 10 p.
DURAÇÃO: 8‟
PUBLICAÇÕES: não publicada
COPYRIGHT: © 1922 by HVL
EXECUÇÕES: 1a 1926, São Paulo. Heitor Villa-Lobos, regente
OBSERVAÇÕES: • Com a indicação: "Divertimento"; • dedicada ao Conselheiro Antonio Prado.

5th Piano Concerto

The 5th Piano Concerto is still not programmed very often. Here's an exceptional recent performance, though, from pianist Fabio Martino and OSESP under Celso Antunes (September 2014). This may not be profound music, but it sounds completely Villa-Lobosian to me. OSESP is nailing obscure Villa-Lobos lately, with this plus their new Symphony series on Naxos. The newly edited scores are probably a factor, since so many Villa-Lobos scores have been plagued with many many inaccuracies. But I'm completely convinced by Martino, OSESP and Antunes (plus Karabtchevsky in the Symphonies); this music is in their blood.

Camerata Atlântica play Bachianas Brasileiras no. 9

Usually when string players are arranged on a stage in a semi-circle to play Villa-Lobos, it's for Bachianas Brasileiras #1 for 8 cellos, or #5 for cellos and soprano. Here are string players of the Camerata Atlântica playing the 9th Bachianas, two to a part with one double bass, and they sound great.

The latest CD in the Villa-Lobos Symphony series: no. 10

The new CD in the Naxos Villa-Lobos Symphonies series with OSESP under Isaac Karabtchevsky is finally here, and it should be a doozy.

The 10th Symphony is the biggest in the series, complete with some good bits as well as some of Villa's less fortunate tendencies. This will be a test of Karabtchevsky's vision and his control over the very good musicians of the Sao Paulo Symphony and Choir, and the two important male singers. We'll also see the results of the new edition of the work, prepared by an editorial team which includes Isaac Karabtchevsky, published by Criadores do Brasil. Maybe this clean-up of the notoriously sloppy scores will result in a tighter, more lucid whole that might bring to mind something more like Beethoven's Ninth or one of Mahler's Symphonies, and less like a pastiche from a Hollywood B-movie. Pre-order now at Amazon.

New Guitar concerto CD

When Villa-Lobos added a cadenza to the Fantasia Concerto he wrote for Segovia, he changed the name to Concerto for Guitar and Small Orchestra. The orchestral writing is 'thinly scored' to allow an un-amplified guitar to be heard, but Mme. Segovia still insisted that she couldn't hear her husband during the rehearsals for the premiere. Villa-Lobos conducted, going from p to pp to ppp, I'm sure with his mouth firmly closed all the time.

This picture, from the Museu Villa-Lobos, is included in the excellent liner notes to the equally excellent new Stein-Erik Olsen CD Havana Rio Moscow, with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by Terje Mikkelsen. Incidentally, the album just showed up today at The Naxos Music Library.

O Piano e a Criança

 

I came across this in Google Books: a 2011 publication by Irmãos Vitale. The pieces included, all written for children, are:

• Brinquedo de roda
• Petizada
• Primeira suíte infantil
• Segunda suíte infantil
• Histórias da carochinha
• Cirandinhas  

There's more information on the publisher's site.

Rio Paris: Brazilian songs with a French connection

I've finally had a chance to listen to the Erato CD Rio Paris, a project by guitarist Liat Cohen, with the involvement of three special singers: Natalie Dessay, Agnes Jaoui and Helena Noguerra. Seven of the 17 tracks are by Villa-Lobos, but I also really enjoyed Cohen's choice by more recent composers, beginning with my favourite Tom Jobim song, Waters of March.

The centre-piece of the disc is the Aria of Bachianas Brasileiras #5, presented in Villa-Lobos's own arrangement for guitar and voice, and performed by Liat Cohen and Natalie Dessay. Two little-known early songs by Villa-Lobos with Cohen and Dessay are also included: Les Meres, op.45, and L'oiseau besse d'une fleche, op. 10 (most VL pieces with opus numbers are from the beginning of his career: these are from 1913 and 1914).

