Heitor Villa-Lobos - Cello Concertos (Antônio Meneses)

Information

Composer: Heitor Villa-Lobos

• (01-03) Cello Concerto No. 1
• (04-07) Cello Concerto No. 2
• (08-10) Fantasia for Cello and Orchestra

Antônio Meneses, cello
Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia
Víctor Pablo Pérez, conductor

Date: 1999
Label: Audivis Valois

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

These three magnificent works belong in the repertoire of cellists everywhere. They are full of Villa-Lobos’ signature exotic instrumental textures, folk-like melodies, and abundant invention. They are also harder than hell to play, and difficult to balance. Villa-Lobos was a cellist himself, and loved the instrument’s low, dark register. Penetrating his dense orchestration without making the instrument sound like a dying cow is just one of the many challenges facing cellists attempting to come to grips with this marvelously expressive music, though recordings can solve this problem with sensitive microphone placement. Antonio Meneses understands both the music and its performance problems, and his lower register manages to sound gruff without undue signs of bovine distress. He’s helped by some very sensitive accompaniments; Pérez projects the music’s lush timbres without laying it on too thick. There’s very little competition in this music (principally the Second Concerto on Dorian, and the two numbered concertos on MDG), and I have no hesitation in recommending this disc to anyone who loves Villa-Lobos, the cello, or both.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

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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

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Antônio Meneses (born in Recife, 23 August 1957) is a Brazilian cellist. He began to study the cello when he was ten, and studied with Antonio Janigro in Düsseldorf and Stuttgart. In 1977, he won the first Prize at the International Competition in Munich and in 1982 he was awarded first Prize and gold Medal at the Tchaikowsky Competition in Moscow. Meneses regularly performs with renowned orchestras, and is also the guest at many important music festivals. He regularly gives chamber music concerts, and was the cellist of the Beaux Arts Trio from October 1998 until its end in 2008.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B4nio_Meneses
http://www.antoniomeneses.com/

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