Villa-Lobos: Arias & Preludios Das Bachianas Brasileiras

Freire, Nelson, Guimaraès, Leila, Karabtchevsky, Isaac, Orchestre Symphonique Du Brésil

IRIS 3001966

Sometimes you just don't look close enough. Villa-Lobos wrote 9 Bachianas Brasileiras. The price and the title of this CD "Bachianas Brasileiras 1 - 9 (Arias and Preludes)" as well as the wish to get a complete recording with the Villa-Lobos specialist Isaac Karabtchewsky made me overlook the fact that the number of CDs is not a higher digit number (it should be 3 CDs) and I did not interpret the title in brackets as it was meant here. So one thing leads to another and instead of getting the complete Bachianas for almost 20 Euros I only got 60 minutes with excerpts from all 9 where other recordings are complete for this money.

The quality of the recordings is unfortunately nothing special, a large part sounds a bit dull, you can hear street noise in the lower registers (typical engine hum) and musically not all are always on the level. So for me an absolute mistake.

The blurb (one searches in vain for a booklet) is only in French. So for me it is actually only a consolation that a few days ago there was a phenomenal live recording under Karabtchevsky with the 10th Symphony by Villa-Lobos on Swedish radio for free (taken from Brazilian radio), which one could record quite easily. So this mis-purchase balances itself out a bit again. And I learn from it: Don't just look at what's on offer, but also look at what's not there.

CD x 1

Iris

12.04.07

3464630019660