There are plenty of other delights included.  I especially appreciated three spare arrangements for guitar and voice by Rafi Kadishson:

• Agua e vinho by Egberto Gismondi, sung by Helena Noguerra
• the Baden Powell/Vinicius de Moraes Samba em preludio, sung by Agnes Jaoui and Helena Noguerra
• the Jobim standard Desafinado sung by Helena Noguerra

The liner notes by Villa-Lobos scholar Rémi Jacobs show the serious side of the project, but you can tell from Liat Cohen's notes, the pictures included in the booklet, and the music itself, everyone involved seems to have had a lot of fun.

Irina Kulikova plays Guitar Music by Russian Composers

 

Guitarist Irina Kulikova's excellent new CD of guitar music by Russian composers includes a piece by Konstantin Vassiliev entitled Mogiana in memoriam Heitor Villa-Lobos.  Named for the Mogiana district of Sao Paulo State, this piece is Villa-Lobosian, but it also has a strong Tom Jobim vibe. The entire disc is highly recommended, for excellent playing as well as the usual strong production and engineering provided by Bonnie and Norbert Kraft. Like so many great Naxos guitar discs, this was recorded at St. John Chrysostom Church in Newmarket Ontario.

Villa-Lobos A New Way

Villa-Lobos A New Way is a project begun by pianist, composer & arranger Alberto Conde and poet, playwright, novelist & musicologist JR Bustamante. The musicians in Conde's version of Choros #10 are:

• Alberto Conde, piano 
• Carmen Durán, soprano 
• Nirankar Khalsa, percussion 
• Kin Garcia, bass 
• Miguel Cabana, drums

Petizada for Symphonic Band

Petizada is a piano suite written in 1912, based on traditional children's songs. It has six movements:

• A mão direita tem uma roseira (The right hand holds a rosebush)
• Assim ninava mamã (Mummy’s Lullaby)
• A pobrezinha sertaneja (The Poor Girl from the Hinterlands)
• Vestidinho branco (Little White Dress)
• Saci
• A História da caipirinha (The Story of the Little Peasant Girl)

Here is the suite in an adaptation for symphonic band by João Victor Bota, played by the Festival Orchestra of the Encerramento do VIII Curso de Férias, Coreto Paulista 2014.

An unpublished Villa-Lobos letter

From the Brazilian site "Glorias: Documentos Raros" comes this punning letter from Villa-Lobos to his friend and pupil "Didi", from 1956.

 

Is it possible?

Di, in place of Do.

Do, in place of Di.

H. Villa-Lobos

 

[from Google Translate:]

Didi,
For those who are willing to follow difficult but glorious work like that you learn and practice at your house but again we can say, since this work is have the purest and most beautiful of all philosophies. But never be repeated too often, as I do now, citing this small piece of the Proverbs of Solomon: "Guard your heart more than all things, for it come the fruits of life."
08.01.46, Pará

Choros no. 7

Andre Bachur conducts the OCAM Ensemble in the 7th Choros.

RIP Lorin Maazel

In this video clip the late Maestro Lorin Maazel conducts the World Philharmonic Orchestra is the last part of Villa-Lobos's Choros no. 6. As far as I know this is Maazel's only recording of Villa-Lobos.


This performance is available on a CD that also includes the Firebird Suite and Berlioz's Carnaval Overture.

Guitar Concerto from Philly

Pablo Sainz Villegas plays the Villa-Lobos Guitar Concerto, with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, conducted by James Judd. This concert is from November 2013.

OSESP a Prêmio da Música Brasileira winner

The 25th Annual Prêmio da Música Brasileira (Brazilian Music Awards) were held recently in Rio de Janeiro's Theatro Municipal. Winner of the Classical Album award was the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), for their Naxos disc of the Villa-Lobos Symphonies no. 6 & 7.  Excellent choice!

