Saturday, May 30, 2015

Villa-Lobos for two guitars, from a 1958 LP

You can listen to this 1958 LP from guitarists Graciela Pomponio and Jorge Martinez Zarate, which includes three Villa-Lobos pieces from Petizada and Cirandas, at the excellent Gallica website.

Monday, May 25, 2015

New Guitar Manuscripts CD


Naxos will release the third and final volume in Andrea Bissoli's series entitled "Villa-Lobos: The Guitar Manuscripts," in July 2015. Two premiere recordings are included, both arranged by Bissoli: a version of the early Tarantela, and 14 songs from the Guia pratico, played by Bissoli and the Ensemble Cirandinha. The main work on the CD, though, is the 1928 manuscript version of the Douze Etudes.

 
Finally, Naxos has included a fairly rarely-recorded orchestral work: O papagaio do moleque, a story about kite-flying which is performed by the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra. Villa-Lobos loved flying kites as much as playing billiards and smoking big cigars. I look forward to hearing this!


Friday, May 15, 2015

Primitive Canticles


In this photo from the Library of Congress, dancer Martha Graham is shown in a pose from Two Primitive Canticles, a ballet from 1932 with music by Villa-Lobos. The ballet was divided into two sections: "Ave" and "Salve", but I don't know what the music was.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

New York World's Fair Music Festival


Walter Burle Marx conducts the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra in this long program full of Brazilian goodies, part of the World's Fair Music Festival. This program is from the excellent NYPO Digital Archives.