Search - Heitor Villa-Lobos, Enrique Arturo Diemecke, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela :: Villa-Lobos: Symphony No. 4/Cello Concerto No. 2/Amazonas

Another time and strange far-away places

David R. Forrest | Rockville, MD United States | 01/10/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Whenever I listen to this CD I feel like I'm listening to the soundtrack of a black and white movie from the 1930's, except that the movie is in fast forward. Villa-Lobos was quite gifted at weaving disparate musical themes into the patchwork of his creations, with sometimes variable levels of success (the listener can become a bit bewildered at how quickly the thematic changes occur). The music is not for everyone but I personally enjoy it immensely whenever I'm in a Villa-Lobos mood. When I listen, I close my eyes and imagine what sort of movie scenes would fit the musical pictures he paints and am invariably taken to the earlier part of the 1900s and an unfamiliar foreign land. According to the liner notes, Villa-Lobos explored the themes of war, victory, and peace in his symphonies 3, 4, and 5--the title piece for this CD being "Victoria." The third part of the recording, the ballet Amazonas, tells a story of a forest princess and a monster.It's difficult to rate the quality of the performance, since the music is so strange and unfamiliar (even though I've listened to the CD plenty of times); overall I would rate it "good," doing justice to the material. Diaz performs the cello concerto with skill and sensitivity, and it never becomes an exercise in virtuosity. The listener hears the music, not the performer. The quality of the recording is adequate, though one does feel a bit distant from the orchestra (doesn't have that 'music hall' presence). This may contribute to the "old movie" feeling, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The liner notes provide additional background on the music and performers."