Oklahoma City Philharmonic music director Alexander Mickelthwate knew he was commissioning a work from a composer of gravitas and grace when he asked Jonathan Leshnoff to memorialize the victims of an American tragedy. But thanks in part to violin soloist Noah Bendix-Balgley, listeners get to hear another side of Leshnoff on a Naxos album gathering works both elegiac and celebratory.

We had the pleasure of hearing more about Emanuele Baldini's recent Naxos recording of violin sonatas by Miguez and Vélasquez on this special occasion. His album of Villa-Lobos violin sonatas has just been nominated for a Latin GRAMMY® for best classical album. Enjoy the conversation.

Sonia Rubinsky, winner of the Latin GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Album in 2009, is a pianist with a successful international career and a fantastic album featuring works by Almeida Prado. It's an honor to hear from her as part of our Music of the Americas celebration, and we're grateful for her ongoing efforts to promote Brazilian classical music around the world.

 

ArkivMusic is honored to share this interview with Isaac Karabtchevsky  about his work on the music of Villa-Lobos. Karabtchevsky grew up in a time when Villa-Lobos was at his most active, representing Brazilian art music to an international community that had been largely unaware of the composers of South America up to that point.