Customer Reviews

Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Fantasy for a Gentleman / Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 (RCA Victor Basic 100, Vol. 26)

The Concierto is named after the 18th-century royal palace of Aranjuez, built by Spain's Bourbon kings, which lies on the Tagus River upstream from Toledo. It was once a favorite retreat of the Spanish monarchy and contains unique decorations and grand landscaped gardens.

There are three movements in the Concierto, the less than memorable and rarely played first and third, and the monumental, soaring and cathartic second movement--the Adagio. In fact the popularity of the Adagio is such that rarely a day passes without its being played over the radio. Its indelible themes of tragedy and loss elicit poignant meditations on the uncertainties of life during war, of a country caught up in a senseless struggle which set father against son, of midnight arrests, and families torn apart.

At the same time, while Spain was turned upside down, Rodrigo's pregnant wife fell ill and was not expected to survive. Rodrigo expressed his grief at the piano where he is said to have composed the Adagio. Although she survived the infant didn't.

What makes the Adagio even more remarkable is that Rodrigo had been blind since the age of three. Yet he was able to see and express the feelings of the day, forever memorializing the sounds of a dark time in the history of a proud and noble people.

If you appreciate the Adagio you may be interested in hearing Miles Davis' interpretation in "Sketches of Spain," or a latin-rock version by Carlos Santana on his album Brothers.

The Fantasia was written in 1954 especially for the legendary guitarist Segovia. It is a pleasant piece, with nice moments, but let's not kid ourselves, its no second movement of the Concierto. Julian Bream however does a very fine job with this piece.

Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer whose music career began at the turn of the last century. He studied music formally, and was later made director of music education in Rio de Janeiro. His contributions included fusing Brazilian folk music into his classical compositions.

The Villa-Lobos selections are worth listening to, but not ones that you will be replaying over and over again. My interest in the selections were due to Stokowski and Bream. Anna Moffo was competent, but not memorable. I can't say that I was dissatisfied, but at the same time I was left wanting more from the compositions.
--ross saciuk