Sonia Rubinsky - Inspirations Orientales

For those of you who will be in Paris later this month, check out this concert by Sonia Rubinsky at the Musée d'art et d’histoire du Judaïsme. Rubinsky's complete set of Piano Music by Villa-Lobos is, of course, indispensable.

Villa-Lobos Artistic Excursion (Excursão Artistica Villa-Lobos), by Antônio Chechim Filho

The Excursão Artistica Villa-Lobos, which began in 1931, was one of the most important events in Villa's life. Along with a group of musician friends the composer performed at nearly 100 concerts in small towns in the states of São Paulo, Minas and Paraná.

Accompanying the group on this trip was Antônio Chechim Filho, a piano technician. His entertaining memoir has been translated by New Mexico-based pianist Fred Sturm. Fred has generously posted this important document (in PDF format) at the Piano Technicians Guild website.

Fred is an accomplished pianist who knows Villa-Lobos well. His album Brazilian Soul: The Piano Music of Villa-Lobos is recommended. Fred has been busy organizing a Villa-Lobos Festival: 4 events in Albuquerque to celebrate Villa-Lobos's 125th birthday.

Here is Fred playing Caixinha de Musica Quebrada, a great little piece that Villa-Lobos wrote during the Excursão:

Choros no10 with OSN-UFF, Ligia Amadio

There are a number of very high quality videos on the web of Choros no10, which is perhaps Villa's greatest work. This excerpt from the DVD Alma Brasileira features the Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional - UFF and the Coral Brasil Ensemble, conducted by Ligia Amadio. I haven't seen the DVD, but there is a CD of the concert available.

Tom e Villa

I love this album: "Tom e Villa". Antonio Carlos Jobim & Heitor Villa-Lobos play pool on the cover of this 1986 album by Gilson Peranzzetta (piano) and Arthur Maia (bass), sponsored by Coca-Cola in honour of the Villa-Lobos Centennial.

Yerma in Sao Paulo

Here are some scenes from last month's production of Magdalena at the Theatro Municipal in Sao Paulo.

Audio-visual presentation from the Museu Villa-Lobos

Museu Villa-Lobos Curator Nara Abud Tauile put together this 2-screen audio-visual presentation that makes great use of Villa-Lobos home movies, and the Bidu Sayão version of the Bachianas Brasileiras #5 Aria.

Feliz Aniversário Maestro!

In 1945 Villa-Lobos wrote the Canções de Cordialidade, 5 songs of celebration based on poems by Manuel de Bandeira. One of them is Feliz Aniversário, Happy Birthday, which is played by the Orquestra da Sociedade de Concertos Sinfônicos de São João del-Rei and sung by the audience (beginning at 1:20). It's cool that everyone seems to know the words.

Happy 125th Birthday, Villa-Lobos.

Happy Birthday Heitor!

This Google Doodle showed up on Google.com.br today, to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of Villa-Lobos’s birth on March 5, 1887.

Not an especially good likeness of the young (pre-cigar) composer. He's conducting the Uirapuru, the Amazon song-bird who is featured in Villa's early orchestral work of the same name. It is a pretty good likeness of the bird:

Villa-Lobos/Brandão at St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Every time I'm in London I try to get to one of the great lunchtime concerts at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, which date back to WWII and Dame Myra Hess. One concert last month featured the Italian pianist Vincenzo Delli Noci playing music by Villa-Lobos, Ponce, and Piazzolla.

Delli Noci chose really interesting Villa-Lobos works: the arrangements for piano of the 5 Preludes for Guitar by José Vieira Brandão. The Preludes are among the greatest works ever written for the guitar, and they work very well on the piano.

Here is the 4th Prelude from that concert:



Incidentally, for all you pianists out there, the Brandão arrangements of the Preludes are available in the compilation Heitor Villa-Lobos en dix-huit morceaux pour piano, from Di-Arezzo.

Radamés Gnattali String Quartet plays Villa-Lobos on DVD/Blu Ray

The Radamés Gnattali String Quartet play the first movement of Villa-Lobos's great 7th String Quartet. The Quartet will be releasing the first ever DVD/Blu Ray set of all of the 17 String Quartets, at 8pm on March 5th (Villa's birthday) in the Museu Villa-Lobos in Rio de Janeiro. The discs are released on the Visom Digital label and will be distributed by Biscoito Fino.

Rheingau Music Festival

I love it when I can bring my love of wine into my Villa-Lobos web work. I've always been a huge fan of German wine. Riesling is one of the world's greatest grapes, and the complicated universe of the German wine label really intrigues me.

Which brings me to the 2012 Rheingau Musik Festival, to be held from the 23rd of June to the 14th of December, in the home of some of Germany's finest wines. There are two concerts of special interest to Villa-Lobos fans:

• on August 5th, the Romero family of guitarists will play music by Villa-Lobos, Chapi, Granados, & Pepi Romero, in the Fürst-von-Metternich-Saal of Schloss Johannisberg 
• the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP) travels to Germany for a concert on August 18th in Kurhaus Wiesbaden. Marin Alsop conducts, and Nelson Freire will play Mômoprécoce for piano and orchestra 

Another Brazilian concert of note: classical & jazz pianist Eliane Elias will present her jazz quartet at a concert on August 1st, in the Kurpark, Bad Homburg. I love Elias's jazz - especially when she plays music by Tom Jobim - but she's also an accomplished classical pianist. Check out her EMI album On the Classical Side, which includes a number of works by her country-man Villa-Lobos.

It occurs to me that the great sweet wines of Germany have some similarities with the music of Villa-Lobos. They're both "over-ripe" in a technical sense, but they can both show power and delicacy at the same time. I have a bottle of 1976 Oppenheimer Sackträger Gewürztraminer Trockenbeerenauslese made by Hajo Guntrum in my cellar that I plan to drink soon. When I open it, I think I'll play this music by Heitor Villa-Lobos:

90th Anniversary of the Semana de Arte Moderna

Next month brings the 90th Anniversary of a seminal event in the cultural history of Brazil: the Semana de Arte Moderna, which was held in Sao Paulo's Theatro Municipal from the 13th to the 17th of February 1922. The music of Villa-Lobos was featured in a series of famous controversial concerts.

