Search - SWR Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart :: Villa-Lobos: Symphonies 4 & 12 / St. Clair

Victory of Villa-Lobos!

Todd Montgomery | Wilmore, KY USA | 03/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"before i got this cd i didn't know what to think of villa lobos writing symphonies. His reputation is one of a nationalistic brazilian, modern, and (somewhat unjustly) formless sound. This is surprising though. I would have no idea where this came from just listening to it. Its probably because the fourth symphony is called "victory" and is Villa-Lobos's expression of WWI--he wasn't thinking about his homeland so much. It has a very heroic feeling to it--particularly in the fourth (and by far longest) movement on the disc. Symphony 12 is slightly more complex and partially romantic and impressionistic as well as modern. Again the music's form isn't as apparent as it should be. The composer isn't concerned with following rigid european sonata form traditions, but these works are tightly knit in their own respect. This isn't the same Villa-Lobos as the Bachianas Brasilieras, and as much as I love those, the music here represented shows a depth we wouldn't associate with him otherwise. there certainly is a touch of difficult modern flair that one must aquire a taste for, especially at the beginning of the fourth symphony, but carl st. clair's renditions here present us with a passionate, highly detailed, and exciting ride through what i would call some of the composer's most demanding works. The victory is one of my favorite symphonic works of the last century. The performance on the disc is just outstanding. By no means do i claim to be an expert critic, but in my classical library of 80-90 titles, the only other one i think of in comparison is esa-pekka salonen's debussy images and la mer. I find the same kind of meticulous and crystal clear details here. High quality recording too. This stuff deserves serious attention."