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.