The Theatro Municipal will be the scene of some really interesting concerts celebrating this event. Pianist Caio Pagana will perform Carnaval das Criancas and the first book of the Guia pratico. Pablo Rossi will play Momoprecoce. And the 2010 Paris production of Magdalena will be revived with five performances.

Al Bustan Festival 2012: Music from Latin America

Latin American music is featured at the 2012 Al Bustan Festival, which takes place in Beirut from February 21st to March 25th.  The headliners include pianists Cristina Ortiz and Jose Feghali, conductor Alondra de la Parra, cellist Antonio Meneses, guitarists Sergio & Odair Assad, and the Cuarteto Latinoamericano.

Report from Paris, April 1930

From Le Ménestrel, April 11, 1930. Villa-Lobos was making quite a stir in Paris with these works, some of his best music from the 1920s.

New Marcelo Bratke CD

In 2010 Marcelo Bratke began his series of complete Villa-Lobos piano music on Quartz Music.  Here is the second volume.

As Irineu Franco Perpetuo notes in his liner notes, all of the works on this disc make specific reference to Brazil:

• Bachianas Brasilerias No 4
• A Lenda Do Caboclo
• Saudades Das Selvas Brasileiras
• Choros No 5 "Alma Brasileira"
• Ciclo Brasileiro

This disc is available at the Quartz Music site.  It hasn't shown up yet on Amazon.com, but is available at Amazon.co.uk.

Humberto Mauro's Sangue Mineiro

The Brazilian film-maker Humberto Mauro is best known for his 1937 film Descobrimento do Brasil, the score of which was written by Villa-Lobos. New to YouTube is this beautiful silent film Sangue Mineiro, from 1929, a restored print from BossaFilmes with an excellent soundtrack of music from the period.

Villa-Lobos's first String Quartet plays an important role in the score, as does his rarely-heard orchestral work Ruda: God of Love. The complete music credits are at 1:16:40; included are pieces by Mignone, Hekel Tavares, Camargo Guarnieri, Nazareth, and Guerra Peixe.

Villa-Lobos Top 10

In commemoration of the 52nd anniversary of Villa-Lobos's death, journalist Rui Agapito wrote this excellent article at ovale.com.br [English translation by Google]. I was really pleased that Rui asked me to come up with my favourite 10 pieces by Villa-Lobos. My choice:

1. Preludes for guitar
2. Choros #10
3. Nonetto
4. Quarteto simbolico
5. Bachianas Brasileiras #5
6. String Quartet #07
7. Prole do Bebê, book 1
8. Uirapuru
9. Floresta do Amazonas
10. Missa São Sebastião

What are your favourite 10 works by Villa?

Villa-Lobos for trumpet & orchestra

Here's a brand-new video from the 49th Festival Villa-Lobos taking place this month in Rio. This is a fabulous new arrangement of the Saxophone Fantasia for trumpet and orchestra, by Roberto Duarte.

Marcelo Rodolfo from the Museu Villa-Lobos says this about the new piece in an email:

According to Flávio Gabriel, the splendid trumpet player who accepted the challenge, this is the most difficult work he ever played in his life. But the result, as you'll hear is worth it. A lot!!! My expectation is that other trumpet players will be encouraged to meet this challenge, too. Strangely, Villa-Lobos never wrote a work for trumpet, even in chamber music, just some solos in orchestral parts.

This concert is from November 19th, and featured Orquestra Sinfônica de Barra Mansa, under the direction of Vantoil de Souza. Two other concerto arrangements are being premiered at this year's Festival: Cirandas das Sete Notas (for cello - originally for bassoon), and the Guitar Concerto (for harp).

I'm anxious to hear what you Villa-Lobos lovers think about this new take on a very familiar work.

Wilhem Latchoumia plays Impressões Seresteiras

Here's an interesting short film featuring a very talented pianist. This is from his 2008 Sony/BMG CD Impressões.

1930 Varese/Villa-Lobos Concert in Paris

Here is the notice in La Semaine a Paris of the March 14, 1930 concert in Paris with important performances of music by Edgard Varese (Octandre, Offrandres) and Villa-Lobos (Quinteto em forma de choros, Saudades das Selvas Brasileiras, Deux Choros Bis, Poeme de l'Enfant et Sa Mere, Cirandas, and Chansons typiques bresiliennes).

I don't know the music of Marcel Mihalovici, but he hung out with some very talented musicians.

Agenda VivaMúsica

The monthly magazine Agenda VivaMúsica is available on the web. This month's issue focuses on Villa-Lobos, with the highlight being the 49th Festival Villa-Lobos.

Danças Brasileiras from BIS

A new CD from BIS features the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) under the direction of Roberto Minczuk. It includes dances by Alberto Nepomuceno, Alexandre Levy, Francisco Mignone, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Oscar Lorenzo Fernández, Camargo Guarnieri, Edino Krieger, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Clóvis Pereira and César Guerra-Peixe. 

The Villa-Lobos piece is the Dança Frenética, written in 1919. This is the second recording of the piece; it's also on an old Marco Polo disc conducted by Roberto Duarte. The disc will be released on Amazon.com on November 22nd.

Maestro Minczuk spends part of the year in Rio de Janeiro as the Principal Conductor of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, but he's also the Music Director of the Calgary Philharmonic. I'm looking forward to making the 150km trip down Highway 2 from Red Deer to Calgary to see Minczuk conduct the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus in Choros #10, Villa-Lobos's greatest work, on December 3rd.

