Bachianas Brasileiras #5: Creating a concert version of the score

Bachianas #5 will be performed in "Moonlight Serenade" and is recorded by Louise Howlett on her latest CD

Louise Howlett and I will be performing the Bachianas Brasileiras #5 by Villa-Lobos in our new “Moonlight Serenade” programme. We have recently recorded this for release on our upcoming CD and spent a very intense few hours in the studio experimenting with different performing styles and “versions”. I am also preparing a performance of this work with Filipa von Eck for a concert in Mozambique which will commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Villa-Lobos’s death. The work is so popular and well-known that I thought performing it would be relatively straight-forward. I knew it so well. Or at least, I thought I did.

Brazilian Heitor-Villa Lobos (1887-1959) is one of the most significant Latin Composers to date. He wrote works in many different styles: orchestral, instrumental, small chamber ensembles, songs and more. His music is influenced by Brazilian folk music, but he is  considered a composer of classical music. A set of 9 Bachianas Brasileiras aim to combine his love for the music of his country with homage to the work of J.S. Bach. Villa-Lobos is said to have found analogies between Bach’s works and the traditional music of Brazil.

Originally written for soprano and eight-part cello ensemble, the “Bachiana #5” is very often performed incomplete. The first section, the Aria (Cantilena) composed in 1938, is often performed on its own. Its hauntingly beautiful melody has made it extremely popular and the second part, Dança (Martelo) added in 1945 is often omitted. The Aria opens with pizzicato cellos, their plucking sounds reminiscent of a large, resonant guitar. The voice enters with a melody so exquisite and haunting that it stays with you forever. And no matter where you hear it, the reaction to its beauty is instant.

Its shape is simple: A long mellifluous melody flanks a more dramatic middle section, creating an A-B-A structure similar to a Braoque “Da Capo aria” that Bach might have written. If one accepts that melody is the essence of music, and that the essence of melody is song, then one can easily see the connection between the worlds of J.S. Bach and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Melody was always apparent in the works of Bach, and not a strict or rigid type of melody, but a fluid, rhapsodic and improvisatory kind – much like many types of folksong. And in the works of both composers, the feeling of the dance is never far away. The text to the middle section was written by Ruth Valadares Correa, and is a beautiful evocation of the beauty of the moon – therefore it was an obvious choice for our “Moonlight Serenade”. But the largest part of this work has no text. The singer just sings an exquisite melody without words, a vocalise to move the listener to their core.

The difficulties with performing this work appear when you try to do it without the orchestra of cellos. Most piano versions of music originally written for orchestra, are designed to make the music “performable” without an actual orchestra. Many tricks are used by editors to imitate the sounds one would expect to hear. Tremolos, runs up and down the piano to create washes of sound, or thundering chords held in the pedal, all in an attempt to delude the listener into forgetting that the eighty-piece orchestra has been replaced by ten fingers. The problem is that a piano creates vastly different sounds to seven plucking cellos.

Villa-Lobos himself created a piano version in 1948,  mainly to satisfy his publishers, who needed something they could sell easily. The work was an instant popular success and singers wanted to learn and perform it, but weren’t always in a position to provide the cello orchestra. I have searched high and low for a recording of this version, but the lack of recordings of this version bears out my impression that this was not a version for serious performance, but rather a transcription to assist a singer in learning it. Sensible and sturdy chords give no hint of the flutter of butterfly wings created by the cellos.

Villa-Lobos had also worked extensively with guitarist Andrés Segovia (1893-1987) who is considered to be the father of the modern classical guitar movement by most modern scholars. As Segovia traveled the world, he and the guitar became more and more popular. Composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos began to compose original pieces specifically for the guitar. With their dark and melancholy mixture of dissonance and cello-like phrasing, Villa-Lobos’ compositions in particular, seem to fit the guitar perfectly. Segovia transcribed many of other composers’ works for the guitar, including a transcription of the “Bachianas #5” itself a re-working of Villa-Lobos’ 1947 guitar version.

