Sonia Rubinsky Contest, v.4 winner & v.5 review

The contest is now over; thanks, everyone, for participating!

Congratulations to Harold Lewis of the UK, the fourth winner of a CD from Sonia Rubinsky's complete set of Villa-Lobos's Piano Music on Naxos. Four more discs will be awarded, one each week until the entire set has been sent out. It's easy to enter: send an email to villa-lobos@rdpl.org and tell me your favourite piano piece by Villa-Lobos. If you've already entered, your name stays in the pool.

The winner of Volume 5 will be drawn on Friday, June 25.

In 2006, the recording sessions for the fifth volume in the series moved from Toronto to the Township of King City, just north of Canada's biggest city.  Once again the technical side of things was in the more than capable hands of Norbert Kraft and Bonnie Silver.

For many this was the first chance to hear the entire cycle of Guia Pratico (though they'd have to wait for volume 8 of the series for Albums 10 and 11).  Anna Stella Schic had included the bulk of the Guia Pratico piano pieces in her complete Piano Music set of 7 LPs, released in the mid-70s in France.  Though this set was re-released on CD, it's never been easy to find.  Caio Pagano included Albums 1-6 in his 1999 album Music for Children.  Clara Sverner didn't release her complete series on the Brazilian Biscoito label until 2008; it's still available on Amazon.com.

Many of the songs in the Guia Pratico were gathered by Villa-Lobos from folk-songs and children's round songs.  I wonder if Brazilian children in the 1930s skipped rope while they sang them?  Like other Villa-Lobos works from the world of children (Prole do Bebe, especially), the Guia Pratico includes many pieces and passages that would tax the most accomplished pianist.  So in spite of Villa-Lobos's didactic agenda in the choral versions of these songs, many of these pieces are written about children rather than for them to learn to play the piano.  As well, many of these songs were re-cycled by Villa-Lobos in a variety of works later in his career.

Two very positive components of the Naxos series continued with volume 5.  James Melo again provided excellent liner notes - you can read them here.  Furthermore, the notes included the original Portuguese texts of the songs, along with English translations.  And the cover once again featured a very relevant painting - this time a stage set design from Lasar Segall's 1938 Rio de Janeiro ballet of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Sonia Rubinsky Contest, v.3 winner & v.4 review

The contest is now over; thanks, everyone, for participating!

Congratulations to Christian Sisson from Rio de Janeiro, the third winner of a CD from Sonia Rubinsky's complete set of Villa-Lobos's Piano Music on Naxos. Five more discs will be awarded, one each week until the entire set has been sent out. It's easy to enter: send an email to villa-lobos@rdpl.org and tell me your favourite piano piece by Villa-Lobos. If you've already entered, your name stays in the pool.

The Disc 4 winner will be drawn on Friday, June 18.



The fourth volume was once again recorded at Grace Church on the Hill in Toronto, in the fall of 2003.  I'll have to drop in to this church when I'm in Toronto later this summer.  Bonnie Silver and Norbert Kraft again were responsible for Production and Engineering.

For this disc, Rubinsky chose one of the central works from Villa's piano repertoire: Bachianas Brasileiras #4.  This work was put together from four pieces written over two decades: the fourth movement Dansa: Miudinho from 1930; the third movement Aria: Cantiga from 1935; and the first two movements Preludio and Coral: Canto do Sertao from 1941.  Since this work is so popular, it's easy to find other versions to compare with Rubinsky's reading.  I find Debora Halasz's version on BIS elegant but a bit tentative; the repeated percussive notes of the Araponga in the 2nd movement are hard to hear at first.  Valeria Zanini on Classico is more forthright, but there is less drama in that movement (which is one of my favourites).  Alma Petchersky on ASV stresses the monumental feel of the Coral - think of Stokowski's arrangements of Bach - at the expense of the forward movement of the piece.  It's instructive that Rubinsky's version of this movement is fairly close in tempos, and that dramatic feeling I mentioned, to the orchestral version of BB#4 in which Villa-Lobos himself conducted the French National Radio Orchestra.

