Bach provides the inspiration, Brazil provides the sunshine and massed cellos provide the colour.
In this concert, cellist Jian Wang will be joined by the cello section of the Sydney Symphony for a program that takes Villa-Lobos' exotic melting pot of styles as its starting point.
"Mestizo" they call it - a meeting of European and native traditions - and this is what's going on in the Bachianas Brasileiras when Villa-Lobos spins Brazilian melodies in baroque textures. The most famous and poetic of these is No.5: eight cellos joined by a "lovely songbird" in a moonlit sky.
The warmth and richness of the cello sound continues in music by Bach himself, original and with a difference.
Program to include...
BACH Cello Suite No.1 in G
BACH Air on the G string, arranged for four cellos
VILLA-LOBOS Bachianas brasileiras No.1 for 8 cellos
VILLA-LOBOS Bachianas brasileiras No.5 for soprano and 8 cellos
Jacqueline Porter soprano
Jian Wang cello
Cellists of the Sydney Symphony
AUDIO PLAYER LISTING
Track 1 - BACH Cello Suite No.1 in G, BWV 1007: Courante
Track 2 - BACH Cello Suite No.1 in G, BWV 1007: Gigue
Jian Wang (cello)
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 00289 477 5228
Track 3 - VILLA-LOBOS Bachianas brasilerias No.5 for soprano and 8 cellos: Aria
Track 4 - VILLA-LOBOS Bachianas brasilerias No.5 for soprano and 8 cellos: Aria (middle section)
Karita Mattila (soprano) with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields directed by
Sir Neville Marriner
PHILIPS 464 1392
Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music