World Cup

"Villa-Lobos found that his concerts were often poorly attended because of the public's preference for soccer, this led him to denounce the sport violently. One of his phrases became famous: 'Soccer causes human intelligence to detour from the head to the feet!' The Brazilian soccer fans responded vigorously to the challenge. In one town they bombarded the touring musicians with rotten eggs, and the threat of similar treatment caused the group to leave another town in the early morning hours."

David E. Vassberg, "Villa-Lobos as Pedagogue: Music in the Service of the State," Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Autumn, 1975), p. 165

No matter what Villa-Lobos thought about the game, I'm cheering big for A Seleçao!

New CD from Julien Labro & the Spektral Quartet

The new Azica CD From This Point Forward featuring the Spektral Quartet and accordionist Julien Labro will be released on June 24. The repertoire includes Labro's arrangement of Villa-Lobos's Sentimental Melody and Veleiros (from Forest of the Amazon), along with pieces by Piazzolla, Barrios, Pascoal, Saluzzi, Zenon, Schissi, Otero and Grenet. Labro and the Quartet were featured on the NPR station WBEZ's Morning Shift, which you can listen to here. They play Sentimental Melody at 11:35.

Dario Müller's new Magic Boxes CD

 

Pianist Dario Müller's new Dynamic CD Magic Boxes includes Villa-Lobos's Caixinha de musica quebrada, the Broken Little Music Box.

Momoprecoce, from the 2012 Proms

Nelson Freire plays piano, and Marin Alsop conducts OSESP, in this video from an August 2012 Proms concert. Momoprecoce is a fun pastiche that Villa-Lobos put together from his Carnaval das crianças for solo piano.

RNZ Composer of the Week

 

A superb radio program from Radio New Zealand: Thomas Goss presents Villa-Lobos's music in the context of the birth of Brazilian modernism. Villa's masterpieces of the 1920s are illuminated by Mario de Andrade's amazing poetry.  This can be streamed on demand, but hurry up and listen; I'm not sure how long it will be available.

Four Bachianas Brasileiras from A Grande Música

This episode of A Grande Música from TV Brasil includes the following Villa-Lobos performances:

• Introduction: José Schiller 
• 3:20 Bachianas Brasileiras #6, with Marcelo Bonfim, flute and Elione Medeiros, bassoon
• 13:00 Bachianas Brasileiras #9, with Isaac Karabtchevsky conducting the Orquestra Petrobrás Sinfônica
• 21:45 Bachianas Brasileiras #5, with soprano Veruschka Mainhard, and Ricardo Rocha conducting an orchestra of cellos
• 33:45 Bachianas Brasileiras #2, with cellist Antonio Meneses and Cristina Ortiz

The Villa-Lobos Experience in New York

The Association of Classical Dominican Artists in New York City will present a musical event that brings together the Dominican and Brazilian communities of New York City: "The Villa Lobos Experience", to take place on Monday May 12 at 7 PM at the Aaron Davis Hall of The City College of New York, located at 135th Street and Covent Avenue. The event is free, but reservations are required.

For more information, please see http://www.dominicanclassical.org/.  To register for "The Villa-Lobos Experience" please proceed to our Eventbrite link: http://www.eventbrite.com/o/association-of-dominican-classical-artists-inc-1270786671 

Arguably the best classical composer from South America, Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) wrote works that not only incorporate his native and folk Afro music, but also style elements from classicism, impressionism and the baroque. "The Villa-Lobos Experience" is a collaboration of both Dominican, Brazlian and American visual artists and classical musicians living in New York City.