Also on this disc are some smaller pieces from various times in Villa's career: Valsa Romantica from 1907 is one of his first published works.  Simples Coletanea, three pieces written in the late teens, is translated as "Simple Collection", though "Deceptively Simple Collection" might be closer to the mark.  This is the time when Villa-Lobos's own voice was really beginning to emerge under the twin influences of French modernism and Brazilian folklore.  Two pieces on this disc include a second pianist, who is Tatjana Rankovich.  Both Francette et Pia and the Carnaval das Criancas are about the world of children; the first is tender and touching, the second more lively.

Naxos Reviews

Though I've fallen a bit behind in my Naxos reviews, I've gotten to the pile before it can fall and do any real damage.  I really enjoyed Xavier Montsalvatge's Piano Music, v. 1, with Jordi Maso, a Naxos disc recorded in Spain in 2008.  Volume 2 is already out, and I look forward to hearing it.

Another Naxos disc includes music by the amazing Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, who died much too young, and who was working on the ballet music for La Coronela when he did.  This is an amazing score, and it is presented beautifully by Gisele Ben-Dor conducting the Santa Barbara Symphony.  This is a World Premiere Recording, though it was released by Koch in 1998, and the Naxos version is a recent re-release.  I recommend this very highly!

Both Revueltas and Montsalvatge have much in common with Villa-Lobos.  Only 13 years younger than Villa, Revueltas unfortunately died in 1940, so his musical legacy isn't as long or as strong as the Brazilian's.  La Coronela shows the same dramatic impetus that we're beginning to discover in Villa-Lobos with the recent exposure of stage works like Yerma, Magdalena, and The Emperor Jones.  Both composers are masters of the large orchestral palette, and both are just as much at home in bombastic battle set-pieces as they are in more introspective and sparely written passages. 

Montsalvatge is from a younger generation, but there is much overlap in the influences of the the Catalan composer and the Brazilian: Debussy, Milhaud, Satie, Ravel, Messiaen.  Montsalvatge went farther afield into avante-garde music in the 1950s.  He experimented with 12-tone music, which Villa-Lobos carefully skirted during his career.  And Montsalvatge seems to have fallen naturally into a North American jazz idiom in the 40s and 50s, which Villa-Lobos mainly avoided, as much as he felt at home in various (especially Brazilian) popular music styles.  Some of Montsalvatge's piano music might share Latin American (and Caribbean) rhythms with pieces by Villa-Lobos, though it never sounds Villa-Lobosian.

Two more excellent discs from Naxos, and more to come!

Sonia Rubinsky Contest, v.2 winner & v.3 review

The contest is now over; thanks, everyone, for participating!

Congratulations to Bernie Folta from New Hampshire, the second winner of a CD from Sonia Rubinsky's complete set of Villa-Lobos's Piano Music on Naxos. Six more discs will be awarded, one each week until the entire set has been sent out. It's easy to enter: send an email to villa-lobos@rdpl.org and tell me your favourite piano piece by Villa-Lobos. If you've already entered, your name stays in the pool.

Disc 3: the winner has been drawn, and will be announced here Real Soon Now.

For the third disc, the team of Rubinsky, Silver & Kraft were once again recording at Grace Church in Toronto, this time in September of 2000. The project was on a roll. This time the standout work was Choros #05 "Alma Brasileira". Early works share the disc with more substantial pieces like the 1936 Ciclo Brasileira. A number of pieces from volume 3 were featured at the 1922 Semana de Arte Moderna in Sao Paulo, and caused quite a stir. The African dances and the second piece from Suite Floral might seem a bit tame today, though emotions ran high that week in Sao Paulo. Certainly Villa-Lobos had written more modernist works by 1922. By the way, Suite Floral was a favourite of Arthur Rubinstein, and he programmed the final piece, Alegia na Horta, in hundreds of concerts over the years.

One of the most interesting things about this disc, though, is the inclusion of arrangements for piano of two of Villa's greatest works: the 1st Choros for guitar, and the 2nd Choros, originally written for flute and clarinet. The transcription of the 1st Choros is by Odmar Amaral Gurgel, while Villa-Lobos himself came up with the piano version of the 2nd Choros. The great thing about Rubinsky's series is that while the major works are completely solid, she keeps coming up with nearly unknown pieces (including some world recording premieres later in the series) to keep Villa-Lobos super-fans interested.

