Wednesday, September 29, 2010

New Reviews

Here are a few of my reviews of CDs distributed by Naxos Records.  Adding more, but I'm still behind!

Alicia de Larrocha playing Manuel de Falla, on a new disc from Newton:



A new Naxos compilation of Ginastera ballets, conducted by Gisele Ben-Dor:


The latest Granados piano disc in Douglas Riva's series on Naxos:


Ignacio Cervantes' Danzas Cubanas played by Davide Cabassi:


Friday, September 24, 2010

Marcelo Bratke at the Penitenciária Feminina do Butantã

I came across another interesting project by the amazing pianist Marcelo Bratke. He recently performed a concert (in his Cinemusica Villa-Lobos and Brazil series) before an audience of 270 at a women's prison in Sao Paulo. This story at Estadao.com.br is full of moving bits.  Raquel, serving 4-1/2 years for armed robbery says "É uma música diferente, faz bem para a alma." (It's a different song, it's good for the soul).  Bratke was a bit surprised by such a positive response:

"Elas chegaram a cantarolar quando toquei as Cirandinhas do Villa-Lobos, não esperava que isso pudesse acontecer....Senti aqui uma energia diferente. Elas me ajudaram a tocar." (They began to sing when I played the Cirandinha of Villa-Lobos; I did'nt expect this to happen.... I felt a different energy here. They helped me play.)

Here is a video with some highlights from that concert.  The piece being played is Caixinha de Musica Quebrada, from Bratke's latest Villa-Lobos CD.






Bratke will bring his Cinemusica Villa-Lobos and Brazil project to London, when he performs Brazilian music in front of a film by Mariannita Luzzati, at Southbank Centre on December 2nd.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Guitar Concerto video with Turibio Santos

Recently posted on YouTube, an impressive performance of the Guitar Concerto with Turibio Santos.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010