Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires

Orchestras are becoming more adventurous when it comes to programming Villa-Lobos works. It's not just about the Guitar Concerto, a couple of the Bachianas Brasileiras, and the Saxophone Fantasia any more.

Two great Villa-Lobos conductors, Enrique Arturo Diemecke and John Neschling, will be conducting some really interesting works with the Filarmónica de Buenos Aires this season.

Neschling has included Choros #06 in the program of his May 14, 2009 concert (along with Camargo Guarnieri's Encantamiento, and works by Haydn and Sibelius). Of course, Neschling is quite an expert on the Choros series, with his amazing recordings on the BIS label.

Diemecke, who is the Music Director in Buenos Aires, has included two works that are very rare in concert: Uirapuru on July 2, and The Discovery of Brazil on August 6.

[Photo: Miguel Micciche - OFBA. Archivo fotográfico del Teatro Colón]

Last Night of the Proms

Every year I check to see if there are any Villa-Lobos works included in the Proms concerts, and I'm usually disappointed. But yesterday's Proms announcement includes three works on the schedule for 2009: Bachianas Brasileiras #5 with soprano Ailish Tynan and the VL arrangements for cello orchestra of Bach preludes & fugues, in Concert #16 (August 31st); and Choros #10 on the Last Night of the Proms (September 12th). What a great work for the Last Night - I think the crowd will enjoy it!

Photo by Neil Rickards of last year's Last Night, from the Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons licence). Let's see some Brazilian flags this year!

Villa-Lobos Worldwide 2009

Brazilian pianist Marcelo Bratke will be a busy guy in 2009. He's announced a major project to take place during the Ano Villa-Lobos (celebrating the 50th anniversary of Villa's death), "Villa-Lobos Worldwide 2009". The project will include concerts in London, Frankfurt, Berlin, Brussels and Belgrade (modeled after the very successful "Villa-Lobos Event" in New York). As well, Bratke will launch his 2008 DVD Alma Brasileira, start a workshop series "Villa-Lobos para as Crianças do Mundo" (VL for the Children of the World), and film a TV documentary on the life of Villa-Lobos.

If that weren't enough, Bratke will be starting to record an 8-CD series of the complete piano music of Villa-Lobos.

The Villa-Lobos boom continues!

[Marcelo Bratke photo by Romulo Fialdini]

A Samba for Sherlock concluded

Last week I wrote a post about Jô Soares' funny novel A Samba for Sherlock, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro in 1886, the year before Villa-Lobos was born.

I finally got a chance to finish this very entertaining work, full of farce and vivid details about life in the capital of the Brazilian empire. I was disappointed that Soares didn't mention Villa's father, Raul Villa-Lobos, especially since there was a perfect opportunity. Sherlock Holmes chases the unknown villain through the National Library, but loses him due to some digestive problems. It would have been neat to have the librarian Raul poking his head out of an office to see what the commotion was. [The picture below of the National Library, built in 1876, is from the Wikimedia Commons; it's by Jeff Belmonte, and falls under a Creative Commons license.]


In any case, Soares is very much aware of the musical life of the time. Ernesto Nazareth (who Villa-Lobos called "Alma Brasileira", the Soul of Brazil) makes an appearance in the novel, as do the Cuban violinist & composer José Silvestre White Lafitte, and the Brazilian composer & publisher Arthur Napoleão dos Santos. As well, it turns out that Sherlock Holmes' very first visit to the opera was the premiere of Carlos Gomes' Il Guarany, at La Scala, on May 1870).

This is highly recommended for Sherlock Holmes fans (if you don't take offence at the good humoured ribbing of the great detective and his Doctor friend), and especially for its fanciful depiction of the final days of the empire. Just don't believe everything you read!

Marian Anderson & Villa-Lobos

In this week's issue of The New Yorker, Alex Ross writes about Marian Anderson's Easter Sunday 1939 concert on The Mall in Washington DC, on the 70th Anniversary of this important event.

The year before, Anderson met Villa-Lobos in Rio de Janeiro. The two hit it off, and Villa gave the great singer the above arrangement of 'Cantilena', which is in the Penn Library (the second page of the song is also included on the fascinating Penn Library site). The composer later wrote one of his great songs, Poema de Itabira, for Marian Anderson, and dedicated it to her.

Allan Keiler, in Marian Anderson: a singer's journey (University of Illinois Press, 2002), continues the story:

"She was struggling to learn the Poema do Itabira, a difficult work both rhythmically and melodically, for solo voice and orchestra by Villa-Lobos, which she was scheduled to perform at a pair of concerts with Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony in December [1954]. Set to a Portuguese text by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, the Poema protrays the emotionally desperate feelings of de Andrade's characters, orchestrated so as to conjure up the starkness of the desert of Itabira. Anderson had met Villa-Lobos during the war while on a tour of South America. It was with Anderson's voice in mind that Villa-Lobos had composed the Poema several years later, dedicateing the work to Anderson. Never having sung it before, she wanted badly to satisfy the composer." (p. 268)

There doesn't seem to be a surviving recording of Marian Anderson signging this work. Indeed, I've never come across it on CD. Baritone Renato Mismetti gives an impressive performance of the work (in the voice & piano version, with Maximiliano de Brito providing the accompaniment) on this video.

And the Survey Says...

A new article in the Jornal Cruzeiro do Sul (Sorocaba in the State of Sao Paulo) reports that a survey undertaken by the Escritório Central de Arrecadação e Distribuição - Ecad (which Google translates as the Central Office of Collection and Distribution) found that the most popular works of Villa-Lobos in Brazil in the last five years were:

1. Bachianas Brasileiras #2
2. Bachianas Brasileiras #5
3. Melodia Sentimental
4. Bachianas Brasileiras #4
5. Valsa da Dor

These are really interesting results. A look at the database of world-wide Villa-Lobos Concerts from the past ten years shows a somewhat different story:

1. Bachianas Brasileiras #5 (139 performances)
2. Bachianas Brasileiras #4 (72)
3. Assobio a Jato (The Jet Whistle) (49)
4. Fantasia for Saxophone (44)
   
5. Bachianas Brasileiras #9 (43)
6. Bachianas Brasileiras #2 (43)
7. Bachianas Brasileiras #1 (39)
8. Bachianas Brasileiras #6 (35)
   
9. Choros #05 (33)
10. Choros #02 (32)
11. Choros #01 (30)
12. Preludes for Guitar (29)
    

One of the problems that comes up in counting Villa-Lobos performances is that the popular guitar works (Choros #01, the Preludes, the Etudes, the Suite Popular Bresilienne) are often not included in the program listings (there are 49 concerts and recitals in the database with only "Works for Guitar"). You only need to look at Villa-Lobos videos on YouTube to see how often these works are played.

In any case, we're in the middle of a major renaissance in both Brazilian and world-wide interest in the music of Villa-Lobos.

Tweeting Villa-Lobos

Villa-Lobos comes to Twitter: check out Tweeting Villa-Lobos.

A Samba for Sherlock

I'm reading the first novel by the Brazilian author Jô Soares called A Samba for Sherlock (the original title was O Xangô de Baker Street - a "Xangô" is an African spirit, and also the title of one of Villa-Lobos's greatest songs). The book, published in 1998, is an amusing pastiche that takes place in Rio de Janeiro in the year 1886 (one year before Villa-Lobos was born). The main characters are the Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro, the great detective Sherlock Holmes, his companion Dr. Watson, and the world's greatest (and most beautiful) actress, Sarah Bernhardt [pictured below in a photo from the Wikimedia Commons].


As a Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson fan, I'm really enjoying this very amusing book (though both Englishmen are pretty mercilessly lampooned). The best part, though, is getting a feel for what it was like to be in Rio de Janeiro in the period.

One of the early highlights in the book was the appearance of the great Brazilian feminist and composer Chiquinha Gonzaga. She was born early enough to fight against slavery in Brazil (it was abolished in 1888), but lived long enough (1935) to be a major influence, friend and mentor to Villa-Lobos. She makes a strong impression in Soares' book. I'm waiting to see if Heitor's father Raul Villa-Lobos makes an appearance - he was a minor intellectual who worked at the National Library and got into some problems over national politics.

