Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

SOLO GUITAR WORKS BY Anders Miolin. COMPOSITIONS BY HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS

Of all the volumes in this series, the current one presents arguably the most diverse sample of Villa-Lobos' musical language and techniques.

Composed in 1954 for the 400th anniversary of the founding of S�o Paulo, Amer�ndia is the composer's largest symphony. Effectively a hybrid symphony and oratorio for soloists, chorus and orchestra, it is memorable for it's stylistic variety and breadth, drawing on many different sources of Brazilian music. This recording is based on a newly revised edition made by Editora Criadores do Brasil (the S�o Paulo Symphony Orchestra's publishing house) in collaboration with the Academia Brasileira de M�sica. Born in Brazil in 1934, Isaac Karabtchevsky studied conducting and composition in Germany under Wolfgang Fortner, Pierre Boulez, and Carl Ueter. He has held posts at the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra (OSB), La Fenice in Venice, and the Tonku�nstler in Vienna. He is currently director of the Petrobras Symphony of Rio de Janeiro and the Heliopolis Symphony, an orchestra composed of young musicians, most of them from disadvantaged communities in S�o Paulo.

Villa-Lobos, H.: Introduction To Choros / Guitar Concerto /

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Learn more about this recording on the Naxos Classical Spotlight podcast!

Stellar Brazilian cellist Antonio Meneses performs Villa-Lobos’s Cello Concerto Nos. 1 and 2; and the Fantasia in this latest release in the definitive The Music of Brazil series. With its youthful energy and eclectic style; the Cello Concerto No. 1 was Villa-Lobos’s first major orchestral work. Composed for the renowned Brazilian cellist Aldo Parisot; the no less inventive and lushly scored Cello Concerto No. 2 from 1953 suggests man’s solitude when facing the vastness of nature.

REVIEW:

Cellist Antonio Meneses has the full measure of the music. He plays with assurance and impeccable musicality and technique. Conductor Isaac Karabtchevsky’s credentials as an expert and convincing Villa-Lobos conductor include the recording of the complete symphonies for Naxos. Here, he leads vital readings of the substantial, often brilliant and demanding pieces. The São Paulo Symphony Orchestra play beautifully, and the recording are superb. Is it possible to ask for more? I think not. I recommend this release warmly to all those who love Villa-Lobos’s music, especially when it is played and recorded as finely as here.

-- MusicWeb International

This set consists of previously released recordings. - ArkivMusic

Heitor Villa-Lobos once confessed that he loved to write string quartets, stating ‘one could say that it is a mania.’ His 17 quartets form a substantial part of his chamber music output, covering a long career that embraced national pride and musical experimentation leading to the rarefied atmosphere of the final masterpieces. Often drawing on the musical folklore of Brazil, these quartets are an outpouring of spontaneous and daring invention. Ranging from austere polyphony to compelling expressiveness and virtuosity, they represent one of the most distinctive bodies of chamber works in 20th-century music.

REVIEWS:

Villa-Lobos once confessed that he loved to write string quartets, stating ‘one could say that it is a mania.’ His 17 quartets form a substantial part of his chamber music output, covering a long career that embraced national pride and musical experimentation leading to the rarefied atmosphere of the final masterpieces. Often drawing on the musical folklore of Brazil, these quartets are an outpouring of spontaneous and daring invention. Ranging from austere polyphony to compelling expressiveness and virtuosity, they represent one of the most distinctive bodies of chamber works in 20th-century music. 6 CDs. Danubius Quartet. Original 1992–1994 Marco Polo releases.

-- Records International

Established in 1983, the Danubius Quartet was a Hungarian group – this set was recorded in Budapest – so while they may lack the Latinamericanlo’s Brazilian ‘accent’, they nevertheless hail from Europe’s great centre of string playing. Their brightly projected sound is ideal for Villa-Lobos’s life-affirming music.

-- Limelight

Heitor Villa-Lobos’s mother dismissed the guitar as “an instrument played by scoundrels”, but his earliest surviving work, Dime perché, comes from a time when he was composing almost exclusively on this instrument. +By completing his unfinished Valsa Concerto No. 2, Andrea Bissoli brings to life the subject of a notorious anecdote between Segovia and Miguel Llobet, and the Sexteto místico echoes Brazilian street band sounds, anticipating Villa-Lobos’s “new form” of the mystical Choros. +The intimate serenade Canção do Amor is from his soundtrack for the film Green Mansions.