Tumbling Villa-Lobos

Thanks to this post from the Association Bresilienne de Concerts...

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:56:17 -0400

Thanks to this post from the Association Bresilienne de Concerts blog.

"Villa Lobos, provavelmente, o mais bravo dos guerreiros, comprava brigas e, graças a Deus, venceu..."

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:09:00 -0400

“

Villa Lobos, provavelmente, o mais bravo dos guerreiros, comprava brigas e, graças a Deus, venceu inúmeras batalhas, dividindo a autoria de sua grande obra com o seu próprio povo.

Villa Lobos, probably the bravest of warriors, took on others’ fights and, thank God, won many battles, sharing the authorship of his great work with his own people.

[thanks to Wellington Müller Bujokas for his help with the translation]

”

- Carlos Henrique Machado writes about the composer as “prophet without honor in his own country”, in his excellent Blog da Ava: Musica Popular Brasileira.

It’s clear to me that the MPB culture has completely bought in to the idea that Villa-Lobos shared the authorship of his music with the people of Brazil. As Lee Boyd told me in a recent email, “The Brazilian crossovers from popular to serious art music who are writing now, to a man (and woman), cite Villa as an important influence.”

"Schoenberg, who pretended to a certain omniscience, once said to me in his trembling husky voice,..."

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:18:15 -0400

“Schoenberg, who pretended to a certain omniscience, once said to me in his trembling husky voice, ‘I can see through walls.’”

- Oscar Levant, from his hugely entertaining (but very sad) memoir The Memoirs of an Amnesiac, (Hollywood: Samuel French, 1965), p. 130. This has nothing to do with Villa-Lobos, except that he could see through walls as well.

Eduardo Lopes and the Orchestre national de Lyon perform the...

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:24:34 -0400

Eduardo Lopes and the Orchestre national de Lyon perform the first movement Preludio of the Bachianas Brasileiras #4.

"The work is one of the composer’s major masterpieces, and with brilliant sonics, you’d..."

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:48:15 -0400

“The work is one of the composer’s major masterpieces, and with brilliant sonics, you’d have to be crazy not to buy this disc if you have even a shred of interest in Villa-Lobos.”

- David Hurwitz, in his Classicstoday.com review of the BIS disc Complete Choros v. 1.

"It was my favorite piece of music when I was 15. I heard it with Julian Bream’s ears. Now,..."

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:36:50 -0400

“It was my favorite piece of music when I was 15. I heard it with Julian Bream’s ears. Now, upon studying the piece, I hear it differently.”

- Jason Vieaux talks about the Villa-Lobos Guitar Concerto, in an interview in the St. Petersburg Times. The guitarist will play the Concerto in South Florida three times over the coming weekend with the Florida Symphony.

This looks really interesting - there aren’t enough discs...

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:38:50 -0400

This looks really interesting - there aren’t enough discs with this VL repertoire. We’ll have to see if this disc is easily available outside of Brazil.

From A Floresta do Amazonas - Orquestra Petrobras Sinfônica,...

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:09:35 -0500

From A Floresta do Amazonas - Orquestra Petrobras Sinfônica, conducted by Isaac Karabtchevsky.

Great singing by the male voices of the Coro Sinfônico do Rio de Janeiro, under the direction of Julio Moretzsohn.

A 75th Birthday Tribute to Julian Bream, the Guitar Institute...

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:27:00 -0500

A 75th Birthday Tribute to Julian Bream, the Guitar Institute Celebration at the 92nd Street Y in NYC is featured on the front page of the current Classical Domain site. The highlight for Villa-Lobos lovers will be David Leisner’s performance of the Preludes. I’d love to be there on March 1st. I first heard Villa-Lobos many years ago on an old Bream LP, and Leisner’s is one of my favourite modern recordings.

The fifth Bachianas Brasileiras starts off Day 4 (March 6, 2008)...

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 17:51:00 -0500

The fifth Bachianas Brasileiras starts off Day 4 (March 6, 2008) of Musimars at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University. Featured are Iris Luypaers, soprano + UCCELLO 8 celli.

