MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

Buy through MusicWeb for £12.49 postage paid.

Musicweb Purchase button

 

 

Soirées Internationales
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959)
Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 – Aria (cantilena) (1941) - arranged William Primrose [6:04]
Bachianas Brasileiras No.2 – O Canto do capadócio (1930) [7:07]
Bachianas Brasileiras No.2 – O Canto da Nossa Terra (1930)  [5:26]
Bachianas Brasileiras No.2 – O Trenzinho do Capira (1930) [4:10]
O Canto do Cisne Negro (1948) [3:01]
Mozart Camargo GUARNIERI (1907-1993)
Sonata No.1 for cello and piano (1931) [17:40]
Nadia BOULENGER (1887-1979)
Trois pièces pour violoncelle et piano [7:18]
Bohuslav MARTINŮ (1890-1959)
Sonata No.3 for cello and piano H340 (1952) [19:09]
Antonio Menses (cello)
Celina Szrvinsk (piano)
rec. Pootton Hall, Suffolk, March 2008  
AVIE AV2162 [70:38]
Experience Classicsonline

 

The theme is Paris. The actors on the musical stage are Villa-Lobos and Martinů who both arrived in the city in 1923, Mozart Camargo Guarnieri who arrived in 1939 – just as Martinů was leaving – and Nadia Boulanger, the sole resident. The sub-theme is music either for - or arranged for - cello and piano. The intermediaries, the intercessionary characters, are cellist Antonio Menses and pianist Celina Szrvinsk.

The scene is set for Villa-Lobos to start. An evocative arrangement by William Primrose for viola is taken over for cello and the Aria from Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 launches the production. It has expressive warmth and has a powerfully, indeed fierily projected B section with attendant cellistic sniffing. There are three arrangements from Bachianas Brasileiras No.2. I liked the legato strength of O Canto do capadócio, as well as the vampy piano section in the middle, so confidently projected by Szrvinsk. Then too there’s the slinky B section of O Canto da Nossa Terra to beguile the senses and so does – in a different way - the ardent cello song over the piano’s railroad clatter in O Trenzinho do Capira – the skittering, shuddering screeching breaking is certainly satisfactory and not an ounce of shyness here.

Guarnieri’s Cello Sonata was written in 1931, just a year after Villa-Lobos completed Bachianas Brasileiras No.2. It’s rhapsodic possessing the warming hues of late impressionism as well as a strong Latin American rhythmic profile. There’s a brief songful central movement and a dashing, volatile dynamic finale  - extrovert, exciting and demanding focused concentration. Guarnieri avoids facile flirtations with jazz but not with forceful pesante dynamism.

Martinů’s Third Sonata was written post-War in 1952. Once again it receives a reading of valuable tonal breadth and warmth. The ‘Julietta’ theme in the first movement is avidly explored and though there are times when the rubati are stretched things just about keep on track. It’s an extrovert reading without doubt, something reinforced by the very fast Andante. I recently reviewed a recital of all three cello sonatas on Claves and noted the speed of that performance but this one is 5:50 and super-fast. The trick is to relax the tempo here to let the music project more effectively, something the classic Chuchro-Hála team [Supraphon, currently unavailable] did so conspicuously well on their old recording. Fine though the playing is here there’s just a sense of one-dimensionality that limits ultimate pleasure.

No such concerns about the Nadia Boulanger pieces. Most know that she did compose a little, even though Lili is the composing genius of the family. Nadia Boulanger’s three pieces are in order gently reflective, songful and slight, and finally rhythmically eager and vital.

With attractive production values – excellent recording quality and booklet notes – this Parisian journey can be warmly welcomed.

Jonathan Woolf

 




 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.