Mignone: Congada (Danca brasileira)

Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire’s eagerly awaited new album, Brasileiro: Villa-Lobos & Friends, pays tribute to his country’s greatest composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos, upon the 125th anniversary of his birth.

In containing Freire’s personal choice of rarely recorded pieces by seven other lesser-known Brazilian composers whose music helped shape his artistic personality during his formative early years, the album also offers a sonic “portrait of the pianist as a young man”.

Comprising works that roughly span the seventy or so years of Villa-Lobos’s own lifetime, Freire’s chosen repertoire chronicles the efforts of three generations of Brazilian composers to forge a recognisably national musical language out of an amalgam of European influences and indigenous folk and popular styles.

In combination with his trademark technical mastery and legendary sense of melodic line, Nelson Freire’s quintessentially Latin American temperament and innate sense of rhythmic ease ensure that he brings a uniquely authentic touch to the rarely heard piano music of his native land.

On this disc we present a veritable feast of early to mid-twentieth century orchestral music by composers from Argentina, Peru, Brazil, and Columbia. The works are all premier recordings, and brimming with Afro-Cuban and Creole folk-inspired sounds, as well as dance influences from the Argentine tango.

Piazzolla’s little-known Milongón Festivo shows an interesting mix of styles, in which the Argentine tango is tempered by the influences of Stravinsky, Bartók, and jazz. Commissioned by Piazzolla’s son, the version on this recording is Castagna’s own arrangement for full symphony orchestra, notably without the use of bandoneón – a musical instrument reminiscent of the accordion, and traditionally an integral part of Argentine tango orchestras.

Also on this disc, folk music meets impressionism in two works by the Argentine composer Carrillo, while Congada by Mignone is inspired by Afro-Brazilian dance music, and Valcárcel demonstrates his strong Peruvian style in Concierto Indio, a work for solo violin and orchestra.

The Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen is one of the most prominent orchestras in Germany, sought after both at home and internationally. It is conducted by Gabriel Castagna, who has worked with numerous orchestras in the US, Europe, and Japan. Latin American music is a speciality of his, and he has received popular and critical acclaim for his many performances and recordings of works by Argentine composers, Piazzolla in particular.

The recordings by the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra of works by Villa-Lobos, Camargo Guarnieri and other Brazilian composers have demonstrated the variety of their national music and the multi-faceted nature of Brazilian dance.

Alexandre Levy’s Samba and Alberto Nepomuceno’s Batuque are early examples of a Brazilian art music which draws heavily on the dance rhythms of popular music.

Notable latter-day examples are Antônio ‘Tom’ Jobim with his Chegada dos Candangos from 1960 and Edino Krieger’s Passacaglia for the New Millennium.

Roberto Minczuk has previously led the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in acclaimed performances of Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras on BIS (BISCD1830/32), and here returns with this colourful collection of dances for symphony orchestra.