Symphony no. 10, subtitled 'Ameríndia', brings the listener back to the world of his Chôros, as well as the film scores Discovery of Brazil and Forest of the Amazon.
This means thick, colorful orchestrations, amongst humid, sweaty instrumental settings, and a certain amount of primitivism and tribalism from the involvement of the chorus.
At 60 minutes, it rambles a fair bit too, yet the addition of solo vocal soloists mixes up the recipe. The whole first movement (of five) is purely instrumental, followed by a movement of non-lexical ululations.
The following three movements are more conventional, although I doubt anyone would call Villa-Lobos, nor this work, anything of the sort. Just the vocal conversation continues in a typical format amongst the composer's own brand of modernism and orchestral folklore.
Those who have gone through the symphonies chronologically, as I have, might lament at the appearance of a choral symphony, for the composer's compositional journey was finally tightening up in Symphonies 8 & 9. While that continues into Symphonies 11 & 12, I guess Villa-Lobos felt the call of something quite different between these works.
While I have made mild comments comparing this Naxos set of Villa-Lobos symphonies to the CPO set, here we strike the biggest difference. Carl St. Clair and his German band bring Symphony no. 10 in at 73+ minutes while Isaac Karabtchevsky and the São Paulo band bring this music in at a cool 60 minutes. A pretty major difference, one which never seems to phase the excellent Brazilian ensemble at all.
The physical media includes song texts and translations. However, while the soloists receive a mention on the outside, the inside liner notes give no information on them specifically. Perhaps they came from the chorus?
Listen on YouTube
Works
Symphony no. 10
Soloists
Leonardo Neiva, baritone
Saulo Javan, bass
Performers
São Paulo Symphony Choir
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Isaac Karabtchevsky, conductor
Label: Naxos
Year: 2014
Total Timing: 60.47
Find more Villa-Lobos recordings HERE!
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