Always stimulating Symphonic music by Villa-Lobos - reviewed by ROBERT ANDERSON '... skill and commitment ...'

The Newest Grove is not much interested in the Villa-Lobos symphonies. The work-list manages to count to twelve, but the main article gets only to five, with a line on No 4 and half as much on the rest. This has the inestimable advantage of making a careful hearing of the music obligatory, and one is the more grateful to the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart for this exploration of works that should have come off the shelf years ago. Symphony No 12 was written in 1957, some years before composers finally decided to write mostly for the delight of those confined to that ancient tourist attraction, Bedlam.

Continue >>

For help listening to the sound extracts here, please refer to our questions & answers page.