This is the first of three volumes including rare and recently discovered works by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Guitarist Andrea Bissoli’s researches have revealed new sources for lost manuscripts, and these recordings of the Valsa, the Motivos Gregos and Canção do poeta do século XVIII represent the revival of music thought to have vanished forever. These works are joined by transcriptions which include one of Villa-Lobos’ best loved melodies, the Ária from Bachianas Brasileiras No 5, as well as the Concerto he wrote for the legendary Segovia.

Classical Music

Heitor Villa-Lobos was instrumental in developing a national Brazilian musical culture, writing in a wide variety of forms. Composed in 1954 for the 400th anniversary of the founding of São Paulo, Ameríndia is the composer’s largest symphony. Effectively a hybrid symphony and oratorio for soloists, chorus and orchestra, it is memorable for its 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 São Paulo Symphony Orchestra’s publishing house) in collaboration with the Academia Brasileira de Música.

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By the 1940s Heitor Villa-Lobos was widely recognized as Latin America’s greatest composer. Working in the United States gave him new perspectives, and his later symphonies move away from the folk influences and exotic effects of works written in the 1920s and 30s, such as the Bachianas Brasileiras, towards more concise, sometimes neo-classical, models. The Eighth and Nineth share a transparent lightness of touch while the Eleventh, described as a work of ‘immediate charm,’ is the perfect introduction to the later work of Villa-Lobos. Since its first concert in 1954 the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra has developed into one of today’s leading orchestras. An indispensable part of Sao Paulo and Brazillian culture that promotes deep cultural and social transformation, the orchestra has released over 60 recordings and has toured throughout Brazil, Latin Aerica, the United States, and Europe. In 2012 Marin Alsop was engaged as principal conductor, and in 2013 she was appointed music director. That same year the orchestra went on a fourth European tour, performing to great acclaim at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the PHilharmonie in Berlin, and at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

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REVIEW:

Isaac Karabtchevsky's sure-footed pacing conveys a deep understanding of these scores. The orchestra is wonderfully on point, which makes an enormous difference in music as finely shaded as this. An absolutely essential release.

– Gramophone

Villa-Lobos’ War and Victory Symphonies were commissioned by the Brazilian government following the end of the country’s involvement in World War I. Using very large orchestral forces, and conveying the composer’s feelings about the conflict with no sense of triumphalism, the two Symphonies display a confident use of unusual and evocative effects, such as the collage of fragments of the Brazilian national anthem and La Marseillaise in the ‘Battle’ movement of the Third Symphony. Villa-Lobos’s Symphonies Nos 6 and 7 can be found on Naxos 8.573043 in “superb...full-blooded” performances. (ClassicalCDReview.com)

Villa-Lobos’ 11 symphonies (numbered 1-12, No. 5 is lost) are the least known of all of his orchestral works, for the simple reason that they largely avoid folkloric elements. This doesn’t mean that they are austere; check out the opening of No. 7 (sound sample). The textures are as lush and exotic as anything in his output, but the melodic material is often elusive, and the form less than clearly articulated. Repeated listening confirms that the composer knew what he was doing, and both of the symphonies offered here feature slow movements of truly striking beauty and atmosphere. In other words, they are well worth getting to know, and ideal for concentrated attention at home.

The Sixth Symphony features a gimmick: its principal thematic ideas were supposedly derived from superimposing a topographical map of Brazil on music paper and reducing the mountainous outline to musical ideas. The result, as you might guess, has a certain unmelodic rise and fall, but Villa-Lobos doesn’t worry too much about that, and after making his initial point the rest of the music sounds, well, normal (for him). Symphony No. 7 is one of his most impressive large works, scored for a huge orchestra and loaded with those characteristic gestures—divided violins, low trombone chords, chattering wind ostinatos—that will be instantly familiar to anyone who knows and loves his music.

CPO has a fine complete symphony cycle available featuring Carl St. Clair and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. You might think that having native players, as here, constitutes an advantage, but that’s not necessarily the case. Isaac Karabtchevsky recorded the least compelling version of the complete Bachianas Brasileiras, but that was a few decades ago with a very inferior Brazil Symphony Orchestra. The São Paulo Symphony is a much finer ensemble, and Karabtchevsky’s performances are far more persuasive here. He’s different enough from St. Clair, marginally slower but arguably to the music’s advantage in the numerous thickly textured passages, that there’s no reason not to collect this new series. The sonics are rich, full, and remarkably clear given the music’s density. This is going to be fun.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Villa-Lobos compiled 137 traditional Brazilian songs into an anthology entitled Guia Prático that later served as the basis for 11 short volumes of piano miniatures under the same title. A pedagogic agenda governs these piano pieces, but not to the rigorous, progressive specifications of, say, Bartók's Mikrokosmos. In fact, the churning rhythms and chordal complexities of Villa-Lobos' piano textures are anything but child's play; yet no matter how sophisticated the pianism, the infectious spirit of the original tunes always remains fresh and vibrant.


