This LP is from 1977, in the Stereo/Quadrophonic (SQ) sound system that never really caught on commercially, though judging from our LP collection there were plenty of SQ-compatible albums sold in the 70s and 80s. I'm by no means an super-audiophile; I prefer full, warm, lifelike recordings, but can't be bothered with the pursuit of perfect high-fidelity. For me the details of this ultimately dead-end technology are boring, but if you want to learn more, Wikipedia has you covered. I wonder if anyone today has a working SQ decoding system to play these LPs.
Luckily, the technology was fully compatible with ordinary stereo, so we can hear two remarkable musicians and a wonderful orchestra play one of Villa's greatest works, and a second piece that's just plain fun.
Villa-Lobos wrote quite a few works for piano and orchestra. There are five numbered Concertos, which are all of interest, especially the First and Fifth, but all are easily outstripped by two masterworks from Villa's two great unconventional series. The Eleventh Choros, from 1926, is a big work for piano and orchestra; it's one of his best compositions. And the Third Bachianas Brasileiras, written in 1938, is perhaps just as good; it's a sprawling piece with as fine a balance of the Bachian and the Brazilian as any work in the series.
Until fairly recently, Villa-Lobos's orchestral music wasn't often recorded by world-class orchestras and famous conductors. It's so good to have Vladimir Ashkenazy here, conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra. On the other hand, there have always been lots of Villa-Lobos recordings by very fine pianists, especially from Brazil (Nelson Freire, Sonia Rubinsky, Robert Szidon, João Carlos Martins, Guiomar Novaes, among others). Christina Ortiz is in the top tier of that group; this Bahia-born pianist is a perfect interpreter of this music. These two good-looking young musicians - Ortiz was 27 when this was recorded, & Ashkenazy was 40 - are captured in a nice portrait by photographer Clive Barda on the cover of our LP.
Meanwhile, the Momoprecoce, a Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, is a flashy, tuneful celebration of the Brazilian Carnival. It's a version of Villa's Carnaval das crianças brasileiras, written for solo piano in Paris in 1920, adapted for piano and orchestra in 1930 back in Rio de Janeiro. I expect this album turned on a lot of people to Villa-Lobos back in the late 1970s; it's a wonderful album.
