Release Date: 11 January 2004
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313268726
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: NAZARETH
Description
Ernesto Nazareth ( 1863-1934)Tangos, Waltzes and PolkasEven until a few years ago, only very few pianists ofserious intentions dared to include music by ErnestoNazareth in their repertoire, since he was not held to betruly a so-called 'classical' composer. His workssuffered from a certain amount of prejudice and werenot among those played in schools of music or inclassical piano competitions, yet I cannot rememberhaving met anyone who did not like his music. Thecharisma of Nazareth's works was, even then, morepowerful than all of the discussions as to whichparticular genre his music belongs.During Nazareth's own lifetime, musical andcultural tastes were based on those prevalent in Europe.This subordination to European culture did not, for along period, allow genuinely Brazilian classical musicfully to blossom. The trendsetters were from the oldcontinent. On one occasion, the attempt to include fourof Nazareth's works in the concert programme of theNational School of Music in Rio de Janeiro led to suchprotests that the police had to be called in to intervene.Nazareth's dances aim to please a discerningconcert audience and are surely successful in doing so.These works are, first and foremost, original, and areexpressions of the Brazilian soul. With them, thecomposer certainly wrote musical history and laid thefoundations for an authentically Brazilian style ofclassical music.Nazareth's output is made up predominantly ofBrazilian tangos, over eighty in all, and more than fortywaltzes, and it is particularly in the latter that the ratherintriguing influence of Chopin on his work canundoubtedly be felt. Nazareth studied the Polishcomposer's scores in order to teach himself how toimprove his method of composition, and he also oftenperformed Chopin's works on the piano. Like Chopinhimself, he devoted a large part of his creative energiesto writing for the piano, the instrument of which hehimself was a master.The first Brazilian tango appeared in the year 1871,nine years before its melancholy Argentinian brother.The term tango was used for the first time in Brazil todesignate certain characteristic pieces which were verysimilar in style to the habanera, the latter having arrivedfrom Cuba in 1866, soon to become very popular. It wasthrough his tangos that Nazareth achieved the greatestdegree of originality.Ernesto Nazareth was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1863and witnessed both the emancipation of the slaves andthe establishment of the republic. In his youth he wasengaged by music publishers and paid to play in theirestablishments, thus encouraging people to buy themusic he played, which included his own. Later, afterthe invention of the silent film, he was given a contractat the Odeon cinema, where he enlivened the films withhis accompaniment or entertained the public in theentrance lobby. Audiences were enchanted by theoriginality of his compositions. One famous nameamong those who heard him was Villa-Lobos, whoconsidered the music of Nazareth to be the ve
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Yaqi Yang; Margarita Parsamyan; Robynne Redmon; Minghao Liu; Frank Ragsdale; Kim Josephson; Kevin S
Vilmos Csikos; Olivier Lechardeur; Manon Lamaison
Tomas Cotik; Martingale Ensemble; Ken Selden