The Green Mansions Project

Alfred Heller is the founder and president of the Villa-Lobos Music Society of New York City. Alfred is a composer, conductor, and pianist, and, I'm pleased to say, a friend of mine.  It's great to see today's announcement of the Green Mansions Project. There's more information at the project website. I'm hoping I might be able to make it to New York for the October 1, 2012 Gala at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

49th Annual Festival Villa-Lobos

The 49th Annual Festival Villa-Lobos takes place in Rio de Janeiro from November 11 to November 27. Featured performers include soprano Rosana Lamosa, pianist Lúcia Barrenechea, the Quinteto Villa-Lobos, Art Metal Quinteto, Quarteto Radamés Gnattali, violinist Daniel Guedes, Trio Aquarius, Wagner Tiso, Naná Vasconcelos, Andre Mehmari & Hamilton de Holanda, guitarist Turibio Santos, and pianist Cristina Ortiz.

Two Modernists in Paris

Villa-Lobos and Edgard Varese met in Paris in 1929, and soon became best friends. I'll be adding some posts in the next few days about their interactions, and how two great modernist composers explored new musical ideas and new sounds together.

Here is a poster from an important concert at the Maison Gaveau Salle des Concerts on May 30th, 1927.  Opening and closing the concert were a couple of ground-breaking works: Amazonas, the 1917 ballet by Villa-Lobos, and Ameriques, a large-scale work written by Varese in 1918-21 and revised in 1927.

The Award-Winning Miloš Karadaglić Plays Villa-Lobos

Miloš Karadaglić, who recently won the Specialist Classical Chart Award and the Young Artist of the Year awards at the 2011 Gramophone Classical Music Awards, plays the first Villa-Lobos Prelude.

Villa-Lobos Trio Video

Here is a bit of the 1st Villa-Lobos Piano Trio by the Austria-based Villa-Lobos Trio (along with some beautiful Piazzolla and Zequinha de Abreu's great "Tico Tico no fuba"). The Villa-Lobos Trio was recently nominated for a Latin Grammy for their 2010 Oehms Classics CD.

Roberto Burle Marx: The Modernity of Landscape

A new book about the great modernist landscape architect and designer Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994) shows his versatility and originality. Roberto and his musician brother Walter were friends of Villa-Lobos. One of Roberto Burle Marx's Villa-Lobos legacies is the garden he designed in 1986 for the Museu Villa-Lobos.

Roberto Burle Marx also collaborated with the composer: in 1959 (the year of Villa's death) he worked on stage and costume designs for the ballet Zuimaluti, with music by Villa-Lobos, and a libretto by Mario de Andrade. I haven't been able to track down any references to this work other than the Burle Marx designs.  Zuimaluti isn't included in the latest version of Villa-Lobos: Sua Obra. Have any Villa-Lobos scholars out there heard of any surviving music from this project?

Burle Marx is an amazing artist; you can see many of his designs in this preview of the new book.

Alfred Heller on Villa-Lobos

My good friend Alfred Heller says all sorts of great things about Villa-Lobos in this short interview on Veja TV, including this: "Villa-Lobos is the most important composer since Beethoven."

Alfred Heller knew Villa-Lobos well during the last few years of the composer's life, when he acted as his assistant in New York in the late 1950s. Alfred's conducting and piano playing on a wide range of CDs has enriched the Villa-Lobos discography. Read his excellent article "The One-World Style of Villa-Lobos".

Two Villa-Lobos Discs Nominated for Latin Grammy Awards

Two Villa-Lobos discs have been nominated for Latin Grammy awards.  The excellent Delos CD from the Brazilian Guitar Quartet [pictured above] includes a wide variety of piano and chamber works arranged for four guitars by group member Tadeu do Amaral. You can listen to Track 14 from the disc at Soundcloud: it's one of Villa-Lobos's Cirandas, A procura de uma agulha (Hunting for a Needle).

The other disc is from the young Austrian ensemble the Villa-Lobos Trio: pianist Rosângela Antunes, violinist Florian Wilscher, and cellist Katrin Schickedanz. This fine Oehms Classics CD includes Villa-Lobos's early (1911) First Piano Trio, along with an arrangement by J. Bragato of Piazzolla's Las Cuatros Estaciones Portenas, and an interesting work by Lucio Bruno-Videla called Yumba Verwandlung. You can listen to the first movement of the Villa-Lobos Piano Trio at the VLT website.

Good luck to both groups!

A Arte de Villa-Lobos

In 2009 TV Cultura showed the documentary "A Arte de Villa-Lobos" on Programa Mosaicos. It's so nice to have the entire show, in 6 parts, on YouTube. There are lots of great bits in this first section: Anna Stella Schic playing the 2nd Piano Concerto in a 1979 concert, and an endorsement from Aaron Copland, who didn't often say nice things about Villa-Lobos:

"A passionate type of man. I don't know how he ever managed to get to sleep at night. He seemed to be so very much alive all the time: very spontaneous, easily combustible, you know, just very lively in the head. So it was fun to be with him."

Video: Portrait of Villa-Lobos in Rio

Portrait of Heitor Villa-Lobos in Rio by medicitv

This excerpt from a longer documentary on Villa-Lobos at Medici.TV includes one of the greatest of Villa-Lobos stories: the meeting in Rio between the young composer and the pianist Arthur Rubinstein.

Villa-Lobos at 8Tracks.com

From 8tracks.com, a mix of Popular Villa-Lobos, music by Villa-Lobos in jazz & MPB versions by Cyro Baptista, Egberto Gismonti, Rabo de Lagartixa. And a second mix: Villa-Lobos Chamber Music.

Tarsila do Amaral

Yesterday (September 1) was the 125th anniversary of the birth of Tarsila do Amaral. Born the year before Villa-Lobos, the great Brazilian painter was a friend of the composer's, and a participant with Villa-Lobos in the festivities during the Semana de Arte Moderna in Sao Paulo in 1923. Many of Tarsila's paintings show up on Villa-Lobos CDs. The painting above (Carnaval em Madureira, 1924), for example, is on the BIS set of the Complete Choros and Bachianas Brasileiras.