You might have some trouble tracking this book down. It's available new & used from some Amazon sellers in both the original hardcover and the Vintage paperback.

I'll update this post when I finish the book.

Aldo Parisot Celebration at Yale

Here's a major event: the great cellist Aldo Parisot celebrates 50 years as a member of the Yale School of Music Faculty with a concert featuring the Yale Cellos, on April 20th. Villa-Lobos wrote his second cello concerto for Parisot, who was closely involved in the details of its composition. The concert features the first and fifth Bachianas Brasileiras.

Last October I posted a story about Parisot and Villa-Lobos that somehow got side-tracked in a culinary direction.

Villa-Lobos on Cultura FM: April 2009

Here are Villa-Lobos performances upcoming on Cultura FM from Sao Paulo. Listen here on the Internet. Times are local Sao Paulo times, one hour ahead of EST.

April 2:
06:00 A ESCRITA DE CÂMARA - Solistas e pequenas formações:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Quarteto de cordas n° 6. Bernardo Bessler e Michel Bessler (violinos). Marie-Christine Springuel (viola). Alceu Reis (violoncelo). / Bela BARTOK - Quarteto de cordas n° 1 op. 7. Gabor Takacs-Nagy e Karoly Schranz (violinos). Gabor Ormai (viola). Andras Fejer (cello).

April 3:
06:00 A ESCRITA DE CÂMARA - Solistas e pequenas formações:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Quarteto de cordas n° 4 e n° 5. Bernardo Bessler e Michel Bessler (violinos). Marie-Christine Springuel (viola). Alceu Reis (violoncelo). / Luigi BOCCHERINI - Quarteto de cordas n° 1 op. 32. Jaap Schroder e Alda Stuurop (violinos). Wiel Peeters (viola). Wouter Moeller (violoncello).

April 4:
06:00 A ESCRITA DE CÂMARA - Solistas e pequenas formações:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Quarteto n° 12 e n° 13. Bernardo Bessler e Michel Bessler (violinos). Marie-Christine Springuel (viola). Alceu Reis (violoncelo). / Carl Maria Von WEBER - Sonata op. 10,1 e Sonata op. 10,2 . Aurele Nicolet (flauta). Bruno Canino (piano).

April 7:
23:00 NOTURNO - Musica Romântica na Cultura FM:
Joaquín TURINA - Oração do Toureiro, op. 34. Orquestra Cidade de Granada. Reg.: Juan de Udaeta. / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Estudos 1 a 7 Narciso Yepes (violão).

April 10:
15:00 TARDE CULTURA - Música e Notícia:
Entre outras obras, Rêverie, op. 24 de Alexander SCRIABIN. Orquestra Nacional Escocesa. Reg.: Neeme Järvi, Heitor VILLA-LOBOS, Concerto para violão e orquestra. Turíbio Santos (violão). Orquestra Sinfônica Rio. Reg.: Sílvio Barbato e Nino ROTA, Tema de "O Poderoso chefão". Orquestra Royal Philarmonic. Reg.: Carl Davis.

April 11:
06:00 A ESCRITA DE CÂMARA - Solistas e pequenas formações:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Quartetos de cordas n° 15, 16, 17. Bernardo Bessler e Michel Bessler (violinos). Marie-Christine Springuel (viola). Alceu Reis (violoncelo).

April 12:
06:00 A ESCRITA DE CAMARA- Solistas e pequenas formações:
Antonin DVORAK - Quarteto op. 106. Ludmila Vinecka e Claudio Cohen (violinos). Glesse Collet (viola). Guerra Vicente (violoncelo). / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Trio para oboe, clarineta e fagote. Matthew Sullivan (oboe). Joseph Stone (clarineta). Edwin Alexander (fagote).

April 15:
13:00 DELICATESSEN com Teresa Lima:
Franz SCHUBERT - Impromptu em lá bemol maior Op. 90. n° 4. Alicia de Larrocha (piano). / Nikolai MYASKOVSKY - Concerto para violoncelo em dó menor Op. 66. Marina Tarasova (violoncelo). Moscow New Opera Orchestra. Reg.: Yevgeny Samoilov. / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Elegia em lá menor. Marcio Carneiro (violoncelo). Werner Genuit (piano).

April 18:
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
Glauco VELASQUEZ - Brutto sogno. Belkiss Carneiro de Mendonça. / Claudio SANTORO - Pour Emma - Lied. José Eduardo Martins (piano). / ALMEIDA PRADO - Fantasia para violino e orquestra. Maria Contança de Almeida Prado (violino). Orquestra Filarmônica do Sudoeste da Alemanha. Dir.: Ricardo Rocha. / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Bachianas Brasileiras no. 7. Orquestra Filarmônica do Sudoeste da Alemanha. Dir.: Ricardo Rocha.

April 21:
23:00 NOTURNO - Música Romantica na Cultura FM:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Canção do Amor. Renée Fleming (soprano). Orquestra da Rádio de Moscou. Dir.: Alfred Heller.

April 26:
03:00 O OPUS SINFÔNICO:
Antonio ESTEVEZ - La Cantata Criolla. / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Choros n° 10. Orquestra Sinfônica Simon Bolívar da Venezuela. Dir. Eduardo Mata. / Cezar FRANCK - Les Eolides. Poeme sinfônico. Orquestra Filarmônica de New York. Dir. Kurt Masur. / Karol SZYMANOWSKI - Abertura em mi maior op. 12. Orquestra National de Warsaw. Dir. Witold Rowicki.

April 29:
15:00 TARDE CULTURA - Música e Notícia:
Entre outras obras, Piotr TCHAIKOVSKY, Variações sobre um tema Rococó, op. 33. Mstislav Rostropovich (violoncelo). Orquestra Filarmônica de Berlim. Reg.: Herbert von Karajan, Heitor VILLA-LOBOS, Choros n°1. Edelton Gloeden (violão). Antonin DVORÁK, Scherzo Capriccioso, op. 66. Orquestra Philharmonia. Reg.: Carlo Maria Giuglini.

Distribuiçao de flores at Music Mountain

On August 12, 2007, Eugenia Zukerman and David Starobin performed Villa-Lobos's Distribuiçao de flores, as part of a Music Mountain concert featuring the Bergonzi String Quartet. You can listen to the entire concert at the Instant Encore site. The excellent program notes are here.

Thanks to Alex Ross' recent post in The Rest is Noise for the head's-up on the great audio & video available from Instant Encore.

Villa-Lobos Documentary Film Translation

Thanks to Bruno Mano, we have a transcription and English translation for the YouTube portion of the Villa-Lobos documentary film I recently posted. The film and Bruno's translation are here, at the Villa-Lobos Website.

Here's one of the best bits, from Villa's friend and brother-in-law:

Villa Lobos had a liking for the monumental: his cigars were the biggest in the world, the television that he bought in the US looked like a cinema screen. When he learned to drive an automobile, the car he bought was a Dodge, with twelve seats, a presidential car.

Second Música Académica Latinoamericana in Mendoza

The second Música Académica Latinoamericana festival is being held right now at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. One of the headliners is the pianist and Villa-Lobos scholar Luiz De Moura Castro; another is guitarist Isabel Siewers. Both play concerts focussing on Villa-Lobos in this Ano VL.

The highlight of the festival is the final concert, with conductor Ricardo Rocha conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica and the Coro de Niños y Jóvenes of UNCuyo, with cellist Matías Villafañe. Featured will be three fairly rare works: the Nonetto, Choros #06, and the Fantasia for Cello & Orchestra, which seems to be in vogue right now in concert.

La Guitare Brésilienne Contemporaine: Label Kuarup 1977-2004

A new complation disc from the late, lamented Kuarup company, as seen at French Amazon:


La Guitare Brésilienne Contemporaine: Label Kuarup 1977-2004.

