Born in Buenos Aires in 1916, Alberto Ginastera lived to become unquestionably the most significant figure in Argentine music in the 20th century. This CD combines Ginastera's deep interest in the authentic folk music of his country alongside the more radical compositional techniques which gave his music such individual personality. Commissioned in 1941 for Lincoln Kirstein's Ballet Caravan, the 1943 Suite made from Estancia became the piece that launched Ginastera's international fame - the spectacular Danza Final is perhaps Ginastera's most celebrated essay in the style of the Malambo - an exhilarating explosion of kinetic energy. Also in 1943, Ginastera composed his Overture to the Creole Faust, and it is, in a way an appendix to the Estancia dances, since it again deals with the life of the gauchos. Ollantay is nearly a symphony. Composed in 1947 for Erich Kleiber, the three movement work takes its inspiration from a poem from the early Incan period. Pampeana No. 3 is even closer to the symphony that Ginastera never wrote. Pampeana No. 3, like Ollantay, is also in three movements. The title recalls rhythms and melodies of the Argentine pampas, and the second movement contains one of the most extraordinary rhythmic tours-de-force in all of Ginastera's output. The Odense Symphony Orchestra continues their new series on Bridge with this outstanding recording. Bridge discs which also feature the Odense Symphony Orchestra include: Bridge 9129 (Villa-Lobos Symphonic Music), Bridge 9122 (Poul Ruders Edition, Vol. 3) and Bridge 9100 (Nielsen Violin Concerto).

Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983) is a distinctive voice in twentieth-century classical music, and together with the master of the tango, Astor Piazzolla, he is the towering musical figure of Argentina. Born in Buenos Aires of an Italian mother and a Catalonian father, Ginastera is a complex composer and personality, shaped by the traditional folk culture and history of his native country and by impulses from the world at large, during a time of radical upheavals in the realm of Western classical music. The Harp Concerto was commissioned in 1956 by Edna Phillips. The work was not premiered until 1965, and then it was the Spanish harpist Nicanor Zabaleta. When the concerto first appeared, it became a brilliant addition to the harp literature and twentieth-century instrumental concertos. Variaciones concertantes was completed more than ten years earlier and was premiered in Buenos Aires in 1953. The music is an irresistible combination of orchestral timbres and virtuosity communicating directly with the listener, especially as regards the entertainment aspect inherent in virtuosic orchestral sound and a demanding soloist performance.

In an exciting collaboration, guitarists Adam del Monte and Mak Grgic journey through the wide landscape of Spanish and Latin American music. With brand new arrangements they explore classics of Iberian Romanticism from Albeniz and Granados as well as promoting the vivid ethnic rhythms of Ginastera and the beautiful filmic nostalgia of Carlos Gardel, master of the tango-song. The bittersweet poetic richness of Hector Stamponi is balanced by del Monte’s own original flamenco dances, which take the genre into vivid new directions. Adam del Monte and Mak Grgic make up Duo Deloro, who are in the vanguard of the new Classical/Flamenco movement.

Detours is a compilation of works for piano by composers of different origins from approximately the last century. This is an a very appealing program of music for piano. Born in Indonesia, pianist Martin Kesuma is a graduate of Texas State University and the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Professor Anton Nel at the University of Texas, where he holds the positions of Piano Project Coordinator and Class Piano Teaching Assistant. Martin’s recent highlights include first prize at the PianoHouse International Piano Competition, the Ben Gomez Award at the Texas State International Piano Festival, Honorable Mention at the San Jose International Piano Competition, Special Recognition Award at the Weatherford College International Piano Competition, and performance of Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments with the Density512 Orchestra.

This recording presents the double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra of the Spanish composer Francisco Coll, born in 1985. Les Plaisirs Illuminés, a title inspired by Dalí’s painting of the same name, is rooted in Spanish traditions, including flamenco, yet is resolutely modern: ‘Its music is very lively rhythmically, it dances and sings- but at the same time it is very abrupt, always in search of extremes,’ says Patricia Kopatchinskaja. For this world premiere conducted by the composer, she is reunited with a longstanding partner who pursues an equally brilliant international career, the cellist Sol Gabetta. The program also features Stravinsky’s Concerto in D for string orchestra, composed in 1946 at the request of Paul Sacher for the twentieth anniversary of the Basler Kammerorchester and the Musica concertante for twelve strings by the Hungarian-born Swiss composer Sandor Veress, premiered by the Camerata Bern in 1966. A year earlier, the Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera wrote his fascinating Concerto for Strings. A kaleidoscope of colors and sounds from all over the world.

REVIEWS:

Musica concertante and Ginastera’s Concerto are both concerti grossi, which allows Kopatchinskaja to take on the roles of concertante soloist, section leader and indeed director, as both works, following Camerata Bern tradition, are given without a conductor. As such, she is very much part of an ensemble of equals, and the playing throughout is superb in its focus, precision and concentration.