The third disc had for its cover one of my favourite Brazilian paintings, Cafe (1935) by Candido Portinari. This was an excellent match in subject matter and time period with the Ciclo Brasileira.

New BIS disc of Floresta do Amazonas

Coming soon from BIS: Floresta do Amazonas, the great late (1958) work for soprano and orchestra adapted by Villa-Lobos from the music he provided for the MGM film Green Mansions.  John Neschling conducts the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) and Choir, and Anna Korondi sings the beautiful songs, which include such favourites as Melodia Sentimental and Cair da Tarde.

Neschling's 3-disc Choros series on BIS, with the same orchestra, won the Diapason d'Or de l'Année in 2009.  Amazon will be releasing the SACD disc on June 29th, 2010 (a day late for my birthday).  It's available now for pre-ordering.

Villa-Lobos and the Marx Brothers

Walter Burle Marx (1902-1990) was a Brazilian conductor/composer/pianist who was a close friend and a big advocate of Villa-Lobos.  He conducted important Villa-Lobos premieres in Brazil and America, including important concerts at the 1939 World's Fair in New York.  I recently came across his interesting guitar pieces on a recording by Stephen Aron, and look forward to listening to more Burle Marx.

Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994) was a great Brazilian landscape architect who designed the gardens at the Museu Villa-Lobos.  Though this isn't mentioned in his (otherwise very informative) Wikipedia article, the two were brothers.

I discovered this when I came across the cool story "Esthetics: Brazil's Marx Brothers", in the July 21, 1967 issue of Time Magazine.  This was indeed an accomplished and interesting family, and distantly related to Karl Marx as well.

Magdalena on France Musique

This exciting information comes from an email from Renaud Machart, host of Matinée Opéra on Radio France's France Musique. The latest edition of this program features the music of Villa-Lobos, and includes the first broadcast of the recent Paris production of the opera/musical Magdalena. You can listen to this 3-hour program at your leisure, but only until Sunday, June 6th. Go to this page on the France Musique site, and click on (ré)écouter.

Besides this important production (which sounded great to me in my first quick listen), the program includes some additional Villa-Lobos works from CD which help to provide a context for this amazing stage work.  Thanks to Renaud and France Musique for making this available, even if only for a few days.

By the way, I enjoy listening to France Musique on my iPhone, thanks to their excellent app.  Check it out!

Sonia Rubinsky Contest, v.1 winner & v.2 review

The contest is now over; thanks, everyone, for participating!

Congratulations to Julio Garrido Letelier from Chile, the first winner of a CD from Sonia Rubinsky's complete set of Villa-Lobos's Piano Music on Naxos. Seven more discs will be awarded, one each week until the entire set has been sent out.  It's easy to enter: send an email to villa-lobos@rdpl.org and tell me your favourite piano piece by Villa-Lobos.  If you've already entered, your name stays in the pool.

Disc 2: the winner will be drawn on Friday, June 4

The second disc was recorded in the following spring (April 2000). This time the venue was Grace Church on the Hill in Toronto, and the production team of Bonnie Silver and Norbert Kraft (yes, he's also the guitarist, and the guy who recorded my favourite of the millions of Villa-Lobos guitar CDs) did the recording, editing, and engineering. The second disc included music similar to the first. The second book of A Prole do Bebe, from 1921, and the Cirandinhas, from 1925, aren't at quite the same high level as the music on Volume 1, but still represent important achievements in Villa's piano music. The beautiful Valsa da Dor, from 1932, is also included.


Another winner, another 10/10 rating from Classics Today.

Contest: Villa-Lobos Piano Music by Sonia Rubinsky

The contest is now over; thanks, everyone, for participating!

In early 2010 Naxos released an 8-CD box set of the complete Piano Music of Villa-Lobos that the Brazilian pianist Sonia Rubinsky recorded from 1999 to 2007.  To celebrate this important event, I will be sending out free copies of the individual discs to lucky winners over the next couple of months.

All you have to do is send an email to this special address - villa-lobos@rdpl.org - and let me know what your favourite Villa-Lobos piano work is.  If you're not sure, that's o.k. - you'll still be entered in the draw for these discs.  I'll draw one entry at random each week for the next 8 weeks, and will contact winners for their address.  You only need to enter once; your email stays in the prize pool until all 8 discs have been won.

