Luís de Freitas Branco - Orchestral Works Vol. 4 (Álvaro Cassuto)

Information

Composer: Luís de Freitas Branco

• (01) Symphony No. 4
• (05) Vathek, Symphonic Poem in the form of variations on an Oriental Theme

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
Álvaro Cassuto, conductor

Date: 2010
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572624

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 8

Luís de Freitas Branco's symphonies, with their somewhat Franckian cyclical forms (and sometimes melodies), are more conservative than his impressionist, cutting-edge orchestral works from the turn of the 20th century. Vathek is one such, an amazing, luscious, exotic tone poem in the form of a theme and variations. Unperformed until 1950, just five years before the death of its composer, it is a masterpiece, and one of the most remarkable works of its era (there's a variation written with something like 59 string parts, almost an anticipation of Messiaen or Ligeti).

In the Fourth Symphony (1944-52) Branco recaptures his youthful fire. The work mixes the modal melodies of Gregorian chant with tangy dissonances and supple, Latin rhythms. The result recalls the Hindemith of, say, Nobilissima Visione, though the scoring is quite different and the handling of form more traditional (save in the multi-sectional finale). Certainly this is the finest of the composer's four symphonies, and a wonderful work by any measure.

As with previous issues in this series, the performances are splendidly confident. Álvaro Cassuto always is an effective exponent of his countryman's work, but the engineering is a touch dry, and the timpani in the symphony lacks presence. Still, the importance of the repertoire overrides any secondary considerations. Do try to hear this excellent and distinctive music.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/June11/Branco_v4_8572624.htm
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.572624&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freitas-Branco-Symphony-No-4-Vathek/dp/B0048077Z4

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Luís de Freitas Branco (Lisbon, 12 October 1890 – Lisbon, 27 November 1955) was a Portuguese composer, musicologist, and professor of music who played a pre-eminent part in the development of Portuguese music in the first half of the 20th century. Born into an aristocratic family, Freitas Branco had a cosmopolitan education and began composing at a precocious age. He studied music in Berlin and Paris, where he worked with Engelbert Humperdinck and other composers. He became professor of composition in 1916 at the Lisbon Conservatory of Music, where he taught, among many others, Joly Braga Santos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu%C3%ADs_de_Freitas_Branco

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Álvaro Cassuto (born 1938) is a Portuguese composer and conductor. He was born in Porto, Portugal, and studied in Lisbon and Berlin. Cassuto has been music director of the Portuguese Radio Symphony, the New Portuguese Philharmonia, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, the Algarve Orchestra and the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Koussevitzky Memorial Prize. Cassuto has recorded many highly successful CDs for the Strauss, Portugalsom, Marco Polo and Naxos record labels, notably a series of recordings of Portuguese composers for Naxos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvaro_Cassuto

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