Almost every one of the 48 selections included here (books Ten and Eleven are slated for a future release) is a delightful, unpretentious bauble. Sample Espanha, the third piece from Book Two, and you'll get generous helpings of upbeat white-key Petrouchka harmonies, while Book Three No. 5 (Oh, Whirligig!) is pure South American Schumann. Book Five No. 4 (The Stick or Cat Miaow) makes its succinct, lyrical point with simple chromatic chords that remind me of Duke Ellington's intimate keyboard noodling. Either listen in order, or give your random play function a workout, and you'll marvel at Villa-Lobos' unflagging invention from one number to another. It helps, of course, that Sonia Rubinsky's colorful and technically shipshape interpretations are as lovingly nuanced and thoroughly idiomatic as we can desire, and they're beautifully recorded as well. In sum, this valuable addition to the Villa-Lobos discography deserves no less than the highest rating and warmest recommendation. [8/7/2006]
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Is Heitor Villa-Lobos the last great 20th century composer to be rediscovered? Because he wrote so much, it's easier to sidestep rather than face his overwhelming catalog point by point. The folks at Naxos, though, are tackling his Amazonian output, starting with the piano music. Brazilian pianist Sonia Rubinsky controls the undulating chordal syncopations in the wonderful Book One of A Prole do Bebê with a left hand propelled by an imaginary, rock-steady rhythm section, and never lets the pungent dissonances overshadow the melodies. Rarely heard, the delightful Cirandas are virtually the Brazilian equivalant of Bartok's folk-inspired character pieces. The improvisatory Hommage à Chopin evokes the Polish master's decorative syntax, filtered through Villa-Lobos' more lush keyboard deployment. Rubinsky is both on top and inside of the Brazilian composer's idiom, and her vivid playing is beautifully reproduced. As they say in Portuguese: "um CD sensacional."

– Jed Distler

Includes work(s) for gtr by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Soloist: David Leisner.

Originally issued on Marco Polo, these performances make a welcome reappearance on the Naxos label. Villa-Lobos used the "Chôro", a popular type of urban street music found in Rio de Janeiro, as the basis for a new and vibrant type of orchestral composition. Chôros No. 8 evokes a primeval Amazonian jungle with its wonderfully vivid sound-imagery. By making extensive use of Brazilian rhythms and percussion, particularly the caracaxa, which sounds like a huge set of maracas, Villa-Lobos gives the music an impetuous, even sinister feel. This powerful rhythmic thrust pervades throughout, taking a strangely Coplandesque turn for a brief mid-point sequence that brings to mind El salon Mexico.


Chôros No. 9 opens in a brightly festive atmosphere, punctuated by kinetic bass drum thuds. In its colorful character, varied moods, and scenes that segue one into another, the piece is reminiscent of Respighi's Feste Romane (though there's nothing Italianate about Villa-Lobos' language). This is fun stuff--mysterious, exciting, and sensuous--and it's all done with astonishingly authentic flair by the Hong Kong Philharmonic (they really whack the percussion!) under conductor Kenneth Schermerhorn. The 1985 recordings retain their clarity, but also their tendency to brightness. At the Naxos price, this is an irresistible invitation to sample the music of this Brazilian master.
--Victor Carr Jr., ClassicsToday.com

We have long needed a good modern recording of the complete Bachianas Brasileiras, and this set fills the bill nicely. It was exactly 20 years ago, back in 1985, that the late Kenneth Schermerhorn made one of the most distinguished contributions to the early Marco Polo catalog in the form of Villa-Lobos' Choros Nos. 8 and 9, with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. So it's fitting that the maestro returns to the field of his early success two decades later in this valedictory release.


There has been a good deal of recording activity in several of these works, including the recent BIS disc of Nos. 2-4, but no really good complete set has appeared since the old EMI/Batiz edition with the Royal Philharmonic. That includes the composer's own mono recordings, which are useful as guides to pacing and phrasing but are technically third rate in terms of orchestral playing. Jesus Lopez-Cobos on Telarc (Nos. 2, 4, and 8) and Michael Tilson Thomas on RCA (Nos. 4, 5, 7, and 9) also have weighed in successfully with single discs, though the latter's habit of gussying up the composer's orchestration with a hyperactive glockenspiel part is both tacky and annoying.