Thanks to Naxos USA for making these great discs available.

Disc 1: the winner will be drawn on Friday, May 28

Back in October 1999, Sonia Rubinsky went to Santa Rosa, California to record a CD for Naxos.  Included in the recording were three of Heitor Villa-Lobos's most important works for piano.  The first book of A Prole do Bebe (the Baby's Family) is one of the great piano cycles of the 20th century, eight pieces that showed up in hundreds of programmes by Villa's greatest early supporter, Arthur Rubinstein.  Cirandas is a later cycle from Villa's modernist period, written in 1926 (the same year as the great Choros #10).  Villa uses deceptively simple children's songs to begin to create the national song-book that became the Guia pratico.  Hommage a Chopin, written to honour the Polish composer in an earlier Chopin year,  has become recognized as one of Villa's best piano works from his later production.

Rubinsky's disc was very well received by the critics.  Classics Today, for example, gave the disc a 10/10 (performance/recording) rating.  But the real significance of the CD for Villa-Lobos fans was the title "Piano Music Volume 1".  It was exciting to look forward to many more discs like the first one!  This was especially true for those Villa-Lobos fans lucky enough to have acquired Anna Stella Schic's 7-LP set of the complete piano music from the 1970s (reissued on CD on the Solstice label, and still available from various online sources).  We knew there was lots of great music to come in this series, and as authoritative as Schic's excellent versions were (she was a close friend of Villa-Lobos & Mindinha), Rubinsky's technique and Naxos's modern sound and easier availability (not to mention its low price) made a series like this a real winner .  As usual, Naxos was providing relatively unknown repertoire, beautifully played, recorded, and engineered, to a much wider audience than before.

There were two other encouraging characteristics of this first disc.  James Melo provided excellent notes (detailed and enlightening) to this first disc, and the cover of the CD was a painting by the great Brazilian modernist painter (and another Villa-Lobos friend and fellow participant in the 1922 Semana de Arte Moderna in Sao Paulo), Tarsilla do Amaral.  These two important components stayed throughout the entire project.  Melo's essays always added something special to each disc, especially for those works that have been under-appreciated (like Carnaval das Criancas in Volume 4, and Amazonas in volume 7).  And the cover paintings were always relevant to the programmes Rubinsky had chosen, demonstrating how Villa fit in the cultural life of Brazil.  Artists chosen for the series, besides Tarsilla, were Djanira, Candido Portinari,  Cicero Dias, Lasar Segall, Alberto Guignard, Ismael Nery, and Jose Pancetti.

Raúl Villa-Lobos's Masterwork

Here is a new, deluxe, version of "A Revolta da Armada de 6 de Setembro de 1893", by Villa-Lobos's father Raúl.  This book of history was originally published in 1897, under the pseudonym Epaminondas Villalba.  The new edition is available from Amazon.com, though you can also download the PDF, scanned by Google from the library of Harvard University, from Archive.org.

By the way, the composer used that same pseudonym, Epaminondas Villalba, but with the addition Filho (son), in publishing music throughout his life.  Villa was ten years old when this book was published by his father, an assistant librarian at the National Library in Rio de Janeiro.  He was obviously very proud of his father's work.  Unfortunately, the elder Villa-Lobos died only two years later.

New BIS recordings of the Villa-Lobos Symphonies

There was an exciting announcement from the Swedish recording company BIS this afternoon. They'll be recording a new series of the complete Symphonies of Villa-Lobos, with Isaac Karabtchevsky conducting the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP). The recordings will be released according to this schedule:

• 2011 – Sinfonia nº 3, “A Guerra” & Sinfonia nº 4, “A Vitória”
• 2012 – Sinfonia nº 6, “Sobre a linha das montanhas do Brasil” & Sinfonia nº 7
• 2013 – Sinfonia nº 10, “Ameríndia”
• 2014 – Sinfonia nº 1, “O Imprevisto” & Sinfonia nº 2
• 2015 – Sinfonia nº 8, Sinfonia nº 9 & Sinfonia nº 11
• 2016 – Sinfonia nº 12 + Uirapurú & Mandú-Çarará

The same recording company and orchestra (though with a different conductor, John Neshling) won the Diapason d’Or de l’Année in 2009, for their recording of the complete Choros of Villa-Lobos.  Today's announcement also included the very good news that Criadores do Brasil will be releasing new editions of the scores, which are badly needed. 

