Schmitt: La Tragedie De Salome, Le Palais Hante, Psaume 47 Tortelier, Bullock, Sao Paulo Symphony (2011)

Camargo Guarnieri (1907-1993). Guarnieri was actually christened with the first name of Mozart by his poor but musically rich parents. He studied in France and the US, where Copland praised his music.While remaining absolutely to his nationalist roots, his style owes nothing to that of Villa-Lobos, being far more disciplined and neo-classical in outlook. This music is a little dissonant, with a intense and complex structure that delights in taking the listener along with it.

Sentimental, dynamic, exuberant, multi-talented and extremely eclectic, Francisco Mignone, whose Italian background brought a sense of universality to his musical nationalism, was a leading figure in the Brazilian music scene during the 20th century. The Clarinet Concertino and Bassoon Concertino share a nationalist idiom: the dialogues between soloist and orchestra extend into expressive duets with the exciting use of rapid embolada – a Brazilian form of poetry and song. The elegant Guitar Concerto is filled with drama and vitality, while the Violin Concerto was summed up by one critic as ‘the greatest work of this challenging genre in the history of Brazilian music.'

BIS has done it again! If you’ve been collecting any of the marvelous unknown composers that this label has been advocating over the years, including Tubin, Tveitt, Klami, or (from this source) Guarnieri, then you’re going to love this fabulous new disc of music by Brazilian composer Francisco Mignone (1897-1986). He’s best known today for his shorter piano pieces, which appear on numerous Latin American keyboard music collections–but there’s much more to him than that. The son of Italian immigrants, Mignone’s music sounds like an Afro-Brazilian homage to Respighi, Puccini, and Stravinsky–but as happens so often in these cases, whatever he may lack in sheer originality he more than makes up for in melodic spontaneity and in finding a mix of ingredients that is his alone. This disc, which shows the work of a superb craftsman and an orchestrator every bit on the level of the three composers just mentioned, only whets the appetite for more–much more.

Continuing its excellent series of Guarnieri Symphonies, the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra under John Neschling presents another program of marvelous music that deserves the widest possible exposure outside of its native Brazil. Guarnieri's First Symphony was composed in 1944 and dedicated to Serge Koussevitsky. It's as fine an example of American (in the widest sense) neo-classicism as anything by Copland, Harris, or Piston, and it's worth pointing out that this confidently mature work actually precedes much of those composers' symphonic output, as it does, say, Tippett's, whose rhythmic complexity and contrapuntal business it in some ways resembles. The central slow movement, marked "Profundo", is particularly well sustained and supports the composer's claim to be regarded a major 20th century symphonist.

Camargo Guarnieri’s catalogue of works represents a legacy of incalculable worth for Brazilian culture, as has his influence as a teacher on several generations of younger composers. His association with the poet and musicologist Mario de Andrade led to the birth of the Brazilian Nationalist School and the ideals of using traditional Brazilian music in classical forms. The series of seven Choros and the Seresta for Piano and Orchestra represent Guarnieri’s personal approach to the concerto form, with striking contrasts between potent rhythm and dense, emotionally charged soundscapes and melodies full of Brazilian inspiration.

The vast majority of Brazilian-born pianist Arnaldo Cohen's discography is devoted to the music of Franz Liszt. There is good reason for this; his technique and approach to the instrument seem especially suited for the demands Liszt makes of pianists, from extreme subtlety and introspection to the bravura, ostentatious displays of power and virtuosity. Cohen delivers all of this with remarkable clarity.

A la veille de l'élection présidentielle de 2017, une étude des lignes de force idéologiques portées par la représentante du Front national. …