Rarely heard works will performed in the program, including

• O Canto Do Cysne Negro (poem-Dance-Mime) Extract from Symphonic Poem Naufragio de Klinikos arr. For cello and harp by Dewy Owens 
• Lent from Fantasia arr. for Saxophone, viola, cello and harp by Pedro Vizzarro 
• Bachianas Brasileiras No 5 
• Choros #2 for Flute and Clarinet 
• Assobio a Jato (The Jet Whistle) for Flute and Cello (12 Minutes) 
• Quartour Symbolic for Harp, Celesta, flute, et Saxophone alto in Eb with female voices 
• Sexteto Mistico for Flute, Oboe, Saxophone alto in Eb, Guitar, Celesta, and Harp 

Mission of the Association of Dominican Classical Artists: To foster appreciation for Dominican art and folkloric music in the United States; create performance space for our artist members; and, bring our music to communities with little or no access to live performances. We accomplish our mission by presenting concerts and educational programs.

General Information The Association of Dominican Classical Artists was founded in 1980 by artists and composers of Dominican descent living in New York City.

BB no4 for harmonica, cello & piano

José Staneck plays the harmonica ("gaita" in Portuguese) in this very effective arrangement of the Aria from Bachianas Brasileiras no. 4. Ricardo Santoro plays cello, with Flávio Augusto on piano.

Remy Van Kesteren Memento

The new CD Memento by harpist Remy Van Kesteren includes arrangements of the 5 Villa-Lobos Preludes for Guitar.

Eolienne Quartet plays Quintette en forme de Choros

Last month's Total Immersion: Villa-Lobos concerts by the BBC Symphony Orchestra included performances by musicians of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Here is the Eolienne Quintet performing an excellent version of the Quintette en forme de Choros.

New guitar concerto CD

 

Here's the second new Guitar Concerto CD of 2014: Pablo Sainz Villegas plays guitar & James Judd conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. This concert performance is now available for streaming at The Naxos Music Library; I'm not sure when it will be available for sale.  Here is the information on the November 2013 concert, which includes music by Mendelssohn, Elgar & Dyens.

Rio Paris

 

The new Erato CD Rio Paris, with Natalie Dessay, Agnes Jaoui, Helena Noguerra & Liat Cohen, will be released early in May 2014. You can pre-order it here. Here's a video preview; I'm looking forward to this!

Quatour Symbolique

This modernist piece from 1921, also called the Quatour Symbolique or Quarteto Simbolico, is one of my favourite chamber works. The optional female choir is rarely included in performance.

Floresta do Amazonas suite from the Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional

This December 2013 concert from the Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional includes the Florestas do Amazonas suite of Villa-Lobos.

The Villa-Lobos Website moves to Indiana

Here's a nice present for Heitor Villa-Lobos's birthday: the new version of the Heitor Villa-Lobos Website is now officially up on the web, at http://www.villalobos.iu.edu. Thanks to Erick Carballo and everyone at the Latin American Music Centre at Indiana University for all their work in making the move from Red Deer to Bloomington.

Gil Jardim conducts the 1st Sinfonietta

The Sinfonietta #1, from 1916, is rarely performed, so it's nice to see this excellent video of Gil Jardim conducting the Orquestra de Câmara da USP. This is from the 4th Leo Brouwer Guitar Festival. Also on the video is Brouwer's Concierto Elegiaco, plus an Albeniz encore.

Jennie Tourel's Serestas on 78

 

My last post was about the Columbia Masterworks LP that included 6 Villa-Lobos songs, 5 from the Serestas cycle. Here is the original 78rpm album, an important part of my Villa-Lobos music library.

 

The five Serestas are Modinha (#5), Abril (#9), Na Paz do Outono (#6), Cancao do Carreiro (#8) and Desejo (#10). These are important compositions, written by Villa-Lobos in Paris in 1925-26.  The sixth song, Sino de Aldeia, is the sixth song from the Miniaturas cycle of 1916-17.

Here is the back cover. Unfortunately, there's no date on this album, but I believe this was recorded (and released on 78?) in 1945. The songs made it to LP in 1950.