This is great news for Villa-Lobos lovers.  There is certainly nothing wrong with the excellent cpo series with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony conducted by Carl St. Clair.  But after many years of hearing how poor (and how atypical) these works were, it will be great to experience another cycle, and perhaps take a new look at all of Villa's orchestral works.  And though it will be a long wait (2016!), we've long needed a new recording of the great orchestral/choral work Mandú-Çarará.

Thanks to João Luiz Sampaio for this news, via Twitter and this article.

The Prêmio Carlos Gomes Winners

Last year's production of Villa-Lobos's opera A Menina das Nuvens at the Palácio das Artes in Belo Horizonte was the big winner at the Brazilian Classical Music Awards, the Prêmio Carlos Gomes de Ópera & Música Erudita.   It won five awards, including Best Female Singer (Gabriella Pace), Best Opera Conductor (Roberto Duarte), Best Lighting (Paulo Pederneiras), Best Set Design (Rosa Magalhães), and best Opera Production.

Other winners with Villa-Lobos connections include:

• Turibio Santos, who was cited for his restoration of Villa-Lobos scores.
• The Quarteto Radamés Gnatalli, for their performances of the 17 Villa-Lobos String Quartets.
• Conductor Roberto Tibiriçá, for his work with the Orquestra de Heliópolis (Tibiriçá has recorded a number of Villa-Lobos works, and has programmed more with the Heliópolis orchestra, and with the Orquestra Nacional de Porto).

Alma Brasileira: Steve Griggs Ensemble plays Villa-Lobos

Steve Griggs is one of quite a few jazz musicians from around the world that are using Villa-Lobos as source material for their new music.  I've written before about Seattle-based Griggs' Villa-Lobos projects.  In November 2009 there was Seresta, an homage to Villa commemorating the 50th anniversary of his death.  Then, last March, Griggs put together Canção Carioca: Song from Rio.  Note the timing of these projects: they coincide with the birth- and death-days of the composer.

Next November 20th, the 12 musicians who make up the Steve Griggs Ensemble will present Alma Brasileira (Soul of Brazil): Steve Griggs Ensemble plays Villa-Lobos.  This project re-imagines music from Villa's Choros cycle; it includes Choros #01, 05, 06, 09, and 11, as well as the Introdução and Dos Choros Bis: the introduction and encores to the series.  It's so great to see this important music more widely disseminated; especially the rarely-played orchestral Choros 6, 9, & 11, and the Introdução.  I will do my best to make it to Seattle for this important concert!

Brazil's classical music awards

The Prêmio Carlos Gomes de Ópera & Música Erudita is Brazil's classical music award program.  Nominations for the thirteenth edition of the awards were announced yesterday, and they include some musicians that Villa-Lobos lovers will know well.  I'll highlight a few:

• Turibio Santos, guitarist and the Director of the Museu Villa-Lobos, is nominated in the Instrumental Soloist category (won last year by Sonia Rubinsky for her Naxos recordings of the complete piano music of Villa-Lobos)
• Isaac Karabtchevsky is nominated for his DVD of Villa-Lobos's Floresta do Amazonas
• Quarteto Radamés Gnatalli, for their performance of the complete cycle of Villa-Lobos String Quartets
• The production of A Menina das Nuvens, Villa's fairy-tale opera presented at the Palácio das Artes in Belo Horizonte, received multiple nominations, including "Espetáculo de Ópera", along with nods for the Orquestra Sinfonica de Minas Gerais and conductor Roberto Duarte, singer Gabriella Pace, and other musicians and technical artists
• Soprano Eliane Coelho, who'll be featured in the upcoming presentation of Villa's Yerma in Manaus, was nominated for Schoenberg's Erwartung in Belo Horizonte
• Pianist Nelson Freire was nominated for the Troféu Guarany, which I'm guessing is a kind of life-time achievement award.  This was won last year by the great Villa-Lobos conductor John Neschling.

The award organizers have opened up the polls for online voting here: http://www.premiocarlosgomes.com.br/popular/votopopular.asp.  Polls will be open until April 25th.