Villa-Lobos for Wind Band

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:06:00 -0500

Here’s an exciting new disc just announced, from Naxos:

The disc includes a new version on CD of a superb late Villa-Lobos work for Concert Band: The Concerto Grosso for Wind Quartet and Wind Orchestra.

Performed by: President’s Own United States Marine Band, The
Composed by: Heitor Villa-Lobos
Conducted by: Jose Serebrier
Gail Gillespie, flute
Leslye Barrett, oboe
Lisa Kadala, clarinet
Christopher McFarlane, bassoon

You can hear a preview of the disc on the Naxos Direct site.

Or download the same work, performed by the DePaul University Wind Ensemble on a 2001 Albany CD, from emusic.com.

Villa-Lobos’s signature, one of many by famous musicians...

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:28:00 -0500

Villa-Lobos’s signature, one of many by famous musicians who signed The Bakaleinikoff Tablecloth, now in the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh.

"Villa-Lobos gets his hands dirty and is fastidious at the same time."

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:59:15 -0500

“Villa-Lobos gets his hands dirty and is fastidious at the same time.”

- Bernard Holland, in a fine NY Times review of “The Villa-Lobos Experience”, a Feb. 9, 2008 concert in NYC.

In a clip from Korean Television, Lee Song-Ou plays the third...

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:58:49 -0500

In a clip from Korean Television, Lee Song-Ou plays the third Prelude.

"Mr. Villa-Lobos was a good conductor, especially of his own music. He could conduct with a glance."

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 13:50:04 -0500

“Mr. Villa-Lobos was a good conductor, especially of his own music. He could conduct with a glance.”

- Wesley Wehr, The Eighth Lively Art: Conversations with Painters, Poets, Musicians, and the Wicked Witch of the West

From the Music on Stamps blog. I haven’t seen the Cuban...

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:38:26 -0500

From the Music on Stamps blog. I haven’t seen the Cuban stamp before. I’ll need to see what kind of instrument a “Tompeta con resonador de calabaza” is, and where Villa used it.

"In his conducting he bounced along with the beat animatedly and managed to keep the sometimes..."

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 21:06:22 -0500

“In his conducting he bounced along with the beat animatedly and managed to keep the sometimes complicated rhythms clear of each other…. The further afield he goes, the more likely he is to bring back discoveries of true charm and value.”

- Paul Bowles on Music, p. 220

Bassoonist Benjamin Coelho’s disc Bravura Bassoon includes...

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:27:17 -0500

Bassoonist Benjamin Coelho’s disc Bravura Bassoon includes a Villa-Lobos piece I’ve never heard, or heard of: it’s called “Corrupio: Bailado.” I haven’t had a chance to listen to this disc yet, but the first minute of the VL piece, for bassoon and string quartet, is very appealing. Listen to excerpts from each of the tracks on Amazon.com’s Music Sampler, and buy Bravura Bassoon here.

"When in 1936 he was invited to take part in the Congress for Musical Education in Prague, he flew..."

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:14:00 -0500

““When in 1936 he was invited to take part in the Congress for Musical Education in Prague, he flew the ocean in the Zeppelin, and at the Congress could hardly speak of anything except the wonders of transoceanic travel by air.””

- Nicholas Slonimsky, “A Visit with Villa-Lobos,” Musical America, October 16, 1941, p. 10

Here’s a poster for regularly scheduled passenger service between Europe and Brazil from Hamburg-Amerika Line, from an excellent online exhibit from Denmark “The Airship is Coming!”

"It still reveals things to me — fortunately, there is enough technical and melodic stuff that..."

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 12:14:46 -0500

““It still reveals things to me — fortunately, there is enough technical and melodic stuff that I can play it repeatedly and not get tired of it.””

- Robert Bonfiglio, on the Harmonica Concerto (from an interview in the Louisville Courier-Journal). Bonfiglio plays the concerto on February 2nd with the Louisville Orchestra.