Orquestra Sinfônica de Brasília in 2009

The 2009 programme of Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional Cláudio Santoro de Brasília is as impressive as any I've seen when it comes to interesting Villa-Lobos repertoire. It includes these works:

April 7 with conductor Emilio de Cesar: Choros #02, 03, 04, and 07, along with the Nonetto
April 14 with conductor Ira Levin: Bachianas Brasileiras #2
April 21 with conductor Ira Levin: BB#2 and #7
June 2 with conductor Abel Rocha: Fantasia em forma de Choros
October 27 with conductor Roberto Tibiriçá: Choros #09
November 10 (conductor TBA): Bachianas Brasileiras #1, #6, and #5 (with soprano Denise Tavares)

The highlights here are the rare Nonetto and Choros #09, and especially the Fantasia em Três Movimentos (in the form of choros). This is the first performance I've come across in my concerts database on the HVL Website. It would be great if this concert could be recorded, since I've never heard of any recordings of this work for "wind orchestra" from 1958.

The complete programme is here, at Concerto's excellent website.

Antonio Nóbrega's Melodia Sentimental

"Melodia Sentimental" by Antonio Nóbrega - from the DVD "Nove De Frevereiro".



This is amazing dancing, but I also love the big-band arrangement of the music.

Choral version of BB#1

Villa-Lobos wrote two versions of Bachianas Brasileiras #9: for a capella mixed chorus and for strings. Roberto Martins has adapted the 2nd movement - Preludio (Modinha) - of the first Bachianas Brasileiras for choir and organ, and it sounds great. The very impressive Coral Municipal de Santos performs this work under Martins' direction at the "Villa-Lobos Week" in Santos.

I have the feeling that this arrangement may end up being very popular with chamber choirs around the world.

Accordian Quintet Plays BB#5 Aria

The Acco-Team quintet from Lithuania plays this (un)surprisingly adaptable piece.

Changes in the OSESP Season

There are major changes in this year's programme of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, as John Neschling is replaced by Yan Pascal Tortelier.

Unfortunately, the November 5-7 performances of the very rare Choros #09 are gone, though they are replaced by three performances of Bachianas Brasileiras #7 later in the month.

Theatro Municipal

Two architecture posts in a row! I was reminded by this story in O Globo that this is the Centennial year of the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, which was inaugurated in July 1909. This beautiful building, inspired by Charles Garnier's Paris Opera House, was the scene of many premieres of Villa-Lobos's works.

A second O Globo story features the Theatro Municipal in São Paulo. This building, inaugurated in 1911, was another important building in the life of Villa-Lobos. It was the scene of the 1922 Semana de Arte Moderna. Both theatres are featured in The World of Villa-Lobos, a map of important places in the life of the composer.

Villa-Lobos Week in Santos

The city of Santos in the state of São Paulo was founded in 1546, and has grown to become one of the most important cities in Brazil. One of its most important buildings, the 1882 Teatro Guarany, had become nothing more than a ruin until a major restoration completed last month.

This is what the the Teatro Guarany looked like before:


And here it is today:



The brand-new Teatro will be the scene of a week-long celebration of the music of Villa-Lobos: the Semana Villa-Lobos. Starting with a choral concert on Villa's birthday, March 5th, the week's highlights include a solo piano concert with Antonio Eduardo Santos, two chamber music concerts, and a performance by the massed guitars of the Camerata de Violões Heitor Villa-Lobos.

The week ends on March 10, with a performance at the Teatro Coliseu of Bachianas Brasileiras #2 and #7 by the Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de Santos under the direction of Luis Gustavo Petri.

Thanks to the following photographers:
Depto. Imprensa - Prefeitura Municipal de Santos
Anderson Bianchi
Tadeu Nascimento/Prefeitura Municipal de Santos

Villa-Lobos on Cultura FM: March 2009

Here are Villa-Lobos performances upcoming on Cultura FM from Sao Paulo. Listen here on the Internet. Times are local Sao Paulo times, one hour ahead of EST.

March 1:
23:00 NOTURNO - musica romântica na cultura FM:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Quatuor. Lontano. Dir. Odaline de La Martinez./ Charles KOECHLIN - Primavera. Quinteto. Philippe Racine (flauta). Xênia Schindler (harpa). Robert Zimansky (violino). Monika Clemann (viola). Curdin Coray (cello). / Piotr TCHAIKOVSKY - Canção de ninar opus 16 no. 1 Jorge Bolet (piano)./ MENDELLSOHN - Scherzo de Sonhos de uma Noite de Verão./ Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH - Elegia. Quarteto de Cordas Fitzwilliam.

March 3:
15:00 TARDE CULTURA - Música e Notícia:
Entre outras obras, Pequena Suíte de Heitor VILLA-LOBOS. Rebecca Rust (viloncelo). David Apter (piano). Fantasia para violino e harpa op.124 de Camille SAINT-SAËNS. Renaud Capuçon (violino). Marie-Pierre Langlamet (harpa) e Concerto para piano, violino, violoncelo op. 56 de Ludwig van BEETHOVEN. Martha Argerich (piano). Renaud Capuçon (violino). Mischa Maisky (violoncelo). Orquestra della Svizzera Italiana. Reg.: Alaxandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky.

March 4:
13:00 DELICATESSEN com Teresa Lima:
Percy GRAINGER - Irish Tune from County Derry. Orquestra Sinfônica de Saint Louis. Reg.: Leonard Slatkin. / Louis SPOHR - Quarteto duplo n° 4 em sol menor. Op. 136. Conjunto de Câmara da Academy of St. Martin-in-the-fields. / Antonio SALIERI - Concerto para pianoforte em dó maior. Andreas Staier (pianoforte). Concerto Köln. / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Concerto para violão e Pequena Orquestra. Turíbio Santos (violão). Orquestra de Câmara Brasileira. Reg.: Bernardo Bessler.

March 7:
09:00 O PRAZER DA MÚSICA com Marcelo Jaffè:
O Violoncelo de Antonio Meneses. Felix MENDELSSOHN - Sonata n.2 em Ré Maior op.58. Antonio Meneses (violoncelo), Gerard Wyss (piano). / Bohuslav MARTINU - Sonata n.3 para violoncelo e piano. Antonio Meneses (violoncelo), Celina Szrvinsk (piano). / Heitor VILLA LOBOS - Ária da Bachianas Brasileiras n.5 . Antonio Meneses (violoncelo), Celina Szrvinsk (piano).
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - A lenda do caboclo. / Ondulando. / Quinteto em forma de choros. Sonia Rubinsky (piano). / Jaime ZENAMON - Fantasias. Matias de Oliveira Pinto (violoncelo). Jaime Zenamon (violão). / Radamés GNATTALI - Brasiliana n°8. Sérgio&Odair Assad (violões). / César GUERRA PEIXE - Quatro coisas para piano e harmônica de boca. Rildo Hora (harmônica). Ruth Serrão. (piano).

