Carlos Seixas

Virgin Classics is proud to present a new batch of titles from the Veritas x2 series. From 11th-century polyphony to Bruckner, these exclusive 2-CD sets focus on baroque and early music performed only on period instruments. Award-winning performances, Veritas x2 is the finest collection of period instrument recordings available today.

During his all-too-brief life, the Andalusian composer Manuel Blasco de Nebra (1750-1784) left behind a handful of keyboard works that evoke Scarlatti's concise forms and extraordinary powers of invention. Each of the sonatas consists of two movements: an adagio followed by a fast finale. The adagios are stark and full of gut-wrenching, slowly resolving dissonant moments, while unpredictable twists and turns characterize the almost Haydn-esque Allegros and Prestos, as well as the E minor Pastorela Minuet's discursive melodic trajectory. At times Blasco de Nebra foreshadows future soulmates; you might mistake the Op. 1 C minor sonata finale's persistent dotted rhythms for Schumann's. Javier Perianes understands what makes de Nebra tick, borne out by his varied articulations, wide dynamic spectrum, and shapely embellishments.

The Spanish and Portuguese influence in Domenico Scarlatti’s rhythms and, perhaps to a lesser extent, melodies are distinctive features of his keyboard style. Sophie Yates has chosen these evocative gestures in Scarlatti’s sonatas as determining characteristics of her recital Fandango – Scarlatti in Iberia. In fact, only four of the 13 items in her programme are by Scarlatti himself, the remaining pieces being by José Larrañaga, Seixas, Sebastian Albero y Añaños, and Soler, whose colourful ‘Fandango’ concludes her disc. Readers who know their Scarlatti will not need to be reminded either of the bold originality or of the wonderful variety of colours and sentiments present in his harpsichord sonatas.

Spanish and Portuguese organs are celebrated for their excellent trumpets (en chamade), but their splendid flutes, prestants, cornets, and reeds are less widely known. From the second half of the 17th century, organists in Spain and Portugal delighted in recreating the sounds of the battlefield on their instruments. The batalha has a simple harmonic structure; its interest lies principally in the stirring rhythm.

According to Nelson Motta's biography of Tim Maia, "Vale Tudo," this record had a working title of "Verão Carioca" and marks the period where Tim began imbibing large quantities of coke. Whatever, Motta's book is in fact poorly written, lacking any kind of sources, or even a comprehensive discography (or a partial one, for that matter). But Motta was a personal friend, so we have to take his word. What is for certain is that this is the record where disco begins to be felt in his music in a positive way. Rug burners like "Feito Pra Dançar" nestle alongside low-down heavy funk like "E Necessario." Another highlight is "Não Esquente a Cabeça" which has memorable hooks and melodies, and tasty electric piano and guitar work over a smokey post-bossa pan-latin groove.

La gran maestría de Genoveva Galvez, especialista en el repertorio para clave de músicos españoles, en un disco magnifico e interesante, muy difícil de encontrar actualmente.
Genoveva Gálvez es considerada como la responsable del resurgimiento del estudio del clave en España. Su amplia carrera fonográfica incluye más de una docena de discos, en los que ha interpretado a diversos y variados autores, como Johann Sebastian Bach y Domenico Scarlatti.