La Cantata Criolla, 'The One Who Sang With The Devil': Lento E Cadencioso
La Cantata Criolla, 'The One Who Sang With The Devil': Lento, Tenebroso
La Cantata Criolla, 'The One Who Sang With The Devil': Allegro Vivo
Choros: Choros No.10
You're going to love this piece. If you're a fan of really cool choral music in a populist vein--stuff like Carmina Burana--then this is the music for you. Estevez was a Venezuelan composer, and this 30- minute-long cant... more »ata tells the story of a cowboy who beats the devil himself in a singing contest by calling on the saints to keep his opponent rooted to the ground until dawn. Aside from the folk influence, the scene of the actual contest is set as a series of variations on the Dies Irae Gregorian chant from the Requiem Mass--only with maracas in a kind of samba rhythm! It's more fun than you can possibly imagine without having heard it, and this performance by a brilliant local lineup is simply perfect. The choral-music find of the decade! --David Hurwitz« less
You're going to love this piece. If you're a fan of really cool choral music in a populist vein--stuff like Carmina Burana--then this is the music for you. Estevez was a Venezuelan composer, and this 30- minute-long cantata tells the story of a cowboy who beats the devil himself in a singing contest by calling on the saints to keep his opponent rooted to the ground until dawn. Aside from the folk influence, the scene of the actual contest is set as a series of variations on the Dies Irae Gregorian chant from the Requiem Mass--only with maracas in a kind of samba rhythm! It's more fun than you can possibly imagine without having heard it, and this performance by a brilliant local lineup is simply perfect. The choral-music find of the decade! --David Hurwitz
"'Cantata Criolla' by Antonio Estevez (a venezuelan composer) resumes the authentic sounds of venezuelan plains. The combination of the choir as a narrator, the soloists as 'Florentino' (a cowboy) and 'el diablo' (the devil) as the principal actors and the orchestra creating the environment is wonderful handled. It's a supreme music work and, I think, the most important work of venezuelan 20th century music. It's a "must-be-listened"..."
Great recording of great repertoire
Richard Zencker | Scottsdale, AZ USA | 10/04/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Estvez is definitely the find of the decade, if not century. It seems we would have no knowledge of this were it not for Eduardo Mata. He is sorely missed. His series of recordings with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra is outstanding, and perhaps never more so than here where he is presenting unknown repertoire. The recording is fantastic, but so is the music. Worth noting is how the Dies Irae is combined with native elements in ways beyond description!
By the way, the Villa-Lobos is good too. But imagine a disc where it's not the main draw!"
Great recording of music that deserves to be better known
David Ira | California, USA | 02/05/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I recently participated in a performance of this piece. It is dramatic, tuneful, colorful music, featuring complex Latin rhythms. A crowd-pleaser that is becoming better known in this country and deserves to be much better known. The recording fully does it justice, with great performances by soloists, chorus, and orchestra."
On its own terms...
Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 04/30/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Antonio Estévez is a Venezuelan composer best remembered for the 'Cantata Criolla' which is given a solid perfomance here by the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and Chorus with soloists William Alvarado, Idwer Alvarez - all conducted by Eduardo Mata. The piece seems to always stir a lot of enthusiasm when it is performed (it is currently part of the America and Americans Festival of Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall). For this listener, both in live performance and from this recording, the piece seems a bit overrated. Energy it has and Venezuelan folklore and color it has in abundance, but despite the story of the cantata and the manner in which chorus and soloists are used, the short work seems very long and tedious. Some liken it to Orff's 'Carmina Burana', but that seems heavy company for comparison of this rather slight work. It is fun to see and to hear, but not something that stands up well with repeated hearings. Unless it is part of a Festival......Grady Harp, April 10"