Guarnieri, M.C.: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3 (Barros, Warsaw Philharmonic, Conlin)

The name of composer Mozart Camargo Guarnieri was vaguely familiar to me only because I remembered that striking first name but I had never heard any of his music. He was born in S'ão Paulo in 1907, one of nine children of music-loving Sicilian immigrants, and he had brothers named Bellini, Rossini and Verdi. After going by 'Mozart' most of his youth, he renounced the first name in early adulthood, apparently feeling it was presumptuous to be known by the name of such an indisputable genius, and from then on was known as 'Camargo Guarnieri.' He labored most of his life in the shadow of Heitor Villa-Lobos, but that didn't stop him from being a prolific composer. He was also an arts administrator and teacher, culminating in his appointment as director of the S'ão Paulo conservatory. He wrote a public letter to all Brazilian musicians in 1950 that urged them to reject European academicism (atonality, serialism). He later rethought that, and indeed one of his piano concertos (not presented here) uses 12-tone methods. He wrote seven piano concertos and much solo piano music often played in Brazil but rarely anywhere else. On the basis of this disc I'd say that it deserves a wider audience. He was taken up by Leonard Bernstein as well as Aaron Copland, and indeed one of his symphonies, No. 4, is dedicated to Bernstein.

The three piano concertos on this disc (Nos. 1, 2 & 3) are of a piece. They are characterized by French-inspired tonality (he studied for a time in Paris with Charles Koechlin), Stravinskyan rhythmic inventiveness, jazzy, almost Gershwinian harmonies and, most striking, Brazilian dance and folk-song coloring. The outer movements have an irrepressible 'élan, the middle movements are bluesy and hauntingly melodic. Orchestrations is brilliant and expert and make use of many native Brazilian percussion instruments--e.g., the cuica (a friction drum), the chocalho (a rattle), and the reco-reco (a scraper); one has to wonder whether those instruments were easily available in Warsaw where these recordings were made!

The pianist, new to me, is Max Barros, himself a S'ão Pauleñ'o. He is clearly at home with the Brazilian idiom and is no mean performer. The playing is marked by crisp rhythmic thrust and clear passage work. In the middle movements he is capable of a songful legato. The Warsaw Philharmonic are veterans of recordings of music from around the world and they give the pianist able support; the conductor, Thomas Conlin, known to me primarily for his fine recordings of the music of George Crumb, is clearly in his element in this music. The recorded sound is clear and lifelike; it is slightly dry and this lends a clarity to the torrents of notes in the outer movements.

This is unfailingly tuneful, tonal, rhythmically exciting music and a worthy addition to Naxos' ongoing Latin American music series. One hopes we will hear more of Guarnieri's music from them.

TT=69:49

Scott Morrison

Sparkling, full of life and intensity

is how I would describe these concertos

By Camargo Guarnieri.Guarnieri now one

of the best Latin-American composers

of the 20th century composed these

concetos beetween 1931 and 1963, the

Piano Concerto #1 is recorded here for

the first time. In the first Piano

concerto we hear a lot of Brazilian

percussion such as the cuica(Friction Drum)

and reco-reco(a scraper) use masterfully

especially in the final movement of

the first concerto. The Second Piano Concerto

is equally fun to listen to, and with a last

movement that opens with a tune that

one would expect to hear out the Rio

carnival. The last concerto #3, is

is also a great work. The soloist

Max Barros is wonderful, and so

are conductor Thomas Collin and

the Warsaw Philharmonic. Indeed

music full of life, emotion and

intensity. Five Stars!!!

A release like this one fills a major gap in the recording catalogue of Brazilian art music. Camargo Guarnieri was one of the most important and influential Brazilian composers of the 20th century, and his concertos for piano and orchestra offer a complete panorama of his stylistic development. In these works, Guarnieri displays to perfection his skills in blending elements from traditional Brazilian music with techniques indebted to European art music, achieving a synthesis that is at once technically accomplished and musically captivating. It is hard to imagine performances that will do justice to these pieces as magnificently as the teaming of Brazilian pianist Max Barros with American conductor Thomas Conlin leading the Warsaw Philharmonic. The orchestra shows a welcome sensitivity to the lilt and sensuality of the Brazilian rhythms, while Mr. Conlin achieves a sophisticated balance between formal structure and expressive freedom. Max Barros' interpretation is a tour-de-force of virtuosity, elegance, beautiful phrasing, and intuitive response to the lyricism and finesse of Guarnieri's piano writing. He extracts from the piano a range of sonorities that makes one easily imagine these melodies being sung or performed on string instruments, so beautiful and supple are his phrases. In the more rhythmic sections, Mr. Barros displays the full range of his familiarity with the exciting and energetic rhythms of Brazilian traditional music, bringing a freshness and vitality to the concertos that will be difficult to equal, let alone surpass. One waits eagerly for the second volume in this groundbreaking project.