Notes and Editorial Reviews
Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire’s eagerly awaited new album, Brasileiro: Villa-Lobos & Friends, pays tribute to his country’s greatest composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos, upon the 125th anniversary of his birth.
In containing Freire’s personal choice of rarely recorded pieces by seven other lesser-known Brazilian composers whose music helped shape his artistic personality during his formative early years, the album also offers a sonic “portrait of the pianist as a young man”.
Comprising works that roughly span the seventy or so years of Villa-Lobos’s own lifetime, Freire’s chosen repertoire chronicles the efforts of three generations of Brazilian composers to forge a recognisably national musical language out of an
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amalgam of European influences and indigenous folk and popular styles.
In combination with his trademark technical mastery and legendary sense of melodic line, Nelson Freire’s quintessentially Latin American temperament and innate sense of rhythmic ease ensure that he brings a uniquely authentic touch to the rarely heard piano music of his native land.
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"Is Brazil the next major classical music hotbed waiting to be rediscovered? Perhaps because Latin-American composers have written such a vast range of music, it’s easier to sidestep rather than face this overwhelming catalog point by point. Fortunately, Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire is tackling the musical output of his native country with renewed zest. “Brasileiro” offers a finely chosen cross-section of Brazilian piano compositions that take their cue from traditional dance and song, most of which were composed in the period between roughly 1890 and 1960. It spans three generations of composers and there’s a lot here besides the standard-bearer, Heitor Villa-Lobos. Although Freire has seldom devoted much of his career to the works of his homeland, he makes up for lost time on this collection, showing a natural feel for the Latin rhythms and colors."
-- WQXR
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Works on This Recording
1.
Valsa da dor, W 316 by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932; Brazil
2.
Saudades das selvas brasileiras, W 226: no 2, Un poco animado by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1927; Brazil
3.
Guia prático: Pobre cega by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932-1949; Brazil
4.
Chôros no 5 for Piano "Alma brasileira" by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1925; Paris, France
5.
Carnaval das crianças brasileiras by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1919-1920; Brazil
6.
A Lenda do Caboclo, W 166 by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1920; Brazil
7.
Valse lente for Piano by Henrique Oswald
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Brazil
8.
Tango brasileiro by Alexandre Levy
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1890; Brazil
9.
Guia prático, Album 1, W 277: no 2, A maré encheu "Full Tide" by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932-1949; Brazil
10.
Cirandas (16) for Piano, W 220: no 14, A Canoa virou by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1926; Paris, France
11.
A prole do bebê, Book 2, W 180: no 2, O Gatinho de Papelao by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
12.
Toccata for Piano by Camargo Mozart Guarnieri
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1935; Brazil
13.
Dansa negra by Camargo Mozart Guarnieri
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; Brazil
14.
Ponteios: no 24 by Camargo Mozart Guarnieri
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Brazil
15.
Minha Terra by Barrozo Netto
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
16.
Etudes (3) in the form of a Sonatina by Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1929; Brazil
17.
Paulistanas (7): no 1 by Claudio Santoro
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; Brazil
18.
Toccata for Piano by Claudio Santoro
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Brazil
19.
New York Skyline Melody, W 407 by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1939; Brazil
20.
Valse Elegante by Francisco Mignone
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
21.
Congada by Francisco Mignone
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1921; Brazil
22.
Peças brasileiras (4) for Piano: no 1, Maroca by Francisco Mignone
Performer:
Nelson Freire (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1930
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 2 Customer Reviews )
Fine Brazilian Collection September 19, 2012
By L. Weil (El Cerrito,, CA) See All My Reviews
"This is a marvelous recording, and it has particular interest because many of the works on it are completely unfamiliar to me and I suspect would be unfamiliar to most concert-goers. The words by Villa-Lobos confirm his mastery as a composer, but the other compositions are well worth becoming better known."
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What? No Nazaeth? August 18, 2012
By Fred C. (Akron, OH) See All My Reviews
"To omit any of the glorious tangos of Ernesto Nazareth in any survey of Brazilian piano music is unpardonable!"
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