90th Anniversary of the Semana de Arte Moderna

Next month brings the 90th Anniversary of a seminal event in the cultural history of Brazil: the Semana de Arte Moderna, which was held in Sao Paulo's Theatro Municipal from the 13th to the 17th of February 1922. The music of Villa-Lobos was featured in a series of famous controversial concerts.

The Theatro Municipal will be the scene of some really interesting concerts celebrating this event. Pianist Caio Pagana will perform Carnaval das Criancas and the first book of the Guia pratico. Pablo Rossi will play Momoprecoce. And the 2010 Paris production of Magdalena will be revived with five performances.

Al Bustan Festival 2012: Music from Latin America

Latin American music is featured at the 2012 Al Bustan Festival, which takes place in Beirut from February 21st to March 25th.  The headliners include pianists Cristina Ortiz and Jose Feghali, conductor Alondra de la Parra, cellist Antonio Meneses, guitarists Sergio & Odair Assad, and the Cuarteto Latinoamericano.

Report from Paris, April 1930

From Le Ménestrel, April 11, 1930. Villa-Lobos was making quite a stir in Paris with these works, some of his best music from the 1920s.

New Marcelo Bratke CD

In 2010 Marcelo Bratke began his series of complete Villa-Lobos piano music on Quartz Music.  Here is the second volume.

As Irineu Franco Perpetuo notes in his liner notes, all of the works on this disc make specific reference to Brazil:

• Bachianas Brasilerias No 4
• A Lenda Do Caboclo
• Saudades Das Selvas Brasileiras
• Choros No 5 "Alma Brasileira"
• Ciclo Brasileiro

This disc is available at the Quartz Music site.  It hasn't shown up yet on Amazon.com, but is available at Amazon.co.uk.