March 14:
08:00 QUATRO ESTAÇÕES - A Música ocidental em épocas e estilos:
O BARROCO: Georg Philipp Telemann, (1681 - 1767) - Concerto para trompete em ré maior. Solista: Ole Edvard Antonsen (trompete). Orquestra de Câmara Inglesa. Reg.: Jeffrey Tate./ O CLASSICISMO: Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, (1739 - 1799) - Sinfonia em ré maior. Movimentos: Orquestra de Câmara Oradea. Reg.: Miron Ratiu. / O ROMANTISMO: Giacomo Puccini, (1858 - 1924) - Intermezzo do ópera Manon Lescaut. Orquestra Filarmonia. Reg.: Giuseppe Sinopoli./ O SÉCULO XX: Heitor Villa - Lobos, (1887 - 1959) - Concerto para violão e pequena orquestra. Turíbio Santos (violão). Orquestra de Câmara Brasileira. Reg.: Bernardo Bessler.
09:00 O PRAZER DA MÚSICA com Marcelo Jaffè:
Heitor VILLA LOBOS - Impressões Seresteiras. Eduardo Monteiro (piano). /
Heitor VILLA LOBOS - Bachianas Brasileiras n.4. Cristina Ortiz (piano). / HEITOR VILLA LOBOS - Choros n.10 ; BBC Singers, New World Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas. / Heitor VILLA LOBOS - Quarteto de Cordas n.5. Quarteto LatinoAmericano.
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
César GUERRA PEIXE - Valsa no. 3. Midori Maeshiro (piano). / Sergio ASSAD- Três Divertimentos. Aliéksey Vianna (violão). / Edmundo VILLANI CÔRTES - Águas claras. / Luz. Ricardo Amado (violino). Flávio Augusto (piano). / José Alberto KAPLAN - Sonata para trompete e piano. Nailson Simões (trompete). José Henrique Martins (piano). / Luís COSME - Mãe d´água canta. / Oração à Teiniaguá. / Brincando de pegar. Marcelo Guerchfeld (violino), Maly Weissemblum (piano). / Waldyr AZEVEDO - Pedacinhos do céu. Nikolaj Znaider (violino). Emmanuel Pahud (flauta). Alex Klein (oboé). Larry Combs (clarinete). Robert Bassinger (contrabaixo). Cyro Baptista (percussão). Daniel Barenboim (piano). / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Suíte popular brasileira. Sérgio&Odair Assad (violões).

March 17:
13:00 DELICATESSEN com Teresa Lima:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Três Cirandas. Pro Arte Guitar Trio. / Johann Sebastian BACH - Sonata n° 5 em fá menor BWV 1018. Péter Csaba (violino). Zoltán Kocsis (piano). / Robert SCHUMANN - Concerto para violoncelo e orquestra em lá menor Op. 129. Christophe Coin (violoncelo). Orquestra de Champs Elysées. Reg,: Philippe Herreweghe.

March 21:
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
Mário TAVARES - Quinteto para instrumentos de sopro. Quinteto Villa Lobos. / Heitor VILLA LOBOS - Assobio a jato. William Bennet (flauta). Charles Tunnel (violoncelo). / Glauco VELÁSQUEZ - Devaneio "sobre as ondas". Roberto Szidon (piano). / Radamés GNATTALI - Sonatina coreográfica. Aída e Radamés Gnattali (pianos). / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - New York Skyline. Orques

March 26:
06:00 A ESCRITA DE CÂMARA - Solistas e pequenas formações:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Trio n° 3 para cordas e piano. Artistrio: Yara Bernette (piano). Ayrton Pinto (violino). Antonio del Claro (violoncelo). / Quarteto para cordas n° 15. Bernardo Bessler e Michel Bessler (violinos). Marie-Christine Springuel (viola). Alceu Reis (violoncelo).
13:00 DELICATESSEN com Teresa Lima:
Johann Sebastian BACH - Suite n° 3 em ré maior BWV 1068. Akademie für alte musik Berlin. / Reinhold GLIERE - Concerto para harpa e orquestra Op. 74. Rachel Masters (harpa). City of London Sinfonia. Reg.: Richard Hickox. / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Fantasia para saxofone e orquestra. Paulo Moura (saxofone). Orquestra de Câmara Brasileira. Reg.: Bernardo Bessler. / Heinrich Ignaz Franz von BIBER - The Nativity. John Holloway (violino). Davitt Moroney (órgão de câmara). Tragicomédia.

March 27:
06:00 A ESCRITA DE CÂMARA - Solistas e pequenas formações:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Trio n° 1 para cordas e piano. Artistrio: Yara Bernette (piano). Ayrton Pinto (violino). Antonio del Claro (violoncelo). / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Quarteto para cordas n° 16. Bernardo Bessler e Michel Bessler (violinos). Marie-Christine Springuel (viola). Alceu Reis (violoncelo). / Henri VIEUXTEMPS - Reverie op.22. Para violino e piano. Philippe Koch (violino). Luc Devos (piano).

March 28:
06:00 A ESCRITA DE CÂMARA - Solistas e pequenas formações:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Quarteto para cordas n° 17. Bernardo Bessler e Michel Bessler (violinos). Marie-Christine Springuel (viola). Alceu Reis (violoncelo). / Henri VIEUXTEMPS - Ballade et Polonaise op. 38. Romances sans parole op. 8. Romance sans parole op. 7. Philippe Koch (violino). Luc Devos (piano).
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
Alberto NEPOMUCENO - Série Brasileira. Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional. Dir.: Ligia Amadio. / Francisco BRAGA - Episódio Sinfônico. Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de Campinas. Dir.: Benito Juarez. / Cesar CAMARGO MARIANO - Cristal. Yo-Yo MA (violoncelo). César Camargo Mariano (piano). / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - A lenda do caboclo. / Sérgio ASSAD - Menino. Yo-Yo MA (violoncelo). Duo Assad. / Tom JOBIM - Lenda. Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo. Dir.: Roberto Minczuk.

March 31:
06:00 A ESCRITA DE CÂMARA - Solistas e pequenas formações:
Pavel HAAS - Quarteto n° 2. Ronan Lefkowizt e Si-Jing Huang (violinos). Mark Ludwig (viola). Sato Knudsen (violoncelo). / Heitor VILLA- LOBOS - Quarteto n° 13. Bernardo Bessler e Michel Bessler (violinos). Marie-Christine Springuel (viola). Alceu Reis (violoncelo).

From the amazing book Brasil, 1920-1950: da antropofagia a Brasília : MAB-FAAP Museu de Arte Brasileira, 30 novembro 2002 a 02 março 2003, by Jorge Schwartz, this series of photos of Villa-Lobos by Manossolfa, taken in the 1930s. The original prints are in the Museu Villa-Lobos.

This book may be hard to find - you'll need to scour used bookstores and schmooz with interlibrary loan staff at your library. In the meantime, go to Google Books for a view.

Without the Atomic Bomb

This is a Villa-Lobos fragment from 1948 entitled "O Trambolho do Mundo (Sem a Bomba Atômica)". The picture - originally from the Arquivo Historico do Rio Grande do Sul - is reproduced on the back of the liner notes of the CD Musica em torno do Modernismo, from the amazing Caixa Modernista book/kit published by Editora UFMG, Sao Paulo, in 2003.

The subtitle means "Without the Atomic Bomb" - a nice dream in 1948 as it is today. I'm not at all sure what Trambolho means - Google translate doesn't seem to know, and I can't make head or tail of the word in various Portuguese language websites.

You wait here - I'll get help!

My friend Wellington Müller Bujokas to the rescue:

This is a hard word to translate, though the meaning is quite simple. I found the following translations in a dictionary: clog; (fig.) hindrance, impediment, burden; bunch (of keys), but I guess the better is to explain. Trambolho is an object that is big, useless and quite troublesome. Think that there's a huge old washing machine in the center of your living room that neither works nor ever will again, and that is there just because there's no other place to put it. For making it worse, you always stumble in its cable. For sure, you'll call it a trambolho. It's a very informal word and it sounds a little awkward, but it's not vulgar.

Thanks for the help, Wellington!

Tribute to Villa-Lobos at the New England Conservatory

The March 1st concert at the New England Conservatory includes a number of interesting items. First of all, for those of you in the Boston area who missed the two performances last week of the 2nd Cello Concerto by Andres Diaz and the Symphony Pro Musica, you'll have another chance on the first, at Jordan Hall. As well, there are lots of other works to be heard, among them Choros #01, Bachianas #5, and, according to the NEC press release, "several choral pieces that [NEC Preparatory School pianist Tatyana] Dudochkin found in the Villa-Lobos Museum that have never been published."

Dia da Música Clássica on Rádio MEC FM

The Dia Nacional da Música Clássica is coming soon; it's March 5th, which is Villa-Lobos's birthday.

This year, Rádio MEC FM will be celebrating by broadcasting live for three hours, direct from the Museu Villa-Lobos. Thanks to the Portal VivaMúsica website for this information. Listen here, on Thursday, March 5th, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Rio de Janeiro time, which is UTC minus 3 hours. That's 7 to 10 a.m. MST here in Red Deer.

