Searching for Heitor

BBC Music Magazine, one of my favourite periodicals, has revamped its Review database. Of the 20,000 records included (every review in every issue since the magazine began in 1992), there are 40 by Villa-Lobos. That's only 2/10s of one percent - not a lot. Still, these are usually pretty perceptive reviews, though some are quite terse. They include catalogue information, and you might find some discs in this list that you haven't heard yet.

Here's an example of a good one: Christopher Wood's review of Marc-André Hamelin's disc, which recognizes the true nature of A prole do bebê: "dense-textured, hugely complicated scores." So often one sees these two suites referred to as mere "works for children." That they are, but they're also two of the most important works in the 20th century piano repertoire. Buy the Hamelin disc from Amazon.

Piano Music by Joanna Brzezińska-Mauer

Joanna Brzezińska-Mauer's 2007 Villa-Lobos piano disc on Claves in Switzerland has been well-reviewed. You can hear a track - Branquina - in RealAudio at the Arte.tv site.

The disc includes both the first and second suites from A Prole do Bebê (The Baby’s Family), along with Suite Floral, Op. 97, and the composer's version for piano of Choros #1.

Brzezińska-Mauer's website is really excellent. You can listen to full tracks and excerpts from the Villa-Lobos disc, along with a concert video of Le petit boeuf de plombe.

You can buy Brzezińska-Mauer's Villa-Lobos: Piano Music at Amazon.com.