Jennie Tourel sings Villa-Lobos

 

In 1950 Columbia released this Songs of Rachmaninoff LP by soprano Jennie Tourel, which included six songs accompanied by an orchestra conducted by the composer. Since this has never been released on CD, and the LP shows up on eBay only very rarely, it's nice that the Brazilian Concert Music blog has posted the songs.

Total Immersion: Villa-Lobos

Tom Service introduces Total Immersion: Villa-Lobos, presented in London in March 2014 by the BBC Symphony and Sakari Oramo. "Be prepared to be totally immersed in the sound world of Villa-Lobos."

Villa-Lobos conducts

I haven't seen this picture before. It's from the Viva Villa! exhibition at Shopping Villa-Lobos.

Clara Rodriguez at St. Martin-in-the-Fields

 

Later this month pianist Clara Rodriguez will be playing a couple of pieces by Villa-Lobos, Beethoven's Appassionata sonata, plus such interesting composers as Teresa Carreño, Luiza Elena Paesano, and Luis Zea, all in one of my favourite London venues: St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square. Wish I could be there!

Here she is playing Impressoes Seresteiras, from an earlier London concert:

A memoir by Lucilia Guimarães Villa-Lobos

Fred Sturm has translated portions of the memoir of Villa-Lobos's first wife Lucilia Guimarães Villa-Lobos, Villa-Lobos, Visto da plateia e na intimidade (Villa-Lobos seen on stage and intimately). The work was actually written by Lucilia's younger brother Luiz, in the early 1970s, and includes family stories and some stories told by Lucilia:

"In spite of the difficulties we experienced, Villa (so we called him) began to compose his first works, with energy, and, as he did not play the piano yet, it was I who gave the first partial performances."

Besides his excellent recordings and concerts featuring the music of Villa-Lobos and other Latin American composers, the Albuquerque-based pianist Sturm is contributing valuable source material in English for Villa-Lobos scholars. There are more interesting and useful documents here: http://fredsturm.net/villa_lobos/.

n spite of the difficulties we experienced, Villa (so we called him) began to compose his first works, with energy, and, as he did not play the piano yet, it was I who gave the first partial performances.” - See more at: http://fredsturm.net/lucilia/#sthash.zsA81fiY.dpuf

memoir Villa-Lobos, Visto da plateia e na intimidade (Villa-Lobos seen on stage and intimately). This work, written in the early 70s, goes back to the time Lucilia met the young composer in 1912

(Villa-Lobos seen on stage and intimately)

(Villa-Lobos seen on stage and intimately)

(Villa-Lobos seen on stage and intimatel

The 17th String Quartet, played by the Cuarteto Carlos Gomes

The 17th String Quartet, the final work in one of the most important 20th Century cycles, is one of Villa-Lobos's greatest late works. Written in 1957, it was premiered by the Budapest String Quartet in Washington DC in the year of the composer's death, 1959. This excellent version of the first movement is played by the Quarteto Carlos Gomes, which seems to be a new group. The first violinist is Claudio Cruz, famous as a violin soloist and conductor.

Rio International Cello Encounter

This excellent video by Noilton Nunes showcases the incredible diversity of the Rio International Cello Encounter, which had its 19th annual event last August in Rio de Janeiro under the direction of the amazing British-born cellist David Chew. There's more on this series at the Rio International Cello Encounter website.

O Martírio dos Insetos on CD

 

The violin concerto O Martírio dos Insetos is one of the last of Villa-Lobos's major works to be recorded commercially. Up until now we've had to make do with YouTube videos from Miami and Astana, Kazakhstan. The latter performance, with violinist Askar Duisenbayev and The State Chamber Orchestra "Academy of Soloists" conducted by Daniel Bortholossi, has been released on the CD BrasilCazaquistão. I have no idea where you can buy this, but it's posted on the Brazilian Concert Music blog here.

Lots of cellos from Happy Valley

The Penn State University Cello Choir, under the direction of Professor Kim Cook, plays two movements from Bachianas Brasileiras no. 1.