– Gramophone (Editor's Choice; January 2021)

Two threads run through this adventurous disc – the spirit of Béla Bartók and the Camerata Bern’s prowess – but the force of personality at the centre of it all comes from the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. It opens with Sándor Veress’s Musica concertante per 12 archi, written in 1965-6 for the then newly formed Camerata Bern, and which in this performance comes across with fiery, searing spirit.

– BBC Music Magazine

American Percussion Works is a rare collection of seldom heard works each with specific rules or themes as a basis for the compositions. In John Cage’s First Construction the principle is based on the figure 16. Alberto Ginastera’s work Cantata para America Magica, uses pre-Columbian texts based on the conditions of human life, with war, natural phenomena, daybreak, night and love. Lou Harrison mixes non-European forms which ‘follow the pattern of having a single melodic part accompanied (or enhanced) by rhythmic percussion’ in his Koncherto. Varese’s Ionisation also enters a new land being his first solely percussive work where ‘he finds a new grammar for the language of music.’

“I compose music because I love it. I love melodies, I love singing. And I have found out with pleasure that there is a public out there who is very interested in my music whenever I publish it. That’s fantastic! I refuse to just compose music designed to be discovered and understood by future generations.” With these words Carlos Guastavino (Santa Fe, 1912 - Buenos Aires, 2000) expressed himself, aware that his art belonged to those who wanted to hear and sing it, reneging on the customary exercise of the composer who seeks to be recognized by the umpteenth harmonic discovery never before tried out. Guastavino enriched the young voice of the Argentine people with his music, giving it a unique and identifiable tone, supporting the tip of his feet in a folklore to which he gave wings to surpass himself. “Cinco canciones argentinas” (Five Argentinean songs), Op. 10. This work exemplarily shows the most characteristic features of what has come to be known as Ginastera’s period of objective nationalism. Namely, the use of folkloric elements and tonal techniques together with other techniques which are typical of atonalism, especially in piano accompaniment.

For Omar Massa, it is important to break new ground to bring the music of Buenos Aires into the 21st century. This task requires him to be creative and searching, without forgetting his roots and the past. This is his passion: to write contemporary tango. In Argentina, tango embodies the so-called "way of life" and apart from the fact that it is not as popular today as it was in the days of his grandparents or in the "Golden Age", many people still gather in the nights of Buenos Aires to surrender to the music, the dance and the poetry of tango. For Omar Mass, the tango is still a hidden treasure of the nights of Buenos Aires. To deal with its mystery, its mysticism, is a very wonderful ritual for him. Together with Markus Däunert and Kim Barbier, Massa presents music that is almost congenial for exploring and exploring extreme ranges of sound possibilities. The classical musicians Däunert and Barbier discover new sides of themselves through the Argentine tango.

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REVIEWS:

The Massa Trio plays their own pieces as well as those of Piazzolla with gripping intensity, with glowing colors and passionate rhythms. Consequently, I rank this outstandingly recorded SACD as one of the most exciting and immersive tango recordings in my collection.

© 2022 Pizzicato

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Lovers of Latin American music will find some interesting things to discover in this release.

The extensive liner notes give full details of each of the works. So, there is no need for me to elaborate on that. Listeners should nonetheless be aware that not all is easy on the ears. Although Massa, in his personal note believes that “Tango is a form of meditation”, some of his dances may arouse powerful emotion. But that is all part of the discovery trip, though I take it that for insiders Piazzolla and Ginastera are familiar ground.

All of it was captured by Manfred Schumacher in Ars Produktion’s notably fine resolution in full (!) surround. Why not try it out?

© 2022 HRAudio.net

Sean Shibe returns to the classical guitar on Profesión, bringing together works by Agustín Barrios, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Alberto Ginastera. The album derives its name from Barrios’s “Profesión de Fe” (profession of faith), a poem which he often used as a preface to his concerts. The poem references indigenous mythological deities, and praises the power of the guitar as the ultimate conduit to the secrets of the divine South-American destiny. Barrios’s La Catedral and Julia Florida are combined with Villa Lobos’s 12 Études, while Ginastera’s Sonata completes the program.

These works by South American composers begin with homage and pastiche in reverence of the Old World, but build towards a totally original idiom - musical magical realism. The repertoire is voluminous, indulging in excess, and narcotic, and as such creates a counterweight to the reserved and introspective nature of Shibe’s acclaimed classical predecessor album Camino.

This will be Shibe’s first-ever album focusing on repertoire that was originally written for the classical guitar, and he plays a Hauser copy built for Julian Bream. It was considered one of the best instruments of the 1930s, and fits the sound world of this program like a glove.

REVIEWS:

It’s an extraordinary account [of the Villa-Lobos], bursting with nuance and personality and easily rivaling Julian Bream’s classic, late-1970s version.

— Gramophone

This is a gleaming and brilliant album that doesn’t fail to awaken the senses to the exhilarating world of un-adulterated acoustic sound.

— BBC Music Magazine