Villa-Lobos Around the World

I'm adding Villa-Lobos concerts this year at a faster rate than I ever have. As usual, they come from all around the world. Here are the most popular places (out of 550 separate locations) for concerts from 1999 to 2010:

Rio de Janeiro - 191
São Paulo - 77
New York - 35
Paris - 19
London - 19
Berlin - 13
Belo Horizonte - 12
Porto - 11
Boston - 11
Montreal - 10
Richmond VA - 9
Vancouver - 8
Curitiba - 8
Los Angeles - 7
Washington DC - 7

From Croydon to Red Deer to Ho Chi Minh City, everyone is playing and listening to Villa-Lobos! If there's a concert I've missed, let me know.

Theme Country: Brazil

Each year the Casa da Música in Porto, Portugal names a Theme Country for its musical program. This year it's Brazil, and in the Ano Villa-Lobos, there's lots of music by Villa-Lobos. There are rarities like the orchestral version of New York Skyline, the Fantasia for Cello & Orchestra (which surely deserves much more exposure, especially played by António Meneses), Uirapuru, Choros #06 & #09 (on the same programme!), and the choral version of BB#9. Along with three other Bachianas Brasileiras (#2, #4, and #5), and some chamber works, the Orquestra Nacional do Porto does well by Villa-Lobos this year!

Villa-Lobos & Tom Jobim in Nagoya

Here's a cool story from Jornal IPC (a portal for news from Japan in Portuguese and Spanish): pianist Marcelo Bratke presents Villa-Lobos and Tom Jobim to school children in Nagoya.

Anthropophagism

"A cannibalism scene, by Montanus: signed on year 374 of Bishop Sardinha’s murder, in allusion to the practice of cannibalism, which seduced chronic writers and voyagers of past centuries, the Anthropophagic Manifesto proposes the devouring, without guilt, of all assets of the European civilization." (12.5 x 16 cm) engraving, 1671 from the Map collection of the Ministry of External Relations.

This from the Ministry's excellent Art and Culture website, Anthropophagism, by Walnice Nogueira Galvão. The Anthropophagic Manifesto by Oswald de Andrade (1890-1954) was a key document of Brazilian Modernism, and helped Villa-Lobos to develop his aesthetic of modernism, "indianism", and nationalism. Oswald de Andrade is a key member of the group who arranged the Semana de Arte Moderna in Sao Paulo in 1922; Villa-Lobos was the most important musical participant.

"I asked a man what Law was. He told me it was the guarantee of the practice of the possible. This man was called Galli Matias. I ate him (...)"

It all happened 87 years ago: February 11th to the 18th. In the early 1920s Villa-Lobos was busy devouring, without guilt, all the avant-garde music of Paris. Is Villa the most guilt-free of composers?

The Instruments of Ruda

In 1951 Villa-Lobos wrote one of his very strong late-period orchestral works, a ballet score written for La Scala called Ruda, subtitled The God of Love. There's only one recording of this work that I know of, the 1996 Marco Polo disc that includes Ruda and the Sixth Symphony, played by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Roberto Duarte.

In the last few days I've really been enjoying reading Villa-Lobos reviews in the brand-new Gramophone Archive. The reviews written by Lionel Salter from the 1950s through to the late 1990s are especially insightful. Reading a bunch of these reviews in a row is like a critical master class in the music of Villa-Lobos; Salter really knows his stuff. That's especially impressive when you consider the lack of context Salter had available in the earlier years: today's reference works, recordings, and scores weren't available at the time. Salter would have been lucky to have heard three of the symphonies in the late 1990s; we can now easily listen to all of the surviving works, and a few in multiple recordings.

As it happens, L.S.'s review of the Marco Polo disc is quite negative regarding the Sixth Symphony. But he absolutely loves Ruda. The "God of Love" theme, according to Salter,

"... was right up Villa-Lobos's street, affording him boundless opportunities for compulsive rhythms, misterioso passages, lushly lyric episodes (there is one in the Inca movement and another, somewhat Ravelian, for the Mayas), exotic melodic lines and, in places, wonderfully original instrumentation."

At this point in the review Salter has an interesting aside: "I believe the score includes a part for the Sonovox, but I was unable to detect it in the general melee."

Villa-Lobos's interest in out-of-the-way and especially in new technology instruments is well known. I've written about Villa's early use of the prepared piano, and, in Amazonas (1917), the use of the violinophone and the sarrusophone. The score for Ruda (the autograph of which is in the Museu Villa-Lobos) includes a part for the "solovox".

What is the solovox? Might it be the Hammond Solovox which according to this site was manufactured starting in 1940? This early electronic instrument is shown in this picture: "The Hammond Solovox consisted of a keyboard and a "tone cabinet" (speaker/amplifier/tone generator)."


Or is Villa-Lobos writing for a Sonovox, an electrified "talk box" which amplified the sounds made from a pickup placed right on the throat. Think about the sounds from 1940s Disney films: the "All Aboard! Let's Go!" sound in the Casey Jr. segment from Dumbo, and the interesting sounds in The Reluctant Dragon (both from 1941).



This is an interesting possibility, since at the time Villa-Lobos was hanging out with Disney's animators who were in Brazil working on their Good Neighbor masterpieces Saludos Amigos (1942) and The Three Caballeros (1944). At the same time, Walt himself was considering the Little Train of the Caipira movement of Bachianas Brasileiras as a scene in 1940's Fantasia - a fascinating might-have-been. Is Villa-Lobos picking up new techology tips from Hollywood?

A peek at the Ruda score would help; I'll listen very carefully to Ruda with headphones to see if I can hear anything myself. Go to this page on Ruda for more about this interesting work.

Symphony Pro Musica

Symphony Pro Musica has been performing in MetroWest Boston for 25 years. Their March 14 and March 15 concerts include two major Villa-Lobos works that are finally breaking through into concert programmes around the world.

The 2nd Cello Concerto is a late work, written in 1953 for Aldo Parisot. Like the other commissioned concertos from this period (for Harmonica, Harp, and Guitar, at least, if not all of those for piano), this work is very strong: accessible and completely typical.

Dawn in the Tropical Forest (Alvorada Na Floresta Tropical) was written in the following year, on commission from the Louisville Orchestra. This work and the other tone poems and ballets represent the third most important group of Villa's orchestral works, after the Choros and Bachianas Brasileiras, and before the Symphonies. It's great to see them programmed by American orchestras in this Ano Villa-Lobos.

Nuts about Music in Brazil

Thanks to the brand-new, and very amazing, Gramophone Archive site, I can link to the full-text of the January 2007 article "Nuts about Music in Brazil", by Phillip Clark. With John Neschling unexpectedly gone, it's sad to read about the "swift rise of an orchestra poised to join the A-list."

Neschling is interesting, and insightful, when it comes to Villa-Lobos:

"He was a giant personality who gained tremendous power.... People have often mistaken his innovative orchestration for bad orchestration. It's like cutting thick hair; you really have to get inside to find where all the strands lead. Sometimes it's necessary to rethink his dynamics, but the soundworld is really like no other."

The Gramophone Archive really is something. Naturally, my first impulse was to search for "Villa-Lobos". The result was 1058 hits, which isn't that many when you consider that each review from 1920 to the present is included in this great resource. It's actually really close to one mention per issue: the archive opened with 1023 issues!

Did I mention it was free? Kudos to this great magazine for opening up this information to the world!

Villa-Lobos in the Weirdest Places

The first in a (perhaps) ongoing series. This is from the Brazilian mini-series Hoje é Dia de Maria, and features Rodrigo Santoro and Letícia Sabatella. There's probably a reason that guy is in a cage...

Oh, right, the song. It's from Forest of the Amazon.

One last thought: Baz Luhrmann could remake this with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

Another controversy in Brazil

Following on the heels of the John Neschling dismissal from Osesp comes news of the cancellation of Fabio Zanon's long-running Cultura FM series “O Violão Brasileiro” - The Brazilian Guitar. This is really unfortunate, since there were important shows still to come in Zanon's series.

