Search - Julian Orbon, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Antonio Estevez :: Music of Latin American Masters / Orbon Villa-Lobos Estevez Chavez / Eduardo Mata

Fantastic In Every Way

J. Rich | 12/20/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eduardo Mata was a conductor I have neglected for so long, but finally got around to purchasing his highly-acclaimed series of Latin American music on Dorian. This particular recording is top-notch. As with all his Latin American recordings on Dorian, he's joined by the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra Of Venezuela, which need no introduction as they're a fine orchestra. In this recording Mata and his forces tackle pieces by Julian Orbon, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Antonio Estevez, and finally Carlos Chavez.



Orbon's "Tres Versiones Sinfonicas" begins the program and it's a very light-hearted piece that has a very joyous feeling throughout. I'm not a particularly fond of Orbon's music, but this performance is very well done. The next piece is Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2," which I hope for many of you needs no introduction. It's probably the most popular piece from his "Bachianas" series and while it is excellent, I urge you to seek out the full cycle of these works and also the series Villa-Lobos wrote before the "Bachianas" called "Choros." This performance is excellent and makes me only wish that Mata had lived to record the full cycle of these works. Next is Estevez's "Noon on the Prairie." As the other reviewer wrote, this composition is somewhat of a nocturne. It begins very quietly and slowly builds up to a beautiful climax. I have only heard two performances of this piece: this one with Mata and the other one with Gustavo Dudamel and while both are excellent I actually prefer Dudamel's, but both performances have their own unique characteristics. The last composition is by Chavez called "Sinfonia India," which I consider one of the greatest pieces of Mexican classical music I've heard next to Revueltas' music. It stands in direct contrast to Revueltas' music, which has a more sinister quality. Chavez is lighter and brighter in his music. "Sinfonia India" has some great counterpoint and I'm sure you'll be humming alot of the melodies in the piece as well. Also this piece is executed to perfection here by Mata and the Simon Bolivar Symphony.



The audio quality, as with every Dorian recording I've heard, is excellent. This disc is now apart of a box set called Latin America Alive. I would definitely aquire this set if you're interested at all in these composers. It collects all of Mata's Latin American music recordings. Highly recommended."