Maurice Cliquennois Aline Van Barentzen Henri Branschwak - VillaLobos par luimme (56 tracks) +Album Reviews

For Villalobos Fans Only

the_drone | 04/30/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There is one reason and one reason only to buy this box set of historical recordings made by Villalobos himself in the 1950s: a fanatic admiration for the works of this composer. But you should know that if you love this music, you should be prepared to buy other, more recent, recordings of these works. These are mono recordings, and the sound textures you expect from this composer are therefore muddled and flattened (the beautiful Choros No. 2 is the biggest victim here, which sounds so flat that you will miss the playful contrasts between the flute and the clarinet). You should also know that Villalobos is not a great conductor, but the lack of precision in the playing is often compensated by the emotional weigth he gives to his performances (he appears to have been a crowd pleaser). There are many pleasures, however, and I listen to disc number 3, which includes the Bachianas Brasileiras 4-7 so often that it has become a soundtrack to my life. Bachianas 4 and 7 deserve more listeners. The famous Bachiana Brasileira No. 5 included in this set, is sung by Victoria de los Angeles beautifully, but this performance is also available in a single CD anthology. I am giving this set three stars: one for the historic importance of these EMI records, one for the affordability and completeness of the box set itself (it is a bargain at $6 per CD), and one for the emotional significance of hearing these performances conducted by Villalobos (I am a Latin American and this music fills me with both pleasure and pride)."

It was okay in the early days when V-L was unrecorded

Wildfire | UK | 09/25/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This set comprises a huge array of Villa-Lobos' works conducted by himself and, sorry to say, none too well. He seems to lack the sensitivity other interpreters can bring to his work - he's far from alone in this situation - many composers have fallen into the same trap. The textures are thick, the sound cluttered (mono it might be but surely the engineers could have done better?) and the music simply lacks the excitement of which it is capable to no small degree. In part, the orcehstra is barely capable of performing such music. Stravinsky was one thing - Villa-Lobos' internal rhythmic complexity and stubbornly awkward manuscript writing is something aside. He did not always notate in the simplest way. Probably the best item in the set is the "Discovery of Brazil Suite". At least it received an audience and was not re-recorded until very recently. Some of the Bachianas have been handled better by others but at least this recording was a first complete set. Only the No. 5 was otherwise known. I have to confess that if I'd encountered Villa-Lobos through these performances I doubt I'd have followed through. Thankfully I came in via the accomplished and brilliant performance of his Quintette en forme de Choros by the New York Wind Quintet. Later, I encountered the LPs of the "Discovery of Brazil Suite", credible but flat, compared with other recordings appearing around the same time. Compare, for instance, his own 1958 recording of Forest of the Amazon in which he shows how well he can conduct if he tries, not to forget the superb hi-fi stereo recording that really let light and air into the performance. Nonetheless, I bought this set on the strength of price and to have the "Discovery" Suite on CD, along with a couple of his Bachianas. I would not recommend these discs as an introduction to the composer. Do not be tempted by its modest price!"

Historic

N. Hopkins | Stockton, CA USA | 01/31/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Opposite Rio de Janeiro's small Villa Lobos museum -- in what was his last home -- is a modern apartment building. Its name is Edificio Sebastiao Bach. VL would have loved it: he adored Bach above all other composers. Hence the 'Bachianas Brasilieras' (which, however, owe little to Bach beyond their joy in sound and intricacy in structure).What previous reviewers have said is true. The sound on these disks is abominable. A much better job could be done -- and should have been done -- of remastering the originals. That won't happen unless there's a sudden renewal of interest in the music of this Brazilian master.Further, the the performances -- and the composer's conducting -- are generally lackluster. Still, any VL lover should not be without this set. Toscanini no doubt did a better job with Brahms's symphonies. But who wouldn't give his soul for a recording of Brahms himself conducting the four of them?One special recommendation: the 'Choros' stand close to the summit of VL's art, more so than the BBs. A dance not a choral form, the 'choro' is both universally appealing and quintessentially Brazilian."