The awards will be announced in the Sala São Paulo on May 5th.

Villa-Lobos gets the Congressional Seal of Approval

Here's an interesting story from Brasília. The Brazilian Congress has approved the first steps to adding Villa-Lobos to the Livro dos Heróis da Pátria - the Book of Heroes of the Fatherland.  Representative Dr. Talma presented the motion, which I gather will be debated, and will then go to the Senate once it is approved.

Here is what the article says about the Book of Heroes (via Google Translate):

The Book of Heroes of the Fatherland is a memorial in the pages of steel with the name of Brazilians who, in life, "contributed to the greatness, pride and glory" of Brazil. It is located in the Pantheon of the Fatherland, monument to freedom and democracy, located in the Plaza of Three Powers in Brasília. Tiradentes, Zumbi dos Palmares, Placido de Castro, Santos-Dumont are some of the names inscribed in the Book of Heroes.

One of the pleasurable side-effects of my Villa-Lobos researches is that I'm learning more about Brazilian history and culture. I knew a little about Alberto Santos-Dumont, who made the world's first public flight in an airplane, on October 23, 1906.  This is a very engaging individual.  Though admittedly from a wealthy family, it says a lot about Santos-Dumont that he donated half of a big prize he won in an early dirigible contest to the poor of Paris, and distributed the rest to his mechanics.  It's sad that he ended up killing himself, depressed by his multiple sclerosis and by the use of airplanes to kill thousands in wars.

Zumbi dos Palmares, the "black leader of all the nations", is a fascinating figure from the second half of the 17th century.  From the stronghold of  Quilombo dos Palmares, a republic the size of Portugal near Bahia, Zumbi led a spirited resistance against the Portuguese government.  His warriors were skilled in capoeira, Brazil's home-grown martial art.  Zumbi was eventually captured and beheaded, though his martyrdom was the inspiration for many future struggles.

Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, known as Tiradentes, was a revolutionary from the same generation as the American Founding Fathers and the French Revolutionaries. From what I've read in the Wikipedia article, he seems somewhat like the Canadian Louis Riel; both were hanged by their governments, and the names of both have lived on as heroes.

Finally, José Plácido de Castro led the successful resistance of Acre against Bolivia in the late 1800s.  He became President and Father of his Country in 1900, when he was only 27 years old, and Governor of the State when it was annexed to Brazil three years later.  He was only 35 years old when he was ambushed and assassinated by rivals.  Though Plácido de Castro doesn't have his own article in the English Wikipedia, a life like this really deserves one - here is the Portuguese entry.

Here is the Panteão da Pátria (Pantheon of the Fatherland) Tancredo Neves, in the Praça dos Três Poderes (Plaza of Three Powers) in Brasília - home of the Book of Heroes, from the Wikimedia Commons:



This is pretty impressive company, even for a larger-than-life figure like Heitor Villa-Lobos!

The Lost 6th Prelude Found? [Nope]

What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. - Matthew 18:12-13

I was excited to read this tweet from Brazilian guitarist Alvaro Henrique today:

@alvaroguitar http://brazilianguitar.net/index.php?showtopic=3453 Achado o 6o Prelúdio para Violão de Heitor Villa-Lobos!

Alvaro links to this post at the forum Brazilianguitar.net:

http://brazilianguitar.net/index.php?showtopic=3453

Is it really true that the missing 6th Prelude of Villa-Lobos has been found?  This being April Fool's Day, I was immediately suspicious that this most important Villa-Lobos find ever might be a joke. As I said in a message to Alvaro, it sounds too good to be true. Here, thanks to Google Translate, is the gist of the story.

The Brazilian rock musician Dado Villa-Lobos and his brother Luis Octavio Villa-Lobos, grand-nephews of the composer, were looking through some papers of their father, the diplomat Jayme Villa-Lobos. There they found the score to the missing Sixth Prelude (left behind in Paris when Villa-Lobos & Mindinha returned to Brazil), as well as other works for guitar, including a complete version of Valsa de Concerto no 2. Also found were sketches for a symphony Villa-Lobos had planned in honour of Brasilia. Unfortunately, the composer died before the symphony (and the city) could be completed.

