![[Sharps and Flats]](sharps.gif)
RECENT REVIEWS:
2/24/97: 2/21/97: 2/20/97: 2/19/97: 2/18/97: SEARCH MUSIC ARCHIVES BY:
|
Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the New World Symphony Renee Fleming, soprano; BBC Singers [RCA Victor Red Seal] With its sparkling renditions of four out of nine of Brazilian composer Hector Villa-Lobos' so-called Bachianas Brasileiras joined to the composer's brutally colorful Choros No. 10, "Alma Brasileira" should be a popular addition to the catalog. Certainly conductor Michael Tilson Thomas means it to be. In a videotaped interview, Tilson Thomas describes the recording process as "layer by layer," much in the manner of a pop session. He wanted to record in this way, Tilson Thomas says, in order to bring out the rhythmic lines of these pieces, which he sees as reflecting Villa-Lobos' "street sense of folk, of melody and cadence and dance rhythm," as well as his profound love of Bach. A few months before the taping began, Tilson Thomas brought his New World Symphony, comprising young players from all over the world, to Brazil, where they listened to Brazilian folk musicians. The results justify Tilson Thomas' care. From the first swelling phrases of Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, Tilson Thomas' Villa-Lobos is grand, grander and with a bigger sound than the composer's own recordings. It's also lively and vibrant. The most famous piece, at least in this country, is the Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, scored originally for eight cellos and soprano. It begins with a haunting, wordless vocal so appealing that it has been sung by everyone from Victoria de los Angeles to Joan Baez. The most recent recording of this piece that I have heard is Branford Marsalis' transcription for tenor saxophone. Tilson Thomas is clearly closer to the original, even if he expands the cello section -- to fit his sense of the music's inherent nobility, I assume, and also to satisfy his orchestra's natural desire to play along. He has a star singer in Renee Fleming, whose rich, fruity voice and sensitive shading of the melody is affecting as well as tonally lush. Of course there is some powerful competition here: The first recording, a nearly definitive performance by Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayoa conducted by the composer, has just been reissued (by Sony), as has Victoria de los Angeles' elegant monophonic version (Angel). Many listeners will prefer the richness and clarity of the sound of this 20-bit recording,
despite its marginally exaggerated stereo imaging. As he has done with his Gershwin discs,
Tilson Thomas suggests the dignity of these pieces, their continuity as well as their color, without underplaying their rhythmic power and folksy charm.
--Michael Ullman Michael Ullman is a professor of music and English at Tufts University. |
"ALMA BRASILEIRA: MUSIC OF VILLA-LOBOS"