Villa-Lobos Digital Project at the ABM

Here's an exciting project from the Academia Brasileira da Música.

Villa-Lobos is considered the greatest Brazilian composer of all time and, undoubtedly, one of the world greatest geniuses of music in the twentieth century.  

A controversial artist, but widely respected and admired, his compositions are part of great artists’ repertoire and are performed in the most important concert halls around the world. His monumental orchestral work - which includes symphonic poems, concertos, ballets, symphonies, suites, operas, famous “Bachianas Brasileiras”, the “Choros”, the “Forest of the Amazon” and many others -, lacked a revised orchestral edition to do justice to what Villa-Lobos represents for the Brazilian and world culture. For a long time Dr. Marisa Gandelman (former attorney of the ABM - Brazilian Academy of Music) cherished the complex and difficult to achieve dream to transform this lack in reality.

Many performing rights of Villa-Lobos works belong to foreign publishers, especially Max Eschig, from Paris. The first and most difficult step was to obtain the permission of these companies to produce BAM own editions. The second step was to invite Sarau Agência de Cultura Brasileira, a renowned company in the cultural market, to develop a management and fundraising project required to achieve this goal. 

Therefore, the Digital Villa-Lobos project has as its main goal to provide Villa Lobos scores and orchestral material, in a high-level edition, stimulating and making possible the performance of Villa Lobos symphonic works.  

When we were invited to take the Project’s artistic direction we decided to create, under our presidency, a commission formed by academics Luther Robinson, Henrique Morelenbaum, Ricardo Tacuchian and Turibio Santos, to set the parameters of future issues and have the collaboration of professionals signing several works reviews.
Sarau's work bore fruit, the sponsorship came. Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, moved by the Project’s significance, was receptive to provide the necessary funds to the first part, that is the editing of the first fifteen works. Shortly after, the Consul Company aware of the importance of a better dissemination of Villa-Lobos works came to meet us to offer the sponsorship of another stage. The work began. There are still other important works to be edited. New sponsors are expected to honor and promote the one who was and still is the biggest name of Brazilian music.

Here are the scores to be published in the first stage of the project:

• Alvorada na Floresta Tropical
• Choros #06
• Momoprecoce
• Danca Frenetica
• Danca dos Mosquitos
• Introducao aos Choros
• Guitar Concerto
• Mandu-Sarrara
• Madona
• O Naufragio de Kleonicos
• Bachianas Brasileiras #9 (orchestral and choral versions)
• Symphony #06
• Fantasia for Cello and Orchestra
• Genesis
• Choros #10
• Choros #07
• Harp Concerto
• Magnificat-Alleluia
• Dancas Africanas
• Rudepoema (orchestral version)
• Amazonas

Yerma from Manaus

In April of 2010 Villa-Lobos's opera Yerma was performed at the famous Opera House in Manaus. The Amazonas Filarmônica is directed by Marcelo de Jesus, and the production is directed by Allex Aguilera.

Villa-Lobos: Uma Vida de Paixão Trailer

Here's a trailer for the outstanding film by Zelito Viana, Villa-Lobos: Uma Vide de Paixão (2000). The trailer-hype for this one is on the mark: "Passional, Exagerado, Revolucionario, Grandioso." Just like the composer himself.

Concert from the 2010 Festival Villa-Lobos

You can listen to a podcast of this concert from Radio MEC's program A Grande Música (June 18, 2011).

Festival Villa-Lobos: cantores

Obras do compositor interpretadas por Licio Bruno, Verushka Mainhardt, Jaime Vignoli, Nilze Carvalho e Maria Tereza Madeira

A apresentação de cantores populares e líricos no evento realizado no Espaço Tom Jobim, no Jardim Botânico, durante o Festival Villa-Lobos. Nesta edição, obras para canto de Villa-Lobos são interpretadas por cantores populares com acompanhamento fiel à partitura original, e por cantores clássicos com arranjos populares.

Seleção musical
Abrideira pro Villa – Jaime Vignoli
De Heitor Villa-Lobos:
Lundu da Marquesa de Santos – João Cavalcanti, voz
Viola Quebrada – Nilze Carvalho, voz
Canção do Poeta do Século XVIII – Veruschka Mainhard, soprano
Remeiro de S. Francisco – Lício Bruno, barítono
Canção da Folha Morta – Nilze Carvalho, voz
Modinha – Nilze Carvalho, voz
Saudades de Minha Vida – Veruschka Mainhard, soprano
Na Paz do Outono – Veruschka Mainhard, soprano
Redondilha – Lício Bruno, barítono
Serenata – Lício Bruno, barítono
Cantiga do Viúvo – João Cavalcanti, voz
Realejo – Maria Tereza Madeira; R. Alvim; Luis Barcelos; Nilze Carvalho
Ária – Veruschka Mainhard, soprano
Melodia Sentimental – J. Cavalcanti; N. Carvalho; V. Mainhard; L. Bruno

Song of the Uirapuru

I love listening to the Cambaxirra (mentioned in the second part of Bachianas Brasileiras #5). So I thought I'd post the song of the Uirapuru:


Uirapuru (Cyphorhinus arada VE-km67 19940712 S1 ATC) by Dean Frey

There are so many Creative Commons-licensed bird songs on the web now.  This one is by Allen T. Chartier, recorded in Venezuela, 12-07-1994, found at this great website. Here's a lovely picture of the "Musical Wren" ("Uirapuru" is the Portuguese name, based on the Tupi "wirapu 'ru").

This picture, in the public domain, is from the Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum. Volume 6, by John Gerrard Keulemans (1842–1912), and comes from the Wikipedia article.

And here, for comparison, is the first part of Villa-Lobos's ballet Uirapuru. This recording is by the OSMSP, conducted by Rodrigo de Carvalho.

Uirapuru, by Villa-Lobos (clip) by Dean Frey

Villa-Lobos the conductor

It's not often one reads about Villa-Lobos the conductor, except when he's conducting his own works. This report from Rio in the November 15, 1935 issue of the Paris music magazine Menestrel shows the range of Villa the conductor. It's not a surprise to see the music of his friend Florent Schmitt, and you can hear the influence of others in Villa's music from the 1930s: especially Ravel, and (obviously) Bach.