Choros no. 6 from Caracas

This fine performance of Choros #6 is from the recent Festival Villa-Lobos in Caracas. Marcelo Lehninger conducts the Orquesta Sinfonica Simón Bolívar. [People in Toronto should note that Maestro Lehninger will be conducting the Toronto Symphony Orchestra this weekend, in an all-Tchaikovsky concert.]

Villa-Lobos's cello on CD and DVD

Cellist Hugo Pilger and pianist Lúcia Barrenechea will release a new CD/DVD of music by Villa-Lobos and other Brazilian composers later this month. The recording features Villa-Lobos's own cello, made in 1779 by Martin Diehl. Here's a picture of the instrument from the Museu Villa-Lobos:

6th Festival Villa-Lobos in Venezuela

 

The 6th annual version of Venezuela's Festival Villa-Lobos takes place in Caracas later this month. This Festival has hosted important Villa-Lobos performances in the past, including the cantata Mandu Çarará at the 4th Festival in 2011. This work is still without a commercial recording.  One of the encouraging things about this Festival in the past has been postings of concerts on YouTube. Here is Bachianas Brasileiras no. 4 from last year's Festival, with the Orquesta Simón Bolívar conducted by Roberto Tibiriçá.

Sebastian Benda plays Villa-Lobos

Memoires, the new 2-CD set from Genuin by the Swiss pianist Sebastian Benda (1926-2003), includes works by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Martin, Mussorgsky, and 5 pieces by Villa-Lobos, recorded from 1961 to 1994.

Though the back of the CD only says "Selected works" of Villa-Lobos, the actual tracks are:

• Alma brasileira 
• Festa no sertão 
• Lenda do caboclo 
• Impressões seresteiras 
• Dança do indio branco 

These pieces were recorded in 1981.

Benda spent nearly 30 years (1952-1981) in Brazil, though he traveled extensively in Europe during that period as well. During that time he had a significant impact on the musical life of the country. In a short note on Villa-Lobos that Benda provides for the liner notes, he says this about Brazil's greatest composer:

Villa-Lobos’s personality is energetic and highly authentic; his music is the music of Brazil, the music of the jungle and the sertão, the dry outback in the northeast, and the music of the sea. It describes the unique characteristics of the people, the way of life and the natural environment of Brazil and is uncommonly vital and impressive. He transforms the folklore, which has a regional character at its center, into a universal language whose message reaches audiences on all continents with ease.

Here is Benda in Sao Paulo in 1952:

 

I know Benda best from his chamber music recordings (especially the Naxos recording of the Martinu cello sonatas with his son Christian). This wide-ranging collection shows he was a gifted pianist and musician.

Villa-Lobos at the Latin Grammys

The Best Classical Album category of the 14th Annual Latin Grammy Awards includes three of the six nominations featuring the music of Villa-Lobos. All are albums that I would have put close to the top of the list for my favourite albums in the past year.

First up is a piano disc from the great Nelson Freire, Brasileiro: Villa-Lobos and Friends, on Decca. This one stands out, even amongst the plethora of great Villa-Lobos piano discs of the past decade. It not only includes a generous sample of Villa-Lobos works, some of which aren't that well-known, but also pieces by Villa's colleagues Guarnieri, Oswaldo, Levy, Lorenzo Fernandez, Santoro and Mignone.

 

Next is a really entertaining album from composer/arranger/pianist Mario Adnet: Um Olhar Sobre Villa-Lobos, on Borandá from Brazil.

Finally, the excellent 2nd disc in the new Naxos series of Villa-Lobos Symphonies from OSESP and Isaac Karabtchevsky, with the 6th & 7th Symphonies.

We'll see who wins on November 21, 2013. Good luck to all!