The entire series is archived at the VIOLÃO com Fábio Zanon blog. A large subset (#14-115) is in MP3 here. This includes #53 Heitor Villa-Lobos, and #55 Heitor Villa-Lobos II. Other individual shows - including #130 Heitor Villa-Lobos III - are available in 64K Windows Media format, which sound fine but won't, of course, play on my iPhone or iPod.

Even if you can't understand Zanon's commentary, you can learn something about Villa's guitar music just by looking at his playlist selection. When he features the Preludes in #55, for example, he chooses Andrès Segovia for #1 and #3, and Julian Bream for #2, #4, and #5. The Etudes are divided between Marcelo Kayath, Manuel Barrueco, Everton Gloeden, Paulo Pedrassoli, and Fábio Zanon himself. And, of course, the music speaks for itself. The blog helpfully adds timings for each item in the shows' playlists.

Too bad about the budget-cutting at Rádio Cultura FM de São Paulo. When considering Zanon's and Neschlings' recent problems, some might look back to Villa-Lobos's many fights and bad feelings with the cultural establishment in Brazil. But I don't know enough about the issues to weigh in on the controversy itself. I'm just glad that these 160 shows are still available to listen to on the web.

Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais

Brazilian orchestras are now announcing their 2009 season programs. The Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte has a full slate of Villa-Lobos works coming up in the Ano Villa-Lobos, including:

• Bachianas Brasileiras #7 in March
• Bachianas Brasileiras #9 in June
• A Floresta do Amazonas in July
  
• Bachianas Brasileiras #3 (with Cristina Ortiz) and Choros #06 in August
• The Guitar Concerto (with Fabio Zanon) in September
• Uirapuru in November

That's a pretty good cross-section of Villa-Lobos's greatest music, with some world class soloists under the direction of Isaac Karabtchevsky, Ira Levin, and Music Director Fabio Mechetti.

Carmen Miranda Centennial

Daniella Thompson reminds us that 2009 - the Ano Villa-Lobos - is also Carmen Miranda's Centennial year. The actual date is Monday, February 9. It's interesting that her father José Maria Pinto Cunha was born in 1887 - the same year as Villa-Lobos.

So maybe Villa looked at Carmen Miranda as a daughter; certainly his admiration for her was boundless:

"Carmen Miranda carried her country in her luggage, and taught people who had no idea of our existence to adore our music and our rhythm. Brazil will always have an unpayable debt to Carmen Miranda."

- Villa Lobos, quoted in "Carmen Miranda: The High Price of Fame & Bananas," in Latina Legacies: Identity, Biography, and Community, Vicki L. Ruiz, p. 193.

Lots of websites out there about Carmen Miranda, but your best bet is to pop a DVD in the player, and enjoy!

OSB in 2009

The Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira website now has the 2009 Season up, and it's clear that Music Director Roberto Minczuk (above) is taking the Ano Villa-Lobos very seriously. There are a couple of very important concerts to highlight, with works very rarely performed.

Gênesis is the featured work at three concerts from April 3, 4, and 5, and Amazonas is on the bill on the 22nd and 23rd of May. Other Villa-Lobos works this year include BB#8 and Momoprecoce with pianist Jose Feghali.

There's more information at the really excellent OSB website.

Villa-Lobos Documentary footage

This is really amazing - 10 minutes from a documentary on Villa-Lobos, with some great footage of Villa-Lobos home movies. Even though I can't understand the bulk of what's being said, it's nice to see Villa on video with Mindinha and other friends. Villa is as charming and self-confident as one imagined - I don't think I've ever seen someone as comfortable with himself and his world.

Nice also to see the late Anna Stella Schic, and Walter Burle Marx, Marlos Nobre, Turibio Santos, and Cesar Guerra Peixa. Also, it's great to see and hear Pixinguinha's choroes play "Cardinhoso".

Valentine's Day Guitar at Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves

O vinho é coisa santa
Que nasce da cepa torta
A uns faz perder o tino
A outros errar a porta

Quando o vinho desce
As palavras sobem

As a former wine professional, I'm always on the look-out for a wine connection with Villa-Lobos. Here's one, and a romantic one at that: a Valentine's Day guitar concert with Eric Symons at the Gloria Ferrer Champagne Cellars in Sonoma.

[Don't miss Eric's comment, below.]

The Portuguese toast above is a traditional one. Here's the translation:

Wine is a holy thing
Born from the crooked grapevine
It makes some lose their mind
It makes others miss their door

When wine goes down
Words climb up

Words and music... Thanks to this cool exchange on the Wordreference forum for this.

Villa-Lobos on Cultura FM: February 2009

Here are Villa-Lobos performances upcoming on Cultura FM from Sao Paulo. Listen here on the Internet. Times are local Sao Paulo times, one hour ahead of EST. Check out the live concert from the OSESP on the 14th.

February 7, 2009
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
Choros de Heitor VILLA-LOBOS.

February 12, 2009
13:00 DELICATESSEN com Kika Leoi:
Percy GRAINGER - Jutish Medley. Marc-André Hamelin (piano). / Benjamin GODARD - Sonata para violoncelo e piano em ré menor Op.104. Mats Lidström (violoncelo). Bengt Forsberg (piano). / Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Choros n°1: Roland Dyens (violão). Ensemble Instrumental Jean-Walter Audoli. Reg.: Jean-Walter Audoli. / Johann Heinrich SCHMELZER - Sonata unarum fidium IV. Romanesca.

February 14, 2009
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
Choros de Heitor VILLA-LOBOS.

February 19, 2009
13:00 DELICATESSEN com Kika Leoi:
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS - Três Cirandas. Pro Arte Guitar Trio. / Johann Sebastian BACH - Sonata n°5 em Fá menor BWV 1018. Péter Csaba (violino). Zoltán Kocsis (piano). / Robert SCHUMANN - Concerto para violino e orquestra em lá menor Op.129. Christophe Coin (violoncelo). Orquestra de Champs Elysées. Reg,: Philippe Herreweghe.

February 21, 2009
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
Choros de Heitor VILLA-LOBOS.

February 25, 2009
15:00 TARDE CULTURA - Música e Notícia com Sérgio Roberto Ribeiro:
Entre outras obras, de Heitor VILLA LOBOS, Bachianas n.6 com Antonio Carrasqueira (flauta), Aloísio Fagerlande (fagote), de Nino ROTA, Concerto para Cordas. I Musici e de Francesco GEMINIANI, Concerto Grosso em sol menor, op. 3 n° 2. Academia de Música Antiga de Cambridge. Dir.: Christopher Hogwood.

February 28, 2009
10:00 CIRANDA - Academia Brasileira de Música:
Choros de Heitor VILLA-LOBOS.

More from Osesp

I updated the last of my recent posts on the departure of John Neschling from the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (Osesp) with a new Comment, but there's enough meat in the new story to justify another post.

This story from Veja São Paulo lets us know that Yan Pascal Tortelier has replaced Neschling at the head of the orchestra (as both conductor and music director). The story talks about Tortelier's very strong resume, leading the BBC Philharmonic and as principle guest conductor in Pittsburgh.

But there are also less positive comments, including this from Le Monde's Alain Lompech:

"Neschling fez reviver obras essenciais do patrimônio musical brasileiro.... Tortelier não tem esse conhecimento, e, neste momento cultural do país, dar continuidade ao trabalho de memória é crucial."

Google-translated, that's

"Neschling was essential to revive works Brazilian musical heritage.... Tortelier has no such knowledge, and now the country's cultural, continuing the work of memory is crucial."

On the other hand, there have been very positive comments about Tortelier - including from Osesp musicians, who complained of bad treatment from Neschling. I've seen lots of stories like this about bad feelings after a conductor leaves (or a hockey player is traded), and they all seem to follow a similar pattern.

