Composer: Francisco Mignone
Performer: Emmanuele Baldini, Fabio Zanon, Ovanir Buosi, Alexandre Silvério
Orchestra: São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Neil Thomson, Giancarlo Guerrero
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8574573
Release: 2024
Size: 1.26 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Guitar Concerto
01. I. Allegro moderato
02. II. Lento e molto romantico
03. III. Allegro non troppo
Clarinet Concertino
04. I. Lento – Moderato mosso
05. II. Toada. Andantino non troppo
06. III. Final. Allegro
Bassoon Concertino
07. I. Assai moderato
08. II. Allegro
Violin Concerto
09. I. Allegro moderato
10. II. Lento
11. III. Allegro con brio
This release, like others in the Naxos label’s “Music of Brazil” series, is partly sponsored by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (and can one get a “Way to go!” for them?), which had the satisfaction of seeing its handiwork land on classical best-seller charts in the summer of 2024. Francisco Mignone, a decade younger than Villa-Lobos, was shaped by the same Brazilian nationalist influences — he was a friend of Mário de Andrade, author of the magnificent tale Macunaima, about an Amazon native who encounters a Brazilian metropolis — but made something quite different from them in comparison with Villa-Lobos. His models on the European side were Italian opera and French neoclassicism. To put those together with Brazilian rhythms may seem like quite a trick, but listen to the first movement of the Violin Concerto here, where a flood of Italianate melody is underlaid by Brazilian rhythms in the lower strings, sounding like batucada drums in the distance. Mignone is also generally lighter in spirit than Villa-Lobos, and this is not a bad thing. The two-movement Bassoon Concertino is a delightful virtuoso showpiece for an instrument whose players have too few from which to choose. Perhaps the best of all is the opening Guitar Concerto, which would greatly enliven any concert when played in place of yet another recitation of Joaquín Rodrigo. The first movement has a concertante structure in which the guitar artfully weaves its way among various other groups of instruments. Other attractions include delicate work from the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra and the two conductors involved, Neil Thomson and Giancarlo Guerrero, and a quartet of younger Brazilian solo players. The sound from the Sala São Paulo is ideal; this is a venue that Mignone, a São Paulo native, would have known well and had in his head. A splendid release.