Estrella é Lua Nova in Toronto

Villa-Lobos lovers in Toronto can hear one of Villa's best vocal works, Estrella é Lua Nova, at the premiere performance of the Concord Vocal Ensemble on Monday, December 9, 2013, at Windermere United Church. This song, adapted by Villa-Lobos from the African-Brazilian Macumba ritual, is becoming a favourite piece for choirs around the world.

Bachianas Brasileiras no. 9 with the OSB

Roberto Minczuk conducts the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira in the 9th Bachianas Brasileiras, from an August 2013 concert.

Choros no. 7 from Iowa

 

This concert from Ames, Iowa includes one of Villa's greatest works, the 7th Choros, and a key piece by his close friend Edgard Varese. I'm looking forward to hearing all four works. The concert will be streamed live at http://www.music.iastate.edu/feeds/recital/ tomorrow, October 24, 2013, at 7:30pm CDT. 

I couldn't find out much about the Neil Thornock piece "Lurgy" on the web, though as a big Goon Show fan, I'm hoping it makes reference to the episode "Lurgi Strikes Britain". The dreaded lurgi!

Another performance of the 3rd Symphony

 
I mentioned in a post yesterday that I hoped the newly-revised scores of the Villa-Lobos Symphonies would result in more performances. Here's one, with conductor Isaac Karabtchevsky (a supervisor on the score publication project) and the Orquestra Petrobras Sinfônica. This is the last movement of Symphony #03, from April 2013.

Symphony scores from Criadores do Brasil

 

The new series of Villa-Lobos Symphonies recordings on Naxos has been based on revised scores prepared by Thomas Hansen, Cláudio de Freitas, João Maurício Galindo and conductor Isaac Karabtchevsky, published by Criadores do Brasil. The scores for Symphonies 3, 4, 6 and 7 are included in this catalogue, available for purchase and rental. I hope this easier availability might increase the chances of hearing these works in concert halls around the world.

Festival Villa-Lobos preview

A very cool preview of the 51st Annual Festival Villa-Lobos, coming to Rio de Janeiro this November.

Nicholson Baker on Villa-Lobos

Nicholson Baker's new novel Traveling Sprinkler includes a long, beautifully written passage about Victoria de los Angeles's classic recording of Bachianas Brasileiras #5:

"She sings like a mad tropical bird, and it's just a fondue of molten wanting and grieving and everything that you wish you could remember and feel and know."

I once compared BB#5 to a 'black box'. Baker is one of the few people I've come across who can go inside the box and tell us something insightful and interesting about what he's heard.

51st Festival Villa-Lobos

 

The Museu Villa-Lobos in Rio de Janeiro is the site of another Festival Villa-Lobos; the 51st annual event takes place from November 8-24, 2013. Follow the Festival on Twitter, on Facebook, and at the Festival's website.

Violin Sonatas from Germany

 

A new CD of Villa-Lobos's music for violin and piano comes from the German label Telos Music. Violinist Laurent Breuninger and pianist Ana Flavia Frazao play the 3 sonatas and 6 shorter pieces. I'm looking forward to hearing this; especially the third sonata, which is a favourite chamber work. You can buy the CD at JPC.

The Villa-Lobos Website moves to Indiana

The Heitor Villa-Lobos Website, originally at http://www.villalobos.ca from 1994 to 2013, will soon be resurrected at its new home: the Latin American Music Center at Indiana University.

New Bratke piano disc

T
he third volume in Marcelo Bratke's complete Villa-Lobos piano music series is now out from Quartz Music.

The Cello Fantasia

Lars Hoefs and Rose Chen play the 2nd movement of the piano & cello version of the Fantasia for Cello & Orchestra. This is a great work, and one that I've been thinking about lots since I heard about the recent death of Janos Starker. Starker played the work with the Paraiba Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eleazar de Carvalho, on a classic Delos CD called A Brazilian Extravaganza.

The cello and the guitar were Villa-Lobos's two favourite instruments: the ones he dreamed in. When I think of Villa-Lobos, I hear the sound of the cello (or lots of cellos) in my head.