Projeto B plays Saudades das Selvas Brasileiras

From the album A Viagem de Villa-Lobos, Projeto B plays Villa's 1927 piece for piano, "Saudades das Selvas Brasileiras.

Saudades das Selvas Brasileiras nº 1 by Projeto B

Wow! James Ellroy likes Villa-Lobos!

 

Novelist James Ellroy was a big hit at FLIP 2011, the international literary festival in Paraty, a small city in Rio de Janeiro state. It seems, from this recent story on the Globo website, that Ellroy spoke a fair amount about music. He's a big fan of Beethoven, but he also, according to the video on the site, likes Villa-Lobos. The article: "James Ellroy diz admirar Heitor Villa-Lobos na Flip", or "James Ellroy expresses admiration for Villa-Lobos at FLIP."

This reminds me a bit of the Royal Couple's recent visit to The Calgary Stampede, where everyone was really pleased that the Prince & Princess wore the white Stetson hats they were given. Not that we're at all insecure in the New World.

"Listen," says Ellroy, "I'm in Brazil; I'm your guest. I'm going to say some good shit about your country."

Mandu Çarará

The Bierce Library at the University of Akron in Ohio holds the collections of Walter Burle Marx, the composer, conductor and close friend of Villa-Lobos. Thanks to librarian David Procházka for this scan of the first page of the score.

You can watch an excellent performance of this rare "secular cantata" at YouTube. Roberto Tibiriçá conducts the Sinfónica de la Juventud Venezolana "Simón Bolívar", the Sistema Nacional de Coros Sinfonicos (Zulia, Tachira, Merida y Metropolitano), and the Niños Cantores del Nucleo Los Teques, in a concert from Caracas from last January 30th.

Alberto Ginastera's Tribute to Villa-Lobos

One of Alberto Ginastera's best known piano works is his Preludios Americanos, op. 12, written in 1944. Included in the 12 characteristic pieces are homages to some composers he admired: Aaron Copland, Roberto Garcia Morillo, Juan Jose Castro, and Heitor Villa-Lobos.

You can listen to No. 11. Homenaje a Heitor Villa-Lobos, played by Fernando Viani, here at Amazon.com.

The Villa-Lobos Twitter Marathon

#HeitorADay is the hashtag for a new Villa-Lobos Twitter project of mine, based in part on the notoriously large output of the great Brazilian composer, and in part because the music is so great.  I'll be listening to a different Villa-Lobos piece every day, and tweeting about it. I'll keep track of all the tweets here and here. We'll see how long it takes to use up my pretty extensive Villa-Lobos music collection.

I'm in this for the long haul!  Feel free to listen and tweet along.

Tweets #1 to #32: June 30, and July 1-31, 2011
Tweets #33 to #62: August 2011 
Tweets #63 to #89: September 2011

#90 - October 1 - #BachADay & #HeitorADay Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1: Prelude 22, arranged for 8 cellos by Villa-Lobos, on a Yale Cellos disc @DelosMusic
#91 - October 2 - #HeitorADay Serestas - a collection of amazing songs written from 1923 to the early 40s - villalobos.ca/serestas
#92 - October 3 - #HeitorADay Saudades das Selvas Brasileiras, from 1927 - Fred Sturm video: youtube.com/watch?v=G6GgB
#93 - October 4 - #HeitorADay Choros #05 "Alma Brasileira" - villalobos.ca/choros05
#94 - October 5 - #HeitorADay Cirandas, 16 piano pieces based on children's songs - youtube.com/watch?v=0ihcwb…
#95 - October 6 - #HeitorADay Villa-Lobos Cor dulce, cor amabile, a late choral work. villalobos.ca/cor-dulce

Turibio Santos plays Introdução aos Choros

Here's an archival video of Turibio Santos playing the rare Introdução aos Choros, with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo directed by Diogo Pacheco. The Introduction to Choros is a "Symphonic Overture" to the Choros series, and includes themes from a number of Choros. Note that the first Choros, for solo guitar, is played immediately following the Introdução.

The video is undated; my guess, based on hairstyles, would be late 1970s.

The Emperor Jones

In 1956 the great choreographer José Limon commissioned Villa-Lobos to write a score for a ballet based on Eugene O'Neill's play The Emperor Jones. Above is video of the first 10 minutes of a CBC television broadcast with the Limon Dance Company, from March 13, 1957. The full performance is 23 minutes, and is available on DVD.

Earlier this month, the Limon Dance Company presented a revival of The Emperor Jones 25 years after its premiere. Here are excerpts from that production, in rehearsal at SUNY Purchase.

Ivan Pires's Music for Children

 

Here's an interesting concert program, especially considering the charity involved: Barnardo's Children's Charity. There's more information on this July 6 concert, at Westminster Cathedral Hall, here.

South of the Border with Disney

In 1942 Disney released the 30-minute film "South of the Border with Disney". There's a great clip of Villa-Lobos conducting a huge choir of school children at the Vasco da Gama stadium in Rio (at the 4 minute mark).

At one point Disney and Villa discussed including a "Little Train" segment for a sequel to Fantasia. Sadly, the project never worked out.

New Villa-Lobos Book from Germany

 

A new book has been released by the German publisher Max Brockhaus: the author is Cornelia Napp, and the title is „Personal representatives“ in musikverlegerischen Kulturbeziehungen. Die Vertretung von Heitor Villa-Lobos in den USA. Mit Zeittafel „Villa-Lobos in den USA 1947–1961“.

Villa spent a fair amount of time in the U.S. - mainly in New York - in the last 15 years of his life. He was busy with his Broadway show Magdalena, with guest conducting, and with various commissions, including those for the Philadelphia, Boston, and Louisville Symphonies.  This book covers these important stories from the point of view of Milton A. Peterson, who represented Villa-Lobos in many of these activities.

