Heitor Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras Nos. 1, 4, 5 & 6 (Roberto Minczuk)

Information

Composer: Heitor Villa-Lobos

• (01-02) Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, for soprano and orchestra of violoncelli
• (03-06) Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, Version for piano solo
• (07-08) Bachianas Brasileiras No. 6, for flute and bassoon
• (09-11) Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1, for orchestra of violoncelli

Donna Brown, soprano
Jean Louis Steuerman, piano
Sato Moughalian, flute
Alexandre Silvério, bassoon
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Roberto Minczuk, conductor

Date: 2007
Label: BIS
http://bis.se/conductors/minczuk-roberto/villa-lobos-bachianas-brasileiras-nos-1-and-4-6

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

The excellent BIS Bachianas cycle turns to the instrumental and chamber sets

I hate to nit-pick but this excellent complete Bachianas brasileiras (previous instalments having contained Nos 2‑4 and 7‑9 – 2/07) is not quite complete. This might seem ungrateful given BIS’s inclusion of both versions of No 9 and the piano original of No 4 but Villa-Lobos’s arrangement for soprano and guitar of the Aria (Cantilena) that originally comprised No 5 – before he added the Dança (Martelo) in 1945 – is missing (although it has been recorded before). In truth, it is a minor cavil amid the riches on offer. The cellists of the São Paulo SO give measured and beautifully poised accounts of Nos 1 and 5 and the performers catch the intimacy one expects of the medium. Donna Brown is in fine voice in No 5; if not displacing Hendricks (EMI, 11/87) or De los Angeles (EMI), neither is she outclassed by them and I prefer her account to Symonds (Naxos, 12/05) or Guimarães (Iris, 2/02).

No 4 may well be the most unfamiliar to those who know the standard “orchestral” version, at once more immediate in the closeness of its sound and evocative of Bach in its use of a keyboard. Jean Louis Steuerman (no relation, it seems of the great Eduard) plays with great finesse and understanding, though he faces stiff opposition from both Petchersky (ASV, 9/88) and Freire (Warner). These rivals though are not part of cycles and Steuerman’s account accords nicely with its companion pieces. Stunning BIS sound, as usual.

Irineu Franco Perpétuo’s booklet-note states that the First Bachiana was composed in 1932 although “only the last two movements of the piece were played [at the premiere], which has led some authors to suppose that the first movement was composed later”. I would be intrigued to know the authority for this as the dating of the score is inconclusive and the composer notorious for misleading enquirers about all aspects of his life and music.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Nov07/Villa-Lobos_biscd1410.htm
https://www.allmusic.com/album/villa-lobos-bachianas-brasileiras-nos-1-4-5-6-mw0001867007

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887 – November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known South American composer of all time. A prolific composer, he wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works, totaling over 2000 works by his death in 1959. His music was influenced by both Brazilian folk music and by stylistic elements from the European classical tradition, as exemplified by his Bachianas Brasileiras (Brazilian Bachian-pieces).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heitor_Villa-Lobos

***

Roberto Minczuk (born 23 April, 1967 in São Paulo) is a conductor Brazil. He is the Music Director of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in Canada and the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra as well as the Artistic Director of the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro. He has held the positions of Co-artistic Director and Associate Conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (Osesp), and in 2005 he was its Principal Guest Conductor. Minczuk has conducted orchestras across the North America and Europe, and has records several albums for Naxos and BIS.
http://www.atlantasymphony.org/About/Artists/Guest-Conductors/Roberto-Minczuk
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Minczuk

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!