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Incanto: Contemporary Venezuelan Music

Orea / Barrios / Pineda / Reyes / Olenwine
Release Date: 06/25/2013 
Label:  Clear Note   Catalog #: 74598   Spars Code: n/a 
Composer:  Omar Acosta,  Andres Barrios,  Rene Orea,  Raimundo Pineda,   ... 
Performer:  Ysmael Reyes,  Susan Olenwine
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 0 Hours 53 Mins. 

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Notes and Editorial Reviews

INCANTO • Ysmael Reyes (fl); Susan Olenwine (pn) • CLEAR NOTE 74598 (53:32)



PINEDA El Bachiano. ACOSTA Solo de Pajarillo. SANS Canto Aborigen. DESENNE Ranchosón. BARRIOS Cuculi. Adiós Pariente. Read more class="COMPOSER12">LECUNA Incanto. OREA Tres Irunulaciones


Incanto , a collection of Venezuelan music for solo and accompanied flute, should be an ear-opening experience for most listeners. These are exciting, expressive works that imaginatively integrate folk music with classical technique. Composition in Venezuela, as in other South American countries, was based on early Spanish and later European models. So it’s not surprising that musicians like Villa-Lobos and Raimundo Pineda, whose melodic and rhythmic “fingerprints” are uniquely Brazilian and Venezuelan, respectively, were also moved to honor Bach, one of Europe’s quintessential composers. Pineda’s El Bachiano plays with ornaments and sequences to evoke the baroque but then, after a lyrical transition, breaks out in a lively Joropo (see the preceding interview for Reyes’s definition of this and other specifically Venezuelan terms). Omar Acosta’s Solo de Pajarillo is sultry, even a tad melancholy, but like its predecessor, becomes more energetic as it develops. Juan Francisco Sans’s Canto Aborigen places authentic native melodies in a sophisticated surround, but he wisely doesn’t dilute the basic material. As a result, the music often achieves a hypnotic intensity. Paul Desenne’s Ranchoson ’s extroversion owes its vitality to the underlying Son rhythm. (Originally a Cuban style, Son has been enthusiastically embraced by Venezuelans.) Reyes cites the Andrés Barrios and Eduardo Lecuna works as the least dependent on “ordinarily identifiable nationalistic elements,” but he feels nonetheless that they possess a distinctive Venezuelan soul. Be that as it may, Cuculi and Adios Pariente are enticing, dreamy works that transitorily suggest Debussy or Satie without sacrificing their own style. Lecuna’s piece is swathed in an aura of enchantment, summoned by sensual, low register phrases that simulate the feverish desire that, at least in my imagination, is a hallmark of incantatory chants. René Orea’s triptych, Irunulaciones is colorful and dramatic: (first movement) “Pasaje”’s jagged, not-quite-tonal accompaniment, interacting with the sinuous flute, creates pungent, Ginastera-like dissonances; “Dirunali” lulls the listener with delicate piano patterns and mysterious flute but then surprises with dynamically forceful climaxes; and “Costa-Montana”’s dancing, folk-like theme, propelled by a vigorous ostinato, sweeps the listener along to the sudden stop that ends the piece.


Ysmael Reyes is totally at ease in this repertoire, both culturally and technically. His agility, speed, rhythmic “point,” precise intonation, liquid phrasing, tonal sophistication, and comfortable execution of extended techniques all testify to his accomplishment. These attributes also apply to pianist Susan Olenwine, whose sensitivity, dynamic control, and idiomatic sympathy make her an ideal partner. She and Reyes bring the music to life, which is really all one can ask.


FANFARE: Robert Schulslaper
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Works on This Recording

1.
Solo de Pajarillo, for solo flute by Omar Acosta
Performer:  Ysmael Reyes (Flute)
Period: Contemporary 
 Date of Recording: 10/2012-12/2012 
Length: 3 Minutes 32 Secs. 
2.
Cuculí, for flute & piano by Andres Barrios
Performer:  Ysmael Reyes (Flute), Susan Olenwine (Piano)
Period: Modern 
 Date of Recording: 10/2012-12/2012 
Length: 4 Minutes 33 Secs. 
3.
Adiós Pariente, for flute & piano by Andres Barrios
Performer:  Ysmael Reyes (Flute), Susan Olenwine (Piano)
Period: Modern 
 Date of Recording: 10/2012-12/2012 
Length: 1 Minutes 45 Secs. 
4.
Irunulaciones (3), for flute & piano by Rene Orea
Performer:  Susan Olenwine (Piano), Ysmael Reyes (Flute)
Period: Contemporary 
 Date of Recording: 10/2012-12/2012 
Length: 10 Minutes 24 Secs. 
5.
El Bachiano, for flute by Raimundo Pineda
Performer:  Ysmael Reyes (Flute)
Period: Contemporary 
 Date of Recording: 10/2012-12/2012 
Length: 3 Minutes 14 Secs. 
6.
Ranchosón, for flute by Paul Desenne
Performer:  Ysmael Reyes (Flute)
Period: Contemporary 
 Date of Recording: 10/2012-12/2012 
Length: 2 Minutes 55 Secs. 
7.
Incanto, for flute by Eduardo Lucena
Performer:  Ysmael Reyes (Flute)
Period: Romantic 
 Date of Recording: 10/2012-12/2012 
Length: 7 Minutes 27 Secs. 
8.
Canto Aborigen (Aboriginal Chant), 7 recreations on Venezuelan indigenous themes by Juan Francisco Sanz
Performer:  Susan Olenwine (Piano), Ysmael Reyes (Flute)
Period: Classical 
 Date of Recording: 10/2012-12/2012 
Length: 17 Minutes 45 Secs. 

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