This newcomer improves on most of these in several respects, not least the remarkably rich and full string playing of the Nashville Symphony in Nos. 1, 5, and 9. The orchestra's cellos in particular reveal an excellent corporate sense of rhythm and well-focused intonation, with none of that grinding and rumbling in the lower register that can ultimately prove so aurally fatiguing. In No. 5, soprano Rosana Lamosa's quick vibrato may not be to everyone's taste, but I like the earthy timbre of her voice. It suits the music and sounds remarkably similar to the tone of the solo cello that partners her. José Feghali's characterful piano playing represents an improvement over the less imaginative Jean Louis Steuerman on BIS, though for me this still remains the weakest piece in the set. None of the extant versions conceals the music's tendency to ramble.


In No. 4, the BIS recording is more spectacular, with excitingly present percussion that sounds rather muffled here (though not in No. 2's famous final toccata). But Schermerhorn delivers the more flavorsome performance, full of riotous color and that feeling of organized chaos that makes the music so exotic and so much fun. The orchestra's principal flute and bassoon play No. 6 as well as anyone has, and the full ensemble really does itself proud in Nos. 7 and 8. It's always worth keeping in mind that Nashville is a musical city, and the style of music really isn't the issue. What matters is the opportunity for first rate instrumentalists to find regular work, whether in the Nashville Symphony or in the studio, and the result is an ensemble of crack players with the ability to learn quickly and play accurately.


The orchestra's sheer professionalism, allied to Schermerhorn's lively and sympathetic response to the composer's idiom, pays big dividends here--because let's face it, some of these pieces aren't even repertory items in Brazil. Consider, for example, that the last complete set from that country regularly available, featuring the Brazil Symphony under Isaac Karabtchevsky, arguably was the worst of them all. The sonics here ideally could be a touch clearer, as noted above in connection with No. 4, but otherwise all credit goes to Naxos, Schermerhorn, the orchestra, and conductor Andrew Mogrelia (in No. 1) for giving us a wonderful new cycle of this richly rewarding and vibrant music at a price that everyone can afford.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Includes song(s) by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Ensemble: Mobius. Soloists: Lorna McGhee, Alison Nicholls.

Brazil is not only coffee, football, carnival, toucans and parrots. There is another, parallel world, which is just as colorful: the world of classical music, most of which is still unknown to Europeans. Indeed, this album is part of a piano project dedicated to the rediscovery and dissemination of Brazilian composers who worked between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. The aim is to emphasize and enhance the universal characteristics of mixture and cultural heritage, erasing the distance between the music and the listener. In order to do this we decided to start with the man who is considered the greatest Brazilian classical musician, Villa-Lobos: a prolific composer, multi-instrumentalist and promoter of cultural renewal.

This selection was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance.

The concertos and chamber works on this album show Villa-Lobos’s unceasing enthusiasm for new colors and sonorities in his music. The Concerto for Guitar and Small Orchestra was his last work for the instrument and written for Segovia. A cornerstone of the repertoire, it contains soaring melodies and rhythmic vitality couched in virtuosic writing. Exploring the instrument’s full harmonic and chromatic possibilities, the Concerto for Harmonica is also deftly orchestrated. New and daring sonic combinations are to be heard in the two chamber works demonstrating the composer’s extraordinary gift for seductive lyricism.

REVIEW:

The more you listen to Villa-Lobos, the more it seems as though he had a giant block of characteristic music that allowed him to cut off chunks of different shapes and sizes that he called “Guitar Concerto”, “Harmonica Concerto”, “Sexteto Místico”, etc. It’s not that it all sounds the same–it’s just so much the product of a single, unique personality. This splendid program consists of chunks featuring unusual instruments, or combinations of instruments. The best known work here is the Guitar Concerto, an almost impossible piece as regards balance of forces that’s marvelously played by Manuel Barrueco. The problems of audibility are easily solved on recordings, as here, by placing the soloist well out in front of the orchestra, but I’m happy to report that performance noises are still minimal.

The Harmonica Concerto is a rarity, and sounds atrociously difficult to perform. If you don’t know the instrument well, you would never imagine its wide range of pitch and expression, and surprisingly pleasant basic timbre. José Staneck must have lips of steel just to get through the piece, but he does much more than that, offering moments of real sensitivity and grace. The Sexteto Místico is a brief work in one movement scored for–get this–flute, oboe, alto saxophone, guitar, harp, and celesta. There’s nothing like it anywhere else, and the sheer sound of it is so captivating that it almost doesn’t matter what notes the musicians are playing. Fortunately, it seems that they offer the right ones.

The most “normal” piece here is the Quinteto Instrumental for flute, harp, and string trio, a substantial work in three movements as long as any of the concertos (about 17 minutes). Villa-Lobos revels in the music’s exotic sounds and luscious textures, and you will too. The uniformly first-rate performances by members of the São Paulo Symphony under the vital and sensitive direction of Giancarlo Guerrero are excellently engineered, making the whole disc a joy from start to finish–a true voyage of discovery and delight.

– ClassicsToday (David Hurwitz)