Nana Mouskouri & John Williams - Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras №5 (1968)

Well, the bit before the words, at least.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• heitor
• villa-lobos
• bachianas
• brasileiras
• number
• five
• aria
• cantilena
• nana
• mouskouri
• νάνα
• μούσχουρη
• john
• williams

[Solnitron]

This is terrible! Not only can Nana not sing it accurately in the correct octave throughout, as the composer intended, but she is leaving out most of the song-- the hardest part, that also involves singing in Brazillian Portuguese. Her voice isn't frankly robust enough, as an operatic voice, to sing it in any case. If you can't do it, then don't and god forbit don't record it! Pretty pathetic and people will still like it somehow.

[AhhFreshMeat]

@Solnitron Come on, don't be such an ass. If everybody would play music only at the point of perfection, there would be no musicians at all. At least she is spreading out the idea, this masterpiece of mestre Heitor Villa-Lobos. It's far from perfection, but still touches the heart.

[sltomsik]

@607777777 So it's a primitive chant inspired by a primal, volcanic landscape so intense it takes away your breath and your words -- so when you find a way to express it musically, this is what it might sound like. And the guitarist -- taught by Segovia, provides a clear accompaniment. John Williams has an interest in modern and experimental forms -- very adaptable as guitarists cannot always be. I dunno, I've been there, felt the hot humid air, gasped at the volcanic up-surges...sounds like it.

[sltomsik]

@607777777 The composer spent his young-adult life wandering Brazil and playing in cafes for tips & meals -- at length, he had collected a musical treasure from Amazonas, a region where many explorers lose life or sanity. Chants by Indians, slaves, miners, and farmers were heard through the his cello and guitar. This is one of them. Brazil recognized this, gave him a grant and a teaching position. Samba-cansão, Afro-sambas, Brazil's street music -- had a beginning with Villa-Lobos.

[sltomsik]

@Solnitron "One foot in the academy and you are changed for the worst!" -- Heitor Villa-Lobos, the composer. Villa-Lobos was an amateur folk-musician who played cello in cafes in marginal villages. He was known for doing everything a properly trained music professor would disapprove. So, I would ask you how you are so sure the self-taught street-musician who lifted this indigenous chants would have disdained re-scoring it within another folk-singer's limited range?

[rohricwl]

I never saw so many pompass and pretentious asses in one place. So they didn't perform exactly what the composer wrote? So they left out a section of the composition? I don't care! Was it beautiful and a pleasure to hear? Yes. Try listening as a human being, and not as an anal-retentive archivist with his nose stuck in a musty tome.

[2754628]

Hey, dears, please, you shouldn`t be so snobbish!

[607777777]

Sounds good to me she looks beautiful

[pannever76]

@Solnitron I believe that it is not always prerequisite to be an opera singer in order to sing a classical song. Artists can and must experiment, this is creation! Nana created something new, I agree that it is not their strongest performance for both artists, but I can understand the different character of this version...

[lucasapendino]

Muy bueno... lastima que no la hagan completa!!!

[Erickvazquezc]

Fail.



[Baez971]

une catastrophe!