Guitar arrangement by Villa-Lobos which forms the basis for transcriptions by Segovia and myself

This was the version I originally selected for my own performances on the piano. The thinned-out texture of the guitar version translated to the piano a lot better than I had expected. Louise and I performed this version, but the evolution was not yet complete. I would have to perform this work with other sopranos in other contexts, so I needed to adapt this into a performance version with which I felt comfortable. This guitar-version by Segovia was also “incomplete” in certain respects, not least because some of the solo cello lines were left out, or in some cases given to the soprano to sing.  This was an arrangement of an arrangement.

When Louise and I went into the studio, we recorded this adaptation at the original pitch, and it sounded very good. But we wanted to experiment further, especially since we had the advantage of a microphone and a superb sound-technician Duncan MacKay. We transposed it down into a lower key and tried again. The result was something original, which blended in with the other material on the CD.  Louise didn’t have to project so much to get her voice up into the high notes of the soprano range, and this created an ease of vocal production that allowed colouration that would not normally be possible. She could sing a lot softer, making the performance a lot more intimate than we had experienced before in our concerts and making it less “operatic” than most versions. This is in fact an appropriate style, since the work is written in the style of a “modinha” a sentimental love song “of uncertain origins” that evolved in Brazil and Portugal. It was a serenade of sung in the streets to guitar accompaniment, and the origins of the work are thus definitely not operatic. 

Still, we can’t perform it in this intimate way in an acoustic concert. So as we come up to a series of very different performance settings, the final version has yet to emerge. At Villa Pascal’s in Durbanville, there will be a microphone for Louise, but which key will we use? The lower one that we discovered in the studio, which reveals the intimate, romantic side of her voice? Or the higher pitch at which it was written, exploiting the more operatic side of her voice? We are not yet sure.

When it comes to a purist approach to this work, classical music lovers are in difficult territory. It is true that the only “correct” version of this work is with the original cello orchestra. But the very fact that Villa-Lobos made, encouraged and sanctioned arrangements of his own works, makes it difficult to be dogmatic on this issue. A glance around at available recordings is enlightening: Click here to listen to a variety of different arrangements of “Bachianas #5” . The one omission from this list is the arrangement by Louise Howlett and Albert Combrink, but once our CD is released, we can rectify that…

Villia-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras #5 – recordings, arrangements and research resources

There are many different arrangemnets of the Bachianas Braisleiras in print and in recorded media. I here offer a few versions in different styles, genres and voice-types.

Bidu Sayão -The first soprano to record Villa-Lobos’s large-scale “Symphony Cantata” “Amazon”. Performed in the presence of the composer, her performances are regarded as authentic as one can claim. We also have her to thank for the very existence of the vocal version of the work. Villa-Lobos originally conceived the melodic line for a violin, and it was Mz. Sayão who suggested the Vocalise concept. She did not however sing the World Premiere. The lyricist of the Aria (Cantilena) Ruth Valadares Corrêa gave the first performance in 1938.

 Barbara Hendricks - A modern recording of a beautiful soprano rendition with the original orchestration.

Galina Vishnevskaya (Original Orchestration with Mstislav Rostropovich playing the solo cello) - It might seem alarming that the dedicatee Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem” and performer of Russian works such as Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of the Mtensk District” would tackle this work, and yet it is deeply moving in its own right. The famous “Slavic Wobble” is absent, and the white vibrato-less sound for which her Tosca and Aida were criticised, seems to suit the ethereal cantilena. Russian poet Anna Akhmatova wrote “Listening to the singing” in 1961 after hearing this performance. Villa-Lobos himself played the cello, and it says something of the power of this piece that a great solo cellist such as Rostropovich would join a “cello-choir”.

 Camile van Hulsen Organ transcription – A version which exploits the sustaining qualities of the organ.

 SEBA - I think this version performed by a Crossover Jazz Ensemble would be more interesting if the performance was not so compromised.

Trio Arrangement for Soprano, Piano and Cello which attempts to combine the prominent elements of the Piano Arrangement with the textured movement of the cello part, reduced to one lone cello. There are successful elements at work here, but it is almost impossible to remain consistent throughout the work as the staccato passages are passed between the instruments.

Eva Marton and the New York Harp Ensemble - Mz Marton’s unsuitability to the vocal line apart