Go to the Max Brockhaus Musikverlag website for more information.  Here is the book's Table of Contents.

The Four Maestros

NOTE: I screwed up the caption of this excellent photo the first time around.  Thanks to Roberto for this corrected version:

Villa-Lobos and his famous cello in a group that includes Maestros Tabarin, Souza Lima and Franklin de Mattos.  This 1931 photo was taken at Hotel where Villa-Lobos was living at the time, in São Paulo. Franklin de Mattos, a great friend of Villa-Lobos is from Botucatu, one of the destinations of the Caravana Villa-Lobos, the road trip on the Trenzinho do Caipira that Villa led through the back-woods of Brazil. This photo is from a great website maintained by Prof. Roberto Vicençotto Ribas.  Lots of other great photos there.

Uirapuru from Madrid

I've been waiting for this to show up on YouTube. It's another part of a concert in San Lorenzo del Escorial from April 17, 2011, with Jordi Francés Sanjuán conducting JORCAM (Joven Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid). This is the 2nd half of the great early ballet score, Uirapuru. YouTube also has videos of Bachianas Brasileiras #8 from the same concert.  This is an excellent performance by these young musicians, and the HD version of the video is stunning.

Maria Lúcia Godoy Podcast

Soprano Maria Lúcia Godoy (b. 1929) is an outstanding singer of the generation after Bidu Sayão. She specialized in the music of Villa-Lobos; among her famous recordings are Bachianas Brasileiras #5, Forest of the Amazon, and Serestas.  You can listen to a podcast from the Radio MEC program A Música Clássica no Brasil, in which Godoy sings a selection of Serestas, and some traditional songs from Minas Gerais (she grew up in Belo Horizonte, and graduated from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais).

Dom, 27/02

A Arte de Maria Lúcia Godoy

A soprano brasileira interpreta tradicionais modinhas mineiras e composições de Heitor Villa-Lobos

"Cantares de Minas" (1985), álbum da cantora Maria Lúcia Godoy

A consagrada soprano Maria Lúcia Godoy nos oferece sua interpretação de algumas das mais tradicionais modinhas mineiras, reunidas no álbum Cantares de Minas. O programa apresenta ainda algumas das obras vocais, entre serestas e modinhas, de Heitor Villa-Lobos. Um repertório inteiramente adequado à voz da cantora. 

No programa
Seleção de modinhas mineiras  – Cantares de Minas
Seleção de modinhas e serestas de Heitor Villa-Lobos

Tribute to Arminda

Arminda Neves d'Almeida Villa-Lobos was Villa's devoted companion from 1936 to Villa's death in 1959, and the first Director of the Museu Villa-Lobos from 1960 until her death in 1985. Villa called her "Mindinha".

 

Next week the Museu VL will be presenting three programs in tribute to Mindinha.  Here is what's happening (in Google translation):

THE PROGRAM
Tuesday: 17/05, 16 hours - Roundtable:
"Project Mini-Concert Didactic Museum of Villa-Lobos - 25"
Participants: Turibio Santos, guitarist, former director of the Villa-Lobos, Jayme Vignoli, composer, arranger; Josimar Carneiro, composer, arranger, Luis Carlos Barbieri, guitarist, music producer, Charles Smith, professor, guitarist; Monica Mangia, guitarist ; Ronildo Candide, cellist. Mediation: Marcia Ladeira, museologist.
Wednesday: 18/05, 16 hours - Lecture:
"The Muse and the Museum" - Tribute to Arminda Villa-Lobos, founder and first director of the Villa-Lobos
Participants: Ely Gonçalves, first museologist of the Villa-Lobos and Rui Mourao, writer, director of the Conspiracy Museum, former Coordinator of the National Museum of the National Foundation Pro-Memory.
Thursday: 19/05, 16 hours - Roundtable:
"Mindinha Villa-Lobos - Affective Memory"
Participants: Alceo Bocchino, conductor, composer; Herminio Bello de Carvalho, a poet, composer, Célia Maria Machado, Harper, Noel Devos, bassoonist; Turibio Santos guitarist, former director of the Villa-Lobos.
Mediation: Valdinha Barbosa, researcher.
Music Participation: Marcio Malard, cello / Wagner Tiso, piano
Valdinha Barbosa / Marcia Slope
Educational Action of MVL
(21) 2226-9818
(21) 2226-9020
mvl.educa @ museus.gov.br

I recently came across this letter from Mindinha to Marguerite Long, the great French pianist who was a great friend of Mindinha and Heitor, and an advocate for Villa-Lobos's music.  The letter was written on June 2, 1962.

Very, very dear friend,

I never forget you. You are always in my thoughts. My soul is empty without the presence of our unforgettable Villa-Lobos, but in spite of everything, my health is fine…. The government created the Villa-Lobos museum… and I am in charge of a radio program for the Ministry of Education called 'Villa-Lobos, his life, his work.' …I insist on writing to you about this because I cannot have a program about Villa-Lobos without having your contribution… It would make me very happy and the program would be all the better for it. It is because of the deep friendship he had with you… for his sincere admiration for your art, well, everything, that I hope to hear from you soon…. You can understand how I feel, without the one who represented everything to me: my immense love, my mentor, my friend, and how difficult it is to live.

This heartbreaking outpouring of grief to a close friend is from "Marguerite Long: a life in French music, 1874-1966," by Cecilia Dunoyer, p. 180

Trenzinho Funk

Xplau's Villa-Lobos Remix 5.0 project includes this new look at the famous "Little Train" movement of Bachianas Brasileiras #2. It's my favourite in a whole series of remixes of works such as Uirapuru, the 16th String Quartet, and Genesis. For more, go to the Villa-Lobos Remix Myspace Page, and website. And if you're in New York later this month, you can see the US premiere on May 14 at Symphony Space Music, with guests Sonia Rubinsky & the Colorado Quartet.