This entire controversy is probably more about live concerts in Brazil than about recordings. There is no question that Neschlings' recent recordings with Osesp for BIS are absolutely first-rate: easily the best Choros series. So it's a bit disappointing to see that

"Duas gravações de CDs de Neschling à frente da Osesp marcadas para este mês com a gravadora sueca Bis foram adiadas e ainda não têm data para acontecer." - ("Two CDs of recordings of Neschling ahead of Osesp scheduled for this month with the Swedish label Bis were postponed and not have time to happen.")

I'm not sure if that means that upcoming recordings for BIS were cancelled, or if the upcoming release of previously recorded discs was postponed. I'm hoping for the latter. There are plenty of under-recorded orchestral gems out there that need the full BIS-Neschling-Osesp treatment.

News about Villa-Lobos Scores

This story in the Brazilian magazine Concerto by Ricardo Tacuchian (the composer who is also the current president of the Academia Brasileira de Música) came to my attention thanks to my friend Wellington Müller Bujokas:

http://www.concerto.com.br/contraponto.asp?id=148

Here is Wellington's translation:

“The Brazilian Academy of Music (ABM) has conquered, in 2008, a great victory for the national culture. Many of Villa-Lobos’ works were attached to publishing contracts with Max Eschig. Some of these editions presented mistakes or were hired in bad-quality handwritten copies. This fact discouraged some artists and orchestras to program the master’s works. Furthermore, the Brazilian performer, in order to program Villa-Lobos’ music, depended on the hire charged by the foreign publisher which had no interest in doing new editions. Through its copyright bureau, ABM has gotten an agreement with the French publisher, benefiting both parts.

"ABM will offer, gratuitously to the publisher, new editions revised by the greatest authorities and specialist in the composer’s work. Due to their musicological rigor and graphical quality, these editions will substitute the old ones. On the other hand, ABM will acquire performance rights for the whole Latin America.

"This agreement, currently, covers a partial number of Villa-Lobos’ works, but it will be expanded in so far as we rise resources to edit all the pieces that were contracted by the author during his life. This way, we will encourage the diffusion of Villa-Lobos’ work, collecting 100% of copyrights of performances in the Latin America and reducing the cost of purchase and hire in Brazil. As if it was not enough, we will get back for our nation an invaluable spiritual heritage. We hope we will be able, in the next year, to inform that new pieces of the carioca composer will be in this program of recovering of our cultural inheritance, including also
the American publishing houses that own the referred copyright. We are currently working for this.

"We must emphasize that, independently of the project above, ABM’s Bank of Scores keeps its project of editing all the works by Villa-Lobos that were not yielded to commercial publishers. This is the case of the Forest of Amazon, whose copyright for the whole world belongs integrally to ABM and that is turning out to be a champion of live performances and recordings.”

Thanks, Wellington, for your work on this. We've heard rumours of this coming, but it seems to be a more comprehensive project than I had thought.

The copyright situation is complicated by the fact that in 2010, the music of Villa-Lobos goes into the public domain in those countries (Canada being one; Portugal is another) who use the death +50 years rule. There is lots more on music copyright issues at the Internet Music Score Library Project.

Anna Stella Schic

Sad news from France: the pianist and scholar Anna Stella Schic has died in Paris at the age of 83. Schic, who was a close friend of Villa-Lobos and Mindinha during their stay in Paris in the 1950s, leaves two important Villa-Lobos projects. The first is her book Villa-Lobos: Souvenirs d'un Indien blanc, and the second is her landmark recording of the complete piano music of Villa-Lobos.

This is really, really cool: the Carnaval de Campos do Jordão yesterday announced the theme for this year's Carnaval street day on February 24th. In this Ano Villa-Lobos, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Villa's death, the theme will be the works of Villa-Lobos. Six Samba Schools will be in the parade this year, each with a special Villa-Lobos theme:

• Jardim Márcia - “Uma homenagem a Villa-Lobos”
• Jardim Imperial - “Uirapuru”
• Vila Santo Antônio - “Bachianas”
• Bloco dos Artistas (Vila Britânia) - “Choro”
• Acadêmicos do Britador - “Amazônia Fauna”
• Vai-Vai da Mantiqueira (Monte Carlo) - “O Trenzinho do Caipira”

I can't think what a comparable popular culture event in Europe would be to celebrate this year's Haydn or Schumann anniversaries.

More information at the Guiacampos website.

Antropofagia Musical

In connection with their new exhibit of art by the great Brazilian modernist painter Tarsila do Amaral, the Fundación Juan March in Madrid is presenting an important musical series entitled "Antropofagia Musical: Tres conciertos con motivo de la exposición Tarsila do Amaral." The three concerts take place on February 6, 11 and 18, 2009.

Oswald de Andrade was, with Tarsila do Amaral and others, a founder of the Brazilian modernist movement. His 1928 Manifesto Antropófago (Cannibal Manifesto) set out the major themes of the modernist agenda. The connection between de Andrade and Villa-Lobos was the latter's involvement in the Semana de Arte Moderna in Sao Paulo in 1923. Villa's modernism, forged in Paris in the 1920s, was the musical highlight of the week, and the performances of his music were the cause of much controversy. Controversy, of course, is the manifesto-writer's dearest wish.

The Antropofagia Musical series thus provides Villa-Lobos pride of place in the programs of the three concerts. On February 6, the featured works are Quinteto en forma de chôros (1928) and Chôros nº 3 (1925 - dedicated to Tarsila do Amaral). Three Villa-Lobos works are included in the February 11th concert, including the late Quintet instrumental (1957). The final concert on February 18th includes various vocal and solo piano works including Suite floral, portions of which were actually played (to the consternation of some audience members) during the Semana.

One of the great things about this series is that those of us outside of Madrid will have a chance to hear these concerts. They're being broadcast live on Radio Clásica, from Radio Nacional de España.

Both of the the excellent but short Wikipedia articles on Oswald de Andrade and Tarsila do Amaral feature a portrait of the former by the latter, noting that the image is copyrighted and unlicensed. Rather than posting it here, I will direct you to the superb site Tarsila do Amaral, which includes a large gallery of images, and lots of background and history relating to this great artist's work.

Instead I offer this image of a poster from February 17, 1922 (87 years before the upcoming series in Madrid) from the Semana de Arte. This is copyright Museu Villa-Lobos, who incidentally allow all of their images to be reproduced for non-commercial use, provided credit is given to the Museum.

John Neschling's Departure

There's more fall-out from the announcement of John Neschling's departure from the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (Osesp). French critic Alain Lompech from Le Monde provides an absolute rave review of Neschling's legacy as conductor and (especially) as music director in São Paulo, comparing his orchestral development to that of George Szell in Cleveland and Simon Rattle in Birmingham. He concludes:

Daqui a 20 anos, daqui a 50 anos, o nome de John Neschling será conhecido como o de um músico que realizou um trabalho excepcional no Brasil, o mais excepcional desde Villa-Lobos.

If I understand this correctly, Lompech guesses that in the future when one thinks of musical development in Brazil, Neschling's name will come only after Villa-Lobos's. That is high praise indeed!

Villa-Lobos on the web: the dark side

Most of my connections as the "antenna of the Villa-Lobos blogosphere" (see the previous post) are very positive. I might find out about an awesome new recording of Villa's music, or another endearing anecdote from his life.

But every once in a while I come across a less than flattering reference to Villa-Lobos. In this case it's a whole series of less than flattering references, from Leandro Vieira's blog. His recent references to Villa-Lobos are here (and the Google machine translations into English, here).

Here's a representative sample, referring to Bachianas Brasileiras #5, a piece normally greeted with awe and adoration:

Oh coisa feia.
Vocálise insuportável.

or, according to Google Translate:

Oh ugly thing.
Vocálise unbearable.

All this is in the context of "A música erudita brasileira é um desastre" ("Brazilian classical music is a disaster"). Recently there have been some posts where Vieira responds to his predictably angry commenters who stick up for Villa-Lobos, a national icon as well as a composer.

Google Translate can give you a sense of a blog post in Portuguese, but I suspect that all the subtlety is missing. I get the feeling that Vieira's posts might have a mocking sub-text, but the first casualty of machine translation is probably humour. At the very least, he seems to be deliberately provocative, especially since he's launched his strongest missives into the blogosphere during the Ano Villa-Lobos. Considering Villa's rapidly rising reputation, both in Brazil and around the world, Vieira is rowing against the current. And in Brazil, the current of the Amazon is strong!

