Revueltas: Sensemayá

“Anybody who has been lucky enough to experience Gustavo Dudamel and his remarkable orchestra in a concert will want to hear this collection, a live recording from Caracas which captures the sheer joy and panache of their music-making...Dudamel has patented his own unique brand of music-making that is very special indeed.” The Guardian, 6th June 2008 *****

“The playing is polished and spirited and, if you relish catchy rhythms and vivid colours interlaced with some brooding Latin passion, then this disc is for you.” The Telegraph, 16th April 2009 ***

“This is highly listenable, lyrical fare with shades of Copland and Gershwin, the participants' passion audible in every bar” Classic FM Magazine, November 2010 ****

“[Alondra de la Parra] does a real service with this beautifully performed survey of works from the late 19th century to the present. For many, the music will be a real find, from the sunny and infectious “Huapango” of José Pablo Moncayo to the unabashedly lush Intermezzo from Ricardo Castro’s opera “Atzimba.”” New York Times, 26th November 2010

“One happy consequence of the Bolívar Orchestra's ascendancy is that Latin American repertoire previously known to connoisseurs has gained circulation… the one widely acknowledged masterpiece, Sensemayá by Silvestre Revueltas, which emulates The Rise of Spring in its sound but has its own Mexican character. Dudamel paces it beautifully, slow enough for the energetic strings and forthright brass to have maximum effect as it builds up.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 ****

“As music writers, we often twist ourselves into a pretzel trying to define what makes one interpretation superior to the next, but there's something about this performance that just is. …it's the infectious hardcore Latin spirit that, once sampled, stayed embedded in your imagination.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2008

“A disc devoted to works by Venezuelan, Mexican and Argentinian composers (along with the Latin American-inspired Mambo from Bernstein’s West Side Story) might seem too much of a good thing, but the spirit of the performances is infectious and the music will appeal to a much wider audience than just concert-goers. The highlight here is the Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s brilliantly orchestrated Dances from the Ballet, Estancia (Ranch), a sort of Latin American response to Copland’s Rodeo. The Bernstein rounds off the “fiesta” in rollicking style. The verve and enthusiasm of these remarkable young musicians more than compensate for some less than inspired scores and rough edges in the playing.” Sunday Times, 22nd June 2008 ***

“I am not sure anything quite like Gustavo Dudamel and his extraordinary group of young musicians have ever hit the Proms before. Whatever you have read about the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra can't convey the brilliance and disarming exuberance of their playing” Andrew Clements, The Guardian

“There is, as expected, plenty of energy on display, from the young musicians as much as from the music itself, but there is also repose and atmosphere. Ultimately, though, it is the festive that wins out. The whole disc...is a celebration of youthful talent.” The Telegraph, 5th July 2008

“The sheer verve and power of his music leads one to think of Revueltas as primarily an orchestral composer, but many of his works are written for relatively modest forces (or started out that way, like Sensemayá, given a spirited performance here). Often, it's the ferocity of his sound – and liberal use of percussion – that gives the music a bigger texture than its actual layout might suggest.
Even so relatively modest a piece as the playful octet Ocho x Radio (1933) feels like a small orchestral score. Curiously, the early Pieza paradoce instrumentos (1929; left untitled by Revueltas) seems much smaller in scale despite being longer.
The four movements chart a gentle course in increasing tempi from Lento to Allegro. Here the burlesque and grotesque strains in his musical psyche were yet to be allowed full rein, but were unleashed in El renacuajo paseador ('The Wandering Tadpole', 1933), with its quotations and teasing allusions. The tiny suite describes how a tadpole meets an untimely end after going out for a drink with a mouse, the moral of which did not deter the composer from terminal alcoholism.
Caminando (1937) is a real find.
One of the final projects Revueltas worked on was Luis Córdova's 'caustic satire on fascism', Este era un Rey ('Once there was a King', 1940).
The Preludio y Fuga ritmicos by his close friend José Pomar completes a splendid disc – derived from concert performances – that deserves every success. Highly recommended.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“With some typically informative Naxos documentation, this disc of music by a little known but immensely gifted composer can be recommended with much enthusiasm” MusicWeb International