Villa

These three magnificent works belong in the repertoire of cellists everywhere. They are full of Villa-Lobos’ signature exotic instrumental textures, folk-like melodies, and abundant invention. They are also harder than hell to play, and difficult to balance. Villa-Lobos was a cellist himself, and loved the instrument’s low, dark register. Penetrating his dense orchestration without making the instrument sound like a dying cow is just one of the many challenges facing cellists attempting to come to grips with this marvelously expressive music, though recordings can solve this problem with sensitive microphone placement. Antonio Meneses understands both the music and its performance problems, and his lower register manages to sound gruff without undue signs of bovine distress. He’s helped by some very sensitive accompaniments; Pérez projects the music’s lush timbres without laying it on too thick.

One of the continuing appeals of Hans Werner Henze's music is his ability to use the formidable arsenal of twentieth century musical innovations in works that have immediate aural appeal, while probing ambiguous or disturbing layers of meaning lurking beneath the surface. The complexity of his music is generally not so much apparent on its surface as in its psychology. While Henze has written in virtually every genre of music in his long and remarkably productive career, he is essentially a dramatic composer, and it's for his operas, ballets, music theater pieces, vocal music, and film music that he will be most remembered.

1990 von Dozentinnen und Dozenten der Stiftung Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz gegründet, hat sich das Ensemble Villa Musica einen Namen als führende Kammermusikvereinigung gemacht. Was die Fachpresse immer wieder mit Erstaunen registriert, ist die Vielfalt in Besetzung und Repertoire des Ensembles. Rund 20 der renommiertesten Instrumentalisten Deutschlands haben sich unter dem Spiritus rector Ulf Rodenhäuser zusammengefunden. Sie alle sind heute solistisch, kammermusikalisch und als Professorinnen und Professoren an den großen deutschen Musikhochschulen tätig, nachdem sie lange Jahre an den ersten Pulten der renommiertesten deutschen Orchester wirkten oder noch heute wirken.

1849 was a banner year for chamber music output for Robert Schumann. He wrote feverishly, often completing entire compositions in a matter of days with no appreciable loss of quality. Among the instruments to benefit from this frenzy was the cello, which still suffered from a dearth of repertoire. The only original work Schumann penned for cello and piano was the Op. 102 Five Pieces in Folk Style. As was common for the day, Schumann also listed the cello as an "alternate" instrument in both the Op. 70 Adagio and Allegro (originally for horn) and the Op. 73 Fantasiestücke (originally for violin).

For a kinder, gentler, more tuneful, and even a more danceable Stravinsky in his High neo-Classical period, try the wind chamber music Czech-French-American composer Bohuslav Martinu wrote in his High French period. Three of the works on this disc by the Ensemble Villa Musica – Le Revue de Cuisine from 1927, the Sextet from 1929, and the Quartre madrigaux from 1937 – represent Martinu at his Parisian best: archly lyrical, angularly rhythmic, and brilliantly colorful. For a lighter, deeper, more conservative, and even a more melancholy Stravinsky in his postwar late neo-Classical period, try the last work on this disc,

Gideon Klein est né en 1919 à Prerov, Tchécoslovaquie (République Tchèque). Il commença l'étude du piano à onze ans avec Ruzena Kurzova, et donna son premier concert à 14 ans. En 1938 il se rendit à Prague, où il fréquenta la Masterclass de piano de Vilém Kurz (1872-1945). Il poursuivit en parallèle des études de théorie musicale, et obtint son diplôme en 1939. Il fut ensuite l'élève d'Alois Hába (1893-1976) pour la composition, et étudia la musicologie à la faculté de philosophie de l'Université Charles à Prague.

For 30 years, the answer to the question "Who's got the best recording of the delightful woodwind chamber of Strauss?" was "Edo de Waart and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble." While there have been other fine recordings, notably the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra's DG recording, de Waart and the Netherlanders were so simple, so relaxed, and so virtuosic, so unutterably charming that they were the clear first choice. While this recording by the Ensemble Villa Musica may not be a first choice, it is mighty close. In this the second of two discs dedicated to Strauss' woodwind chamber music, the Ensemble Villa Musica has the same sort of simple grace and easy virtuosity that distinguished de Waart and the Netherlanders. .

Hindemith's writing combines the great contrapuntal sense of Bach with a mastery of modern harmony. These three pieces, with very unusual instrumental combinations, showcase some of his best writing with a fantastic performance from a world class ensemble.

Heitor Villa-Lobos' two numbered cello concerti come from the opposite ends of his output; the first Grande Concerto dates from 1915 and the second from 1953. In between there is another concertante work, the Fantasia for cello and orchestra, which is contemporaneous with the Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for soprano and eight cellos that remains Villa-Lobos' most popular work. In this MD&G issue, Heitor Villa-Lobos: Concertos for Violoncello and Orchestra, cellist Ulrich Schmid is heard with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie under conductor Dominique Roggen in the numbered concertos only, although there easily would have been enough room on the 42-minute-long disc to accommodate the Fantasia as well.