According to Alvaro's post the found Prelude will be played by guitarist Marcus Moraes at the next meeting of Associação Brasiliense de Violão (BRAVIO), on April 10th.

Boy, it's hard enough for me to keep from getting tricked in my own language.  If I have to get to Google Translate to help, I may be in trouble!  I will keep you all posted!

April 5: Well, yeah, it was a joke.  Alvaro tweeted this:

@alvaroguitar @villa_lobos Vill Unfortunately it is a April Fool's Day joke... Too good to be true! 

Of course, it seems obvious now.  The Villa-Lobos in-laws who are likely to have lost scores would be Guimares, the families of the brothers of Villa's first wife Lucilia.  Good joke!

Yerma in Manaus

It looks like the production of Yerma at the Teatro Amazonas is a go for next month.  Here is the cast and production staff for the show, from the Amazonas Festival website.  This is a really big deal - a rarely performed Villa-Lobos opera in the great Opera House in the Amazon rain-forest.


23.Abr (Sex) - 20h - Teatro Amazonas
25.Abr (Dom) - 19h - Teatro Amazonas
30.Abr (Sex) - 20h - Teatro Amazonas
YERMA
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Ópera em três atos
Libreto do compositor, baseado na obra de Federico Garcia Lorca
Yerma – Ana Lucrecia Garcia
Juan – Marcello Puente
Maria –Isabelle Sabrié
Victor – Homero Velho
1ª velha – Keila de Moraes
2ª velha – Elaine Martorano
3ª velha – Elmiza Carvalho
4ª velha – Regina Santiago
5ª velha – Lincoln Pires
6ª velha – Kelly Fernandes
1ª moça – Patrícia Botelho
2ª moça – Carol Martins
1ª lavadeira - Jaiana Silva
2ª lavadeira - Lídia Mendes
3ª lavadeira – Carolina Herculano
4ª lavadeira - Thalita Azevedo
5ª lavadeira - Dhijana Nobre
6ª lavadeira - Thelvana Freitas
1ª cunhada – Miriam Abad
2ª cunhada – Raquel Brasil
Dolores – Elaine Martorano
1ª mulher – Tamar Freitas
2ª mulher – Marinete Negrão
1º homem – Cristiano Silva
2º homem – Eli Soares
Macho – Randal Oliveira
Fêmea – Priscilla Pinheiro
Menino – Marlon de Souza Pereira
Menina – Marília Rodrigues Pinheiro
Voz feminina interna – Elane Monteiro
Companhia de Dança do Amazonas
Coral Infantil do Liceu de Artes e Ofícios Claudio Santoro
Coral do Amazonas
Amazonas Filarmônica
Direção Musical e Regência: Marcelo de Jesus
Direção Cênica e Figurinos: Allex Aguilera
Coreografia: Monique Andrade
Iluminação: Moisés Vasconcelos

Thanks to Richard, who posted this information on a comment to my story about Yerma in Brazil.

Digital Cabernet Challenge

An interesting and illuminating experiment at the Proper Discord site: can you tell the difference between compressed and CD-quality music? I couldn't (and admitted so in the poll).

Here's another poll: try this digital Cabernet Sauvignon test.

1. Play your favourite Villa-Lobos CD or MP3 file (I chose John Neschling's version of Choros #08).
2. Open a good bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (for me, it was a 2006 Penfolds Bin 407).
3. Click on the video above.

So, which wine is better?  Can you really tell the difference?  Let me know!

P.S.  Note to Casa Valduga's advertising agency: next time, use Bachianas Brasileiras no. 5 as the background music in preference to Vivaldi.

Clara Rodriguez at Wigmore Hall

The Venezuelan pianist Clara Rodriguez will be playing three Villa-Lobos works in her Wigmore Hall concert on April 12, 2010.  Check out her website - you'll find a nice version of Poema Singelo, from a live performance in London.

Trío Cordvent's "Homenaje a Villa-Lobos"

Jesús Saiz Huedo from Trío Cordvent sent me an update on their concert "Homenaje a Villa-Lobos," which took place in Madrid last December. You can watch videos of many of the works from that concert at The Trío Cordvent website.

Here is Recordando a Villa-lobos by Félix Sierra; a lovely work: