Claudio Santoro - Symphonies Nos. 4 & 9 (John Neschling)

Information

Composer: Claudio Santoro

• Symphony No. 4 (Sinfonia da Paz)
• Ponteio, for string orchestra
• Symphony No. 9
• Frevo

São Paulo Symphony Choir & Orchestra

John Neschling, conductor

Date: 2006

Label: BIS

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

Brazilian composer Claudio Santoro (1919-89) ranges all over the place stylistically. His Fourth Symphony sounds recognizably American, with shades of Copland or Carlos Chavez. It ends with a catchy Brazilian folk dance on top of which the chorus sings a rather tacky poem in praise of peace, supposedly reflective of the composer’s communist ideology. Happily, the text never sinks to the depth of the Socialist Realist junk that Shostakovich used in his Second and Third Symphonies; instead, the whole piece has a breezy appeal that’s quite charming. The slow movement is particularly beautiful. So, for that matter, is Ponteio for string orchestra, while Frevo is another splashy and fun essay in folk style.

The Ninth Symphony (1982) is another matter altogether. The level of dissonance is higher, the mood unrelentingly serious, and there are quotations from Beethoven’s Ninth along the way (very well integrated and cleverly used). In short, it’s a tougher nut and it may not appeal to listeners who like the populist Fourth Symphony, but there’s no denying the composer’s high level of craftsmanship, and after listening a couple of times the music springs into focus. Nevertheless, the performances are extremely good, like most of the releases from these forces. The São Paulo Symphony under John Neschling never sounds less than fully committed, and the BIS sonics are terrific. Worth hearing, for sure.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
MusicWeb International  RECORDING OF THE MONTH

https://www.allmusic.com/album/claudio-santoro-symphonies-4-9-ponteio-frevo-mw0001846914

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Claudio Santoro (23 November 1919 – 27 March 1989) was an internationally renowned Brazilian composer, conductor and violinist. He was a pupil of Hans-Joachim Koellreutter at the Conservatório Brasileiro de Música, and he also studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Santoro co-founded and played in the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. His prolific output was mostly instrumental and includes fourteen symphonies, three piano concertos and seven string quartets. He was a member of the Brazilian Academy of Music, the Brazilian Academy of Arts and President of the Academy of Music and Letters of Brazil.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Santoro

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John Neschling (born May 13 1947, Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian conductor. He studied under Hans Swarowsky and Reinhold Schmid in Vienna, and under Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa in Tanglewood. Neschling has been music director of Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, Sankt Gallen Theater in Switzerland, Teatro Massimo in Palermo and the Bordeaux Opera. During the twelve years under his leadership (1997–2008), the São Paulo State Symphony became a first rate international orchestra, and recorded a series of CDs of Brazilian and international music, winning five Diapason d'Or and one Latin Grammy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Neschling

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