I'll keep an eye on this site!

Audições Brasileiras - blog-clipping

I had this comment posted yesterday:

Carlos Eduardo Amaral said...

Hi, Dean. I noticed today that my blog is in your list. Thank you for the kindness and I'm free for whatever you want to know here in Brazil (particularly in North-Eastern Region).

Best Regards.

Carlos's blog is Audições Brasileiras - blog-clipping. You can see the latest post from this exceptional resource in the right-hand column, under the heading "My Blog List". For someone like me with hardly any Portuguese language skills, it's great to have a single source for the latest news about classical music in Brazil.

Complimentary loops are are a staple of the blogging world, so I'll quote one of Carlos's posts about my own blog here:

"O blog do canadense Dean Frey é o mais antenado da blogosfera no que se refere a Villa-Lobos."

Cuarteto Degani plays Villa-Lobos's First Quartet

The Spanish string quartet Cuarteto Degani plays the second movement of String Quartet #1:



Links to the other movements are at the Cuarteto Degani's website.

Cello Concerto #1

The first cello concerto was written in 1913 (or 1915 - there's some confusion about this). Here is a fairly old performance by William Molina Cestari. Enrique Arturo Diemecke conducts the Orquesta Sinfónica "Simón Bolívar". This performance at the Teatro Teresa Carreño, Sala Rios Reyna, is from 27-06-1995.

Here are the other video files: part II, part III, part IV.

New String Quartet recording

This brand new CD from the Quarteto Radamés Gnattali includes Villa-Lobos's sixth string quartet, and quartets by Gnattali, Santoro, and Guarnieri. I first heard about this disc last June, when there was a notice of a concert and CD launch in Sao Paulo. I'll go looking on the web for an online source to buy this CD, published by Selo Radio MEC.

Changes at Osesp

This somewhat puzzling news comes from Brazil: John Neschling is leaving his post as artistic director of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (Osesp). Neschling has been one of the top Villa-Lobos stars on CD in the past few years, especially with his complete Choros series on BIS. Orchestra politics, as always, are a mystery to me. Let's hope, though, that the orchestra's future is as positive as its last 12 years has been under Neschling's leadership.

If you're in São Paulo later this year, check out Neschling & Osesp's performances of the rarely performed Choros #09.

Dia Nacional da Música Clássica

Brazilian president Lula da Silva once again declares March 5 National Classical Music Day:

Presidência da República
Casa Civil
Subchefia para Assuntos Jurídicos
DECRETO DE 13 DE JANEIRO DE 2009.

Institui o Dia Nacional da Música Clássica.

O PRESIDENTE DA REPÚBLICA, no uso da atribuição que lhe confere o art. 84, inciso VI, alínea “a”, da Constituição,

DECRETA:
Art. 1o Fica instituído o dia 5 de março como o Dia Nacional da Música Clássica.
Art. 2o Este Decreto entra em vigor na data de sua publicação.
Brasília, 13 de janeiro de 2009; 188o da Independência e 121o da República.

LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA
Alfredo Manevy de Pereira Mendes

March 5th is, of course, Villa-Lobos's birthday.

A 1956 portrait of the composer from Studio Harcourt in Paris, from Europeana, the digital library of the European community. © Ministère de la Culture - Médiathèque du Patrimoine, Dist. RMN - Studio Harcourt.

Broadcasts from Danish & Canadian Radio

Set your alarm for these broadcasts on BBC Radio 3's Euroclassic Notturno:

26 January 2009
05:00AM
Villa-Lobos, Heitor (1887-1959)
Kyrie and Gloria from 'Missa São Sebastião'
Danish National Girls Choir, Michael Bojesen (conductor) [recorded on 28th March 2004 at the Holmen Church, Copenhagen]
DKDR

30 January 2009
05:26AM
Villa-Lobos, Heitor (1887-1959)
Bachiana brasileira no.5 vers. for soprano & cellos [1. Aria (Cantilena); 2. Dansa (Martelo)]
Isabel Bayrakdarian (soprano), Bryan Epperson, Maurizio Baccante, Roman Borys, Simon Fryer, David Hetherington, Roberta Jansen, Paul Widner, Thomas Wiebe, Winona Zelenka (cellos) [recorded at the Glenn Gould Studio CBC centre, Toronto in September 2001]
CACBC

Or better yet, you'll be able to listen on the BBC iPlayer for 7 days after the broadcasts.

100 Greatest Musicans in Brazil

I've seen more than a few online discussions of this Rolling Stone Brasil cover story about Brazil's 100 greatest musicians, and though I miss a lot when I Google-translate the Portuguese, it's clear that music-mad Brazilians take this kind of thing pretty seriously. Here's the complete list from an excellent music blog I've recently discovered - Vermute com Amendoim (great name: "Vermouth with Peanuts").

Tom Jobim: #1 - no problem there. But here's the rub: Heitor Villa-Lobos clocks in at #23. Some angst about that in Brazil's blogosphere!

But no matter how they're ordered, this list demonstrates the greatness of Brazil as a musical country.

O Trenzinho do Caipira

O Trenzinho do Caipira: Projeto Villa-Lobos is a children's theatre project "para Crianças de Todas as Idades" - for children of all ages. Check out their blog for pictures, video, and stories about their many awards.

Choros #10 on New Year's Eve

From a gala New Year's Eve concert with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, John Neschling conducts Choros #10.



Part II is here.

VL Concerts in 2009

I came across this story at the Audições Brasileiras blog; it's by Irineu Franco Perpetuo, from Folha de S.Paulo. It's about the 2009 celebrations connected to the 50th anniversary of Villa-Lobos's death. It mentions Friday's concert by Luis Carlos de Moura Castro in Rio, and many others around the world, from now to December. Watch out for new concerts at the Villa-Lobos Concerts Calendar. I'll make sure all of the concerts in this article are there; there's bound to be something coming soon to a concert or recital venue near you. It promises to be another banner year.

Besides the concerts, some publishing projects are highlighted, including new DVDs from Marcelo Bratke and the Sinfônica do Teatro da Paz in Belém. Also a new book by guitarist Fabio Zanon "Folha Explica Villa-Lobos", and a four-volume anthology of "Guia Prático" from the Academia Brasileira de Música.

Wayne Shorter's Alegria

Wayne Shorter's 2003 Grammy Award-winning jazz album Alegria includes my favourite arrangement (by Robert Sadin) of Bachianas Brasileiras #5 (my second favourite is Branford Marsalis's version on his Romances for Saxophone album). I wanted to feature this amazing album, since I've been listening to it lately, and also reading Michelle Mercer's excellent 2007 book Footprints: the life and work of Wayne Shorter. Mercer has this to say about the Bachianas performance:

On his version of the Heitor Villa-Lobos composition "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5" a plucked cello chorus and layered Brazilian rhythms combined into a luxurious Baroque. Wayne's practice sessions with Coltrane on string exercises paid off in his saxophone solo, the tone of which showed an uncanny empathy for the cellos' delicate strength; like his work with Milton Nascimento, the Brazilian piece brought out Wayne's romantic side.

(p. 266). Mercer points out at another place in the book that Milton Nascimento's mother was a musician who played with Villa-Lobos - I'm not sure in what context, but I'll see if I can find out. I'm also anxious to listen again to Shorter's collaboration with Nascimento (1974's Native Dancer, for example).

Very highly recommended music, and book.

Wayne Shorter has another Villa-Lobos connection, that came to the fore last month with his (Wayne Shorter Quartet) concert in Los Angeles with the Imani Winds (which celebrated Shorter's 75th birthday). Read this review in Variety, and this one in the LA Times.

String Quartet video

From a concert in Kiel last November, here's the (audio from the) Matrix Quartett playing the 5th movement (Melancholia) from Villa's First String Quartet.



The Matrix Quartett's website is here.