OSB Concerto Manifesto

The first movement of Bachianas Brasileiras #4, played by former members of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (OSB) in their "Concerto Manifesto". Notice the SOS/OSB shirts all of the musicians are wearing. More on the story here, and at Slipped Disc.

Villa-Lobos Conducts Villa-Lobos

The greatest recording project of the music of Villa-Lobos comes from France in the 1950s. Though the recorded sound was thin, Villa-Lobos was at the helm, and he was given plenty of time to prepare his excellent musicians.  Released on 10 LPs in 1958, "Villa-Lobos par lui-même" was by far the best way to learn about the music of the legendary Brazilian composer in the 20th Century, especially after the set was released in a set of six compact discs just after the Villa-Lobos Centennial in 1987.

 

The set included all nine of the Bachianas Brasileiras (the 4th and the 9th in their orchestral versions). A highlight was the 5th, with the great soprano Victoria de los Angeles outstanding in both movements.  But there was so much more here: the four suites of the Discovery of Brazil and the 4th Symphony were two interesting orchestral works that weren't likely to show up in concerts or recordings. Though it was a shame that the full set of Choros weren't included - it was only recently with the complete Choros series from OSESP and John Neschling that we realized how great a series it is - there was one standout. The 11th Choros is one of the two great concertante works for piano by Villa-Lobos (the other is BB#3), and the great Magda Tagliaferro Aline van Barentzen [thanks for the correction, Harold!] is splendid as a soloist. [Tagliaferro shines in Momoprecoce].

The set seems to be still available at most outlets, and at a very good price. But now there's a new version - perhaps re-mastered - coming out. I've seen it at a number of UK web stores, usually for about £15 for 6 CDs. That's an amazing bargain.  If only they've somehow improved the sound! [I just saw this set on Amazon.com - to be released May 31, 2011.]

Even though we have new sets of Bachianas Brasileiras, the Choros, and the Symphonies, in excellent recordings with superb sound, there will still be a place for these Paris recordings. New generations of conductors especially should pay special attention to Villa-Lobos's own recordings. They represent the true spirit of his music, no matter how imperfectly he was able to communicate it to his French musicians.

OSESP Benefit Concert for Japan

 

The Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP) has organized a concert to benefit the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.  It will be held on April 11, one month to the day after the disaster, and will include Japanese and Brazilian musicians. The concert features Toru Takemitsu's Requiem, as well as music by Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras #5 and #9, and choral works performed by Coro da Osesp. Wagner Polistchuk conducts. There's more information here.

Villa-Lobos inJazz

Villa-Lobos has often been used as source material by jazz musicians - Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, George Benson, David Sánchez, Kenny Dorham, The Modern Jazz Quartet, among others.  In Brazil, jazz musicians treat Villa-Lobos tunes as standards, like the Great American Songbook.  Projeto B is an excellent example of Brazilian musicians re-thinking Villa-Lobos in a jazz idiom.

"Villa-Lobos inJazz" is a project of Octavio Garcia, based, as he says, "on the deepest roots of our culture."


projeto VILLA-LOBOS INJAZZ crowdfunding catarse from otavio garcia on Vimeo.

The Cool Composer Challenge

 

O.K. Here’s the Cool Composer Challenge. Can you come up with a picture of a composer cooler than this one of Heitor? Post a link to the picture in a comment below, tweet with the #coolcomposers hashtag, or send me an email. I'll post all the pictures at The Cool Composer Challenge page at The Villa-Lobos Website.

A Arte de Cristina Ortiz

Cristina Ortiz, one of Brazil's great pianists, is featured on a weekly program on Radio MEC FM, called "A Arte de Cristina Ortiz". The program is on every Sunday at noon (11am EDT - 9am here in Red Deer), so you can listen to the Radio MEC live stream. Episodes are also available, a couple of weeks later, as podcasts. Listen to this program from January 23, 2011, which features the 3rd Villa-Lobos Piano Concerto from the complete set on Decca, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Gomez-Martinez.

There's lots of Villa-Lobos included in this series - go here for the complete list - but Ortiz plays much more than Brazil's favourite composer. Check out her Chopin, Schumann, or Stenhammar.

Villa-Lobos por uma Soprano

Ivy Goulart is a Brazilian documentary film-maker who lives in New York.  His new film "Villa-Lobos por uma Soprano" (Villa-Lobos by a Soprano), from the evidence of the trailer, looks like it will provide some new insights into a composer whose reputation continues to grow world-wide.  The 35-minute film features soprano Stela Brandão.  You can watch the trailer at YouTube, or at the Goulart Films website.  I'll post information about screenings or DVD availability when I find out more.  I'm anxious to see the whole film!

Victory Symphony in Caracas

Conductor Roberto Tibiriçá has sent me the links to new high-quality versions of video from his January 2011 concert with the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Juventud Venezolana "Simón Bolívar". Here is the rarely-played 4th Symphony (the "Victory", written in 1919). Villa-Lobos piled on the orchestration in this piece, which calls for a "fanfarra" of brass instruments, and a "conjunto interno" with even more brass. In this performance the Banda Sinfónica Juvenil Simón Bolívar provides more-than-capable support.

Having to bring this many musicians on-stage (and asking the percussionists to play such instruments as pratos, bombo, tambor, caixa clara, sinos, sistro, pandeiro, guizos, chocalho, and others) helps to explain why this work isn't in the standard repertoire.  But an exciting performance like this one points to a bit of a re-examination of the symphonies, which have always been damned with faint praise, especially in comparison with the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras, Choros, ballets, and tone poems.

The highlight of that concert, though, was a real eye-opener: the pretty much never-performed secular cantata Mandú Çárárá, written in 1939.  Unlike the symphony, this is one of Villa's greatest works, nearly on the same level as Choros #10 and the Nonetto.  And once again, it's presented to best effect with the same high-flying orchestra, this time with the Sistema Nacional de Coros FESNOJIV (which includes a charming children's choir).  So here is the official video (much better than the shaky camera version I posted last month).



