Villa on Vinyl #6: Latin Fiesta

From 1963, Latin American Fiesta, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic. 

The headline work here is Bachianas Brasileiras #5, which back in the day wasn't quite the warhorse it's become in the past sixty years. I'm sure the early 60s serious lover of Latin American music was at least as interested in the rest of the repertoire on this album; I know I am today. Lenny includes the Danzón Cubano of his mentor Aaron Copland, but there are also other more authentic pieces here, from Brazilian and Mexican composers.

The most substantial work is Carlos Châvez's Sinfonia India; this is a fine version indeed. His fellow Mexican composer, Silvestre Revueltas, is well represented by the ballet Sensemayá. Two slight Brazilian dances complete the program: the Batuque of Villa's close friend, Oscar Lorenzo Fernândez; and the Brazilian Dance of one of the leading composers of the generation after Villa-Lobos, Mozart Camargo Guàrnieri. What a wonderful mix of music.

Early in 1963, Leonard Bernstein began planning his Young People's Concert: The Latin American Spirit, which was televised on March 8th of that year. As you can see, he wasn't quite sure which works might be on the actual program.

There's BB#5, still the headline piece, with the Revueltas ballet, the Fernândez Batuque and Copland's Danzòn Cubano. The WSS at the end? That would be the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, (which would have fit beautifully on this album if there had been more room). Lenny crosses out the Guarnieri, and considers, but also crosses out, music by Gottschalk and Morton Gould.

Luckily we can watch this wonderful lecture/concert on YouTube; it's a landmark in "music appreciation" - in many ways it transcends that genre. Woke Lenny shows up right away: I love him!

Here's Bernstein's actual script, with his final annotations; like the previous notes, this is from the Library of Congress website.

Bernstein notes that Villa-Lobos had only been dead for three years at the time; this is contemporary music! He then gives an admirably concise and accurate explanation of the title.

As Norman Lebrecht notes in The Life and Death of Classical Music, Leonard Bernstein had a great deal of power at Columbia Records. "I want to be free to record whatever I wish," he said to Masterworks boss Schuyler Chapin. "I don't want anyone to tell me such-and-such cannot be done." Lebrecht notes that Bernstein's records didn't sell well, with a few exceptions, but what we get from Bernstein and Columbia is what Lenny wanted. And with his Latin American Young People's Concert he had the core of his next album all set, and his New York players prepared.

What about this version of the Bachianas Brasileiras #5? The soprano Netania Davrath is, I'm afraid, outclassed by the competition on records, and not just on more recent recordings. Two great singers recorded the work with the composer at the podium: the great Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayão in 1938, and in 1958, Victoria de los Angeles, who gives my favourite performance on records. And the same year that Latin Fiesta was released, 1963, Villa's close friend Leopold Stokowski recorded a memorable performance of BB#5 for RCA Victor with the superb Anna Moffo. But it's not only the soprano that comes up short on the Columbia disc. The cellos sound marvellous, but there's no spark from Bernstein here. It's not a matter just of speed; Stokowski takes an even slower tempo in the Aria, but that lets Moffo's wondrous voice take over. A rare misfire in this repertoire for Lenny, then, which is too bad. But he makes up for it in the other works here, especially the two Mexican pieces. I really enjoyed this album!