Brazilian music for cello and piano, at Bargemusic, was a very interesting program. The pianist – Júlia Tygel (also a composer), and Jody Redhage, cellist – presented a really interesting program. The composers, besides Ms. Tygel, included Edu Lobo, Chico Buarque, Vinicius de Morales, and Claude Debussy and J.S. Bach (more on that later).
Ms. Tygel announced from the stage that the composers we were about to hear took bossa nova basics and combined them with a classical influence. I can’t say that I heard bossa nova, though I did hear Latin-music influences.
“Beatriz” was moody, with a good interplay between piano and cello. “Ciranda da Bailarina” was certainly rhythmic and dance-like, with running scales and a real feeling of dance episodes.
“Barroca,” by Ms. Tygel, was a little bit disjointed in approach, with a seemingly academic compositional style. “Vasinha,” that followed (not Ms. Tygel), was darker but with a definite S. American flair.
“Invenção sobre um número telefônico” (Ms. Tygel—and ain’t HTML a kick?) had a cute back-story that was slightly longer than the piece. It’s based on the second phone number of her composition teacher (he loved his first phone #, lost the phone, and hated his second phone #). The composition was brief and interesting, but the story was better.
“Caicó” seemed to be a folk song arrangement, building in intensity and returning to serenity.
“Casa Forte” really took up the bossa nova/classical music mantle, with an A/B/A format—quite lively/contrast in tempo and intensity/lively finish.
“Estrada Branca/Arabesque N. 1” took a Debussy composition and added contrasting/complementary cello lines. Likewise, “Senhorinha/Prelude in G – 1st Cello Suite” transformed Bach by adding an all-left-hand, very Bach-like piano addition to the cello composition. These two were quite high on my list of most successful on the program, as they were inventive, yet tied in with established pieces.
The program finished with one more Chico Buarque piece, “Roda Viva,” that included variations with more modern writing (no dates were given for any of the compositions), but still very listenable.
Brazilian piano and cello music—who knew? A new experience for me; and a good one.
ConcertMeister
I'm loving the variety in your concerts. I think I would've liked this one, too!
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