Heitor Villa-Lobos - Piano Music (Marc-André Hamelin)

Information

Composer: Heitor Villa-Lobos

• (01-03) As três Marias
• (04-11) Prole do bebê 1
• (12-20) Prole do bebê 2
• (21) Rudepoema

Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Date: 2000
Label: Hyperion
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67176

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

Heitor Villa-Lobos was a prolific though maddeningly inconsistent composer. At his best, as in the selections on this disc, he produced music that's among the 20th century's finest. It's definitely among that century's most demanding, for only pianists of transcendent technique can do it full justice. That makes it a perfect fit for Marc-André Hamelin, who specializes in music beyond the reach of most pianists and makes it all sound easy. He does it again on this disc with performances that should not be missed.

The well-chosen recital opens with the lovely miniatures of As Três Marias in captivating renditions highlighted by dazzling runs. The two suites, A Prole do Bebê, follow. Dating from 1918 and 1921, these 17 pieces are imaginative reflections on childhood, calling across the decades to Schumann's Kinderszenen. Suite No. 1 consists of keyboard portraits of the child's dolls; No. 2 of toy animals. If that raises red flags, put aside your fears--these works are charming but unsentimental, full of lovely melodies, adventurous harmonies, and rhythmic variety. Hamelin's crisp articulation even at breathtaking speeds is a thing to marvel at--listen to his scintillating "O Polichinello"--but he also excels in the many poetically reflective pieces.

Artur Rubinstein, in an RCA disc of highlights from his 1961 Carnegie Hall concerts, may find a bit more character and variety in six selections from the first Suite, and Brazilian pianist Sonia Rubinsky (Naxos) in the same work may show an even more impressive command of the composer's idiom, but Hamelin's dazzling pianism trumps both. The disc ends with Rudepoêma (Savage Poem), a single-movement, 19-minute work among the most challenging in the repertoire. Rudepoêma can be described (with license) as Le Sacre du printemps meets the Brazilian jungle. Its dense harmonies, feral rhythms, and extreme virtuosic demands play to Hamelin's strengths, and he gives it a masterful performance. Add realistic sound and this disc becomes indispensable.

-- Dan Davis, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: *****
https://www.amazon.com/Piano-Music-Heitor-Villa-Lobos/dp/B00004TQP5

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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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Marc-André Hamelin (born September 5, 1961 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer. Hamelin is recognized worldwide for the originality and technical brilliance of his performances of the classic repertoire. He has made recordings of a wide variety of composers with the Hyperion label. He is well known for his attention to lesser-known composers especially of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and for performing works by pianist-composers. Hamelin has also composed several works, including a set of piano études in all of the minor keys.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc-Andr%C3%A9_Hamelin

http://www.marcandrehamelin.com/

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