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

Information

Composer: Heitor Villa-Lobos

• Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, for soprano and orchestra of violoncelli
• Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, Version for piano solo
• Bachianas Brasileiras No. 6, for flute and bassoon
• 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

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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

https://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

https://www.amazon.com/Bachianas-Brasileiras-HEITOR-VILLA-LOBOS/dp/B000UJ2O6Y

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Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887 – November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist. 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 2,000 works by his death in 1959. His music was influenced by both Brazilian folk music and stylistic elements from the European classical tradition, and is well represented on the world's recital and concert stages and on compact disc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heitor_Villa-Lobos

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Roberto Minczuk (born April 23, 1967) is a Brazilian conductor. Of Belarusian and Polish descent, he was born in São Paulo and studied at the Escola Municipal de Música. In 1981 he went to the United States to study at the Juilliard School, graduating in 1987. In 1984 he debuted as a conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra. Minczuk held positions as associate artistic director and associate conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, of the Ribeirão Preto Symphony and titular conductor of the University of Brasília Symphony Orchestra. He is made music director of the New Mexico Philharmonic in 2017.

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

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