Search - Villa-Lobos, Abel, Szidon :: Violin Sonatas

The Third Sonata is the masterpiece here, and the compositio

Discophage | France | 03/23/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you want to hear Villa Lobos, go directly to the third Sonata. It was composed in 1920 and it is marvellously original, its first movement highly seductive, full of strange and sensuous melodic turns and harmonies, the second movement whimsical and gay, and the third movement sweepingly passionate, with a piano part that at times pounds ala Prokofiev, and a violin part displaying ear-catching flights of fancy, such as 2:43 and after. Enesco's Third Sonata often came to mind - and that was composed six years later. I would unhesitatingly rank it among the masterpieces of the violin-piano literature from the first 50 years of the 20th Century, along with Bartok's and Bloch's two, Enesco's Third and his Impressions d'Enfances, Szymanowski's Mythes - oh, and Debussy and Ravel's, of course. Who am I forgetting?



Of course, the two previous ones - dubbed Fantasy-Sonatas by the composer - were also written by Villa Lobos, but they date from 1912 and 1914, and they are not strongly personal: at 25, Villa Lobos was still a burgeoning composer (his first published works date from 1913, and his two great "Amazonian" masterpieces for orchestra, Amazonas and Uirapuru, date from 1916) and had yet to find his own voice.



The two Sonatas are surprisingly Romantic, written in the style less of Debussy as the notes contend (and Debussy's Violin Sonata dates from 1917 anyway) than of the Franck-Schola Cantorum school: echoes of D'Indy, Vierne, Pierné, Widor came to mind. Mind you, they are excellent specimens of that genre and can take pride of place with those written by the composers mentioned above - but they simply aren't significant of what made Villa Lobos the unique musician that he became. Sometimes the music comes near being salon-sentimental-schmaltzy, sometimes it is quite beautiful, and the most interesting moments are the most whimsical passages (the first Sonata's Cadenza is among these). But still, Villa Lobos' unique style is to be found in the Third.



The recording was made in 1982, and comes in vivid sonics, with a perspective slightly favoring the piano. The original Bayer CD had become hard to find, but here's the good news: it's just been reissued by the cheapo cheapo Brilliant Classics label (which is how I have it) - not yet listed on this site, though. You'll find it under ASIN B001F5IOGG on the European sister companies.

"

Magnificent chamber couple!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 06/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had the huge privilege to watch this team twice in the middle seventies. Both of them are etremely well gifted musicians. In the second opportunity they gave an unforgettable recital with Bartok, Brahms and Villalobos.

Believe me when I tell you the talent and cgharisma of Sziidon and the penetrating and fabuluos msuicality of Jenny Abel will amaze you.

Go for these hard to get chamber worrks of this notable Brazilian composer and surprise with those works. Villalobos must be known far beyond his legendary Bachianas. His piano music and Cello Concerts are by themselves superb expression of genuine expression of musical genius.

Highly recommended!"