Brazilian Portrait

Luiz Bonfa (Composer), Antonio Carlos Jobim (Composer), Isaias Savio (Composer), Joao Teixeira Guimaraes (Composer), Heitor Villa-Lobos (Composer), South American Traditional (Composer), Laurindo Almeida (Composer), Roberto Baden-Powell (Composer), Celso Machado (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Luiz Bonfa, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Isaias Savio, Joao Teixeira Guimaraes, Heitor Villa-Lobos, et al.
• Audio CD (February 15, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B0000013MV
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,011 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #53 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Composers > Villa-Lobos, Heitor

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars He's pretty good!, July 3, 2000

By 

"marcel195" (Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brazilian Portrait (Audio CD)

This is a nice C.D. Fans of the Brasilian Classical guitar style will love it. Purists will probably have a lot of trouble with it. Gerald Garcia is from Canada originally (don't quote me on that though) - it seems there are still strong academic overtones in his playing. However, it's a great collection of Brasilian pieces which spans classical composers to Bossa nova and in between. What I like about this album is the fact that most pieces presented by Garcia are his own arrangements. It's truly a unique recording (which is rare in the classical guitar world). His greatest work is on the smaller, traditional Brasilian pieces. These are really charming rustic melodies which were first harmonized by Isaias Savio and very easy to play. But, Garcia takes them to a higher level - more technically demanding without ever losing the essence of the original works. In fact, with all due respect to Mestre Savio, they are great improvements on the originals.

There is a generous number of tracks here, displaying the wealth of work by a great guitarist. More importantly, the repetoire on the album moves away from the standard Albeniz, Granados, Tarrega, Sor collections that so many classical guitarists feel compelled to release. The pieces are probably familiar to most classical guitarists who enjoy playing Brasilian music, but, for those who've never heard or played the works of Almeida, Baden-Powell, Savio or Machado it will be a pleasant surprise. And for people who just like nice music, it will be a fantastic investment.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid relaxing CD, January 30, 2005

By 

Leslie Richford (Selsingen, Lower Saxony) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brazilian Portrait (Audio CD)

I am not a guitarist, so I cannot really comment knowledgeably on Gerald Garcia's achievement here, but I feel I must add my voice to those who think this is a splendid CD: Naxos have always been good for a surprise, and I was surprised indeed to find them releasing music like this in 1988! The center of the disc, in more than one sense, is Heitor Villa-Lobos, with Garcia playing all five of his Preludes and his Choro No. 1 (which, due to a printing error on the cover, is accredited to Garcia himself as arranger, but that is not correct, he only arranged the following traditional melodies in the style of Savio). Around this center are arranged pieces by Bonfá, Jobim, Savio, Pernambuco, Almeida, Baden-Powell and Machado - all names that I had never heard of until I purchased this disc out of curiosity. The music is relaxing, only the Villa-Lobos is truly classical, and the sound (the recording was made at a studio in Heidelberg, Germany) is excellent, worthy of a full-price disc. To cap it all, there are Gerald Garcia's own notes giving plenty of background information. You can't go wrong here!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bonfa and Jobim: what a double header!, June 6, 2001

By 

Geraldo Franco (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brazilian Portrait (Audio CD)

I met the two of them in the past. I saw their shows and I bought their recordings. They never disappointed me, on the contrary: I always was amazed by their style and classy quality of sound. Now they return, together, to make us enjoy life in this way and mode: pleasantness in sound. If this would not suffice, there is a bonus, the performance of Gerald Garcia. Splendiferous! GF