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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.
Children's Carnaval (Carnaval das çriancas) - 1. The Little Pierrot's Pony (O ginête do pierrozinho)
Children's Carnaval (Carnaval das çriancas) - 2. The Little Devil's Whip (O chicote do diabinho)
Children's Carnaval (Carnaval das çriancas) - 3. Pierrette's Ruse (A manha da pierrete)
Children's Carnaval (Carnaval das çriancas) - 4. The Little Domino's Jingle Bells (Os guizos do dominozinho)
Children's Carnaval (Carnaval das çriancas) - 5. The Little Ragpicker's Adventures (As peripécias do trapeirozinho)
Children's Carnaval (Carnaval das çriancas) - 6. The Coquette's Mischievousness (As traquinices do mascarado mignon)
Children's Carnaval (Carnaval das çriancas) - 7. The Fife of a Precocious Daydreamer (A gaita de um precoce fantasiado)
Choros No.5 Alma Brasileira
A Maré Encheu (Guia Prático)
Valsa da dor
Saudades das Selvas Brasilieras No.2
Pobre cega
Cirandas - 14. A Canoa Virou
A Lenda do Caboclo
Dansa Negra
Ponteio No.24
Toccata
Valse Lente
Tango Brasileiro
Minha Terra
Tres Estudos em forma de Sonatina - 1. Allegro con brio
Tres Estudos em forma de Sonatina - 2. Moderato
Tres Estudos em forma de Sonatina - 3. Allegro scherzoso
Prole do bebe, Book 2 - Os Bichinhos (1921) - 2. O Gatinho de Papelao
Paulistana No.1
Toccata
New York Skyline, W407
Valse Elegante
Quatro Pecas Brasileiras - 1. Maroca
Congada
December 2012
*****
“Freire's kind of artistry raises [the repertoire] to an entirely different level. There's plenty of flair and soul, yet the playing is always crystalline and precise, perfectly pedalled, the colours as subtle as a Debussy prelude...Just drop-dead gorgeous repertoire and performances: I don't think I've enjoyed any piano recording more this year.”
November 2012
“Freire presents a masterlcass in nonchalant playfulness, capturing to perfection the charm of a composer often criticised for being too fecund and unselfcritical but here heard at his best...Freire is a class act - and 'Brasiliero', immaculately recorded by the way, is sheer delight from start to finish.”
23rd August 2012
*****
“Freire characterises and colours each one inimitably, never searching for emotional depths that aren't there, nor attempting to confer profundity on music that is mostly intended simply to be enjoyed...if there is a more perfectly played piano disc released this year, we will be very lucky indeed.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
Children's Carnaval (Carnaval das çriancas) - 1. The Little Pierrot's Pony (O ginête do pierrozinho)
