Villa-Lobos Birthday Tribute: March 5, 2012

On March 5, we celebrated the 125th birthday of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) – here marked by a performance of the Prelúdio from his Bachianas Brasileiras No.1, for 8 Cellos at the 2008 Verbier Music Festival by soloist Mischa Maisky and the Carte Blanche Ensemble. Villa-Lobos is widely seen as the most important Brazilian art composer of the 20th century, and perhaps the most well-known classical composer from Latin America. Villa-Lobos broke ground by synthesizing the Western tradition with various musical elements from his native Brazil, notably from the “chorões” (literally “cry”, referring to the musical style and approach of Brazilian street musicians) – such as is heard in his beloved collection of 9 Bachianas Brasileiras suites, which mix this native style with various Baroque forms and techniques. Villa-Lobos was incredibly prolific, and his influence on the classical and patriotic music of Brazil is still quite palpable. In this video, the passion and melodic beauty of the music is superbly conveyed by Mr. Maisky – performed as a tribute to the late Mstislav Rostropovich. Enjoy, and tell us what you think!

Mischa Maisky performs Villa-Lobos’ the Prelúdio from the Bachianas Brasileiras No.1, for 8 Cellos