An essential set for the serious VL afficionado, but the ant

Discophage | France | 01/19/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There is still available in France a large and popular collection of pocket books, launched in the fifties and originally devoted to writers and poets, then including famous philosophers, painters and what not, under the generic title of "xx par lui-même". A literal translation would be somewhat misleading: "xx by himself" wouldn't mean "solitary" or "all alone" in this context (that would be "tout seul"): "told by himself" would be more apt. That this generic title was voluntarily misleading, as these were NOT in fact auto-biographies written by the artists themselves but studies written by others, simply using many quotes from the artists - as any serious study would do - is another matter.

And no such deception here. This 6-CD set of "Villa-Lobos par lui-même" ("Villa Lobos performed by himself") presents the complete recordings made for Pathé between 1954 and 1958 and conducted by, or (in the case of the occasional Bachianas Brasileiras or Chôros scored for piano or duet) made under the supervision of the composer. As many of his contemporaries who made Paris their second home (Enescu comes to mind), Villa-Lobos shared his life between his native Brazil and Paris. Thus it has an important historical value.

This set is not a first choice for the average music lover just looking for good versions of these pieces in modern sound. More even than what might have been expected given their vintage, these recordings come in distant and uni-dimensional mono sound and consequently lack one feature that, arguably, is indispensable to a full enjoyment of Villa Lobos' music: the sonic lushness, the sense of space. All are available in modern recordings, except for the short and maybe not indispensable patriotic cantata "Invocation for the defense of the fatherland" (written in 1942, when Brazil declared war on Germany), although it has a nice, Bachianas # 5-reminiscent soprano aria over a Christmas Carol-like chorus accompaniment, beautifully sung here by Maria Kareska.

But for the Villa-Lobos fan and collector, this is, needless to say, a basic building-block of one's library. The compilation brings together popular warhorses (the Bachianas Brasileiras, and it is great to get the complete set) and rarities (the four suites from the film music "Discovery of Brazil", the patriotic cantata, the dramatic and colorful 4th Symphony, the 5th Piano Concerto and Momoprecoce in its piano and orchestra version); as for the five Chôros featured here, they belong to both categories: they are part of a set with which Villa Lobos' name is most associated, but still they are not played and recorded so often, especially the orchestral ones. For those who understand French, a nice bonus is the 9:30 speech of Villa Lobos (in French) explaining "what is a Chôros?" But those who don't understand French shouldn't worry too much: Villa Lobos' message is not very clear, and not only because his French is quite approximative. The tenor of what he says, if I understand, is that a Chôros is an elaboration based on the Brazilian street musicians' improvisations with counterpoint in relaxed tempo and sentimental mood. VL started with fairly simple ones (for guitar, then two instruments) and then they grew in complexity - Chôros 11 for piano and orchestra for instance is a stupendous composition of over an hour long. All the compositions present here are enjoyable (except maybe the Piano Concerto, a big hackneyed romantic thing) and some quite original.

Whatever one may think about (e.g., against) the ability of the composer himself acting as performer to best render his own compositions, you can't simply ignore that this is, indeed, the composer's vision - maybe not the last word, maybe not even the best word, but a word that still is an inescapable reference for any subsequent interpretation. Speaking of which: in the early days of the CD Varèse Sarabande published another disc of VL conducting his own works:Chôros # 6 and BB # 7, with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, "direct from the 30IPS master tapes" - recordings from 1954 originally published on LP by the Remington label (Villa Lobos Conducts Villa Lobos: Choros No. 6 & Bachianas Brasileiras No. 7). Etcetera has released some live recordings of VL conducting rare works of his (Heitor Villa-Lobos: Emperor Jones / Suite Floral / DanÃ§as Africanas or Villa-Lobos: Emperor Jones). Finally, his rare recording, with the Symphony of the Air Orchestra, of "Forest of the Amazons", the orchestral suite from the aborted 1959 film score to "Green Mansions"- and this one in genuine stereo - , originally published on LP by United Artists, has also been made available: Forest of the Amazon.

Good notes by the respected French musicologist as well as specialist and erstwhile friend of Villa Lobos, Pierre Vidal. There's an average of circa 70' on each disc.

"

Search - Maurice Cliquennois, Aline Van Barentzen, Henri Branschwak :: Villa-Lobos par lui-même

CD Details

CD Reviews