New Choros Series

Here's an exciting new series coming on CD, from BIS: it will include all of the Choros series, and will feature musicians from Brazil.



The first disc, due to be released March 3rd, includes a great selection from this amazing series: #5 for piano (with Cristina Ortiz), #7 for winds, violin & cello, and #11 for piano (Ortiz) and orchestra (the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Neschling). The CD # is BIS CD440. This CD hasn't showed up on Amazon.com yet (I'll add a link here when it does), but you can pre-order it at Presto Classical in the UK.

The recently completed BIS Bachianas Brasileiras series also features Brazilian artists: #1+#4+#5+#6, #7+#8+#9, and #2+#3+#4. The São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) plays the orchestral works in this series as well, though the conductor in this series is Roberto Minczuk.

This is an encouraging trend in the world of classical music CDs: complete series (and often with a choice of more than one series) of Villa-Lobos's greatest works (Choros, BB, the piano music, the string quartets) and the not-so-great but still interesting (Symphonies), with excellent performers on enterprising labels (Naxos, BIS, cpo).

Explore on Amazon.com: Villa-Lobos Choros

Thanks to Affonso Risi in São Paulo for the heads-up on this.

Cristina Ortiz and Choros #11

I added a new CD profile to a new section of the HVL Website. It's a favourite disc of mine: the Ondine recording of Choros #11. This piece is one of those big, sprawling orchestral works Villa was turning out in the mid- to late-20s, like the Choros 8, 9 and 10, (though #11 has a large piano part - it's pretty much a piano concerto). None of these works is well-known; all are very rarely performed or recorded.

I came across this entry in Cristina Ortiz's journal on her website. She played Choros #11 in Brazil in November 2005, and was planning to record it with BIS in the following February. Here's what she had to say about the work:

"When asked to learn Villa-Lobos’ Choros # 11, the only information I had was its length, all of 65 minutes! But the moment I read two or three of the most beautiful themes he ever wrote, my decision was made and I never flinched: the pleasure I would get from playing them, carried me all the way! "

These were the concerts in São Paulo:

17, 18, 19 November 2005, São Paulo, BrazilSala São PauloOrquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São PauloJohn Neschling, conductorCristina Ortiz, piano
VILLA-LOBOS "Chôros" no 11, for Piano and Orchestra

In any case, the BIS recording never seems to have happened. I will have to send off a query, and see if it's "in the can", waiting to be released. That would be cool.

In the meantime, there's a newly-released VL Chamber Music CD from Cristina Ortiz, which I will glom onto and write about real soon.