The last piece from the concert is the overture to Lo Schiavo, by Carlos Gomes.

Partimpim Dois: O Trenzinho do Caipira

Adriana Calcanhotto is a Brazilian singer and composer with an alter-ego, Adriana Partimpim, in whose guise she performs and records music for children.   The second Parimpim album was released in 2009, and it includes an amazing version of O Trenzinho do Caipira from Bachianas Brasileiras #2.  With words by the great Brazilian poet Ferreira Gullar, and support from a very tight band, this is a really exceptional version of a piece that's become a Brazilian pop/jazz standard, almost a second national anthem.  And it has an exceptional video (unfortunately embedding is disabled, but I encourage you to trek on over to YouTube to check it out).  I love the references to things Villa-Lobos loved: kites, trains, children, and cats.

You can listen to the album at this flash-based site; click on Partimpim Dois: CD.

Villa Lobos, o maestro

I just came across a new children's book from Brazil: Villa Lobos, o maestro, written by Lúcia Fidalgo, with illustrations by Fabiana Salomão (published by Ed.Paulus in 2011).  There are a couple of charming illustrations from the book at Salomão's blog.

I'm not sure of the best way to buy this book outside of Brazil.  The ISBN is 9788534928540, and here's an online store that stocks it.

Ivy Improta

I've been enjoying one of the Podcasts in the series Música e Músicos do Brasil, from Radio MEC-FM.  The February 12, 2011 program features the Brazilian pianist Ivy Improta.  This was a name I wasn't familiar with, but I was very impressed with her performances of Brazilian music by Villa-Lobos, Guarnieri, and others.  I was especially impressed with her Valsa da Dor, and a swinging Alma Brasileira (Choros #05).

Here's some information on Ivy Improta, which comes from a 2003 article by Bruce Gilman about the pianist's grandson, musician Gabriel Improta:

Ivy Improta was a child prodigy who Villa-Lobos brought to Rio de Janeiro from the interior São Paulo for studies with Tomás Teran. She worked with Villa-Lobos throughout her career and became recognized as the classical pianist who toured extensively, unveiling Brazilian classical music both solo and with orchestras. Tomás Teran introduced her to Eurico Nogueira França, a pianist, teacher of music history, and music journalist for Correio da Manhã, Jornal do Brasil, and O Estado de S. Paulo. He was a close friend of Villa-Lobos, and together they worked to establish the Academia Brasileira de Música (Brazilian Music Academy). When Ivy was 20 years old, they were married; their best man was Villa-Lobos. 

Teran was a close friend of Villa's, and the composer dedicated many great works to him.  By the way, he was one of Tom Jobim's teachers.

I've never seen any Villa-Lobos recordings by Ivy Improta, which is a shame.  She played the piano in the premiere of the Fantasia Concertante for piano, clarinet, and bassoon (a work which was dedicated to the pianist Eugene List.)  This seems to be the only picture of her on the web:

Make sure you listen to that podcast before it's gone (probably in a couple of weeks).  Can anyone tell me more about this excellent musician?

Chiquinha Gonzaga

Today is the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day, and it's also Carnaval season, so that points to one amazing person: the composer and feminist pioner Chiquinha Gonzaga.  As I've posted previously, Chiquinha 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.

There are some good resources about Chiquinha online, from a basic English Wikipedia page to the official site (in Portuguese) at http://www.chiquinhagonzaga.com.  The picture to the left, which shows Chiquinha at the time of her first success as a composer in 1877, is from that excellent site.  Also there are links to YouTube videos and PDF versions of sheet music.

A CD I highly recommend is Luciana Soares' Brasileira: Piano Music by Brazilian Women, on the Centaur label, from 2007.

Besides three pieces by Chiquinha, there are works by Nininha Gregori, Kilza Setti, Maria Luiza Priolli, Adelaide Pereira Silva, Clarisse Leite, Maria H. Rosas-Fernandes, and Branca Bilhar. The disc is available at The Naxos Music Library, catalogue #CRC2680.

De Batutas e Batucadas

With the recent interest in Villa-Lobos at the Rio Carnaval, it might be a good to remind people of this excellent flash-based site: De Batutas e Batucadas.  It tells the fascinating story about the 1940 encounter between Leopold Stokowski and Villa-Lobos.  Villa was Stokowski's entrance to the world of popular Brazilian music, and especially to the Choroes and the Samba.

The site includes streaming audio of the most important result of this project: Columbia's album Native Brazilian Music.  Highlights include the ground-breaking Pelo Telofone, with Donga and Pixinguinha, and a couple of Macumbas with amazing rhythms.  There are also some cool pictures, such as this one from the 1940 Sodade de Cordao, the Carnaval school visited by Villa-Lobos.

Bloco Feitiço do Villa's Samba

It's Carnaval time in Brazil, and everyone will be humming this great samba, from the Bloco Feitiço do Villa. There's lots more information in an earlier post.

I love the allusion to the last great Villa-Lobos samba, from the samba school Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel's entry in the 1999 Carnaval, "Villa Lobos e a Apoteose Brasileira." Watch highlights here:

The Martyrdom of the Insects in Ohio

Here's something most of us have never heard before. O Martírio dos Insetos is a very clever piece for violin & orchestra written by Villa-Lobos in 1925 (his modernist period). This is the U.S. premiere, recorded at last week-end's concert at Miami University in Oxford OH. Daniel Guedes is the violinist, and Ricardo Averbach conducts the Miami University Symphony Orchestra.

Though this is possibly the first performance of the piece since its premiere in 1948, there's an easily available score for the violin & piano adaptation made by the composer.

Another video from the Manaus Yerma

Here is another video from the 2010 production of Villa's opera Yerma. Keila de Moraes sings the aria "Henrique, il pastor."

Roberto Szidon Plays Rudepoema

Roberto Szidon plays Rudepoema, from a 1993 concert in Greece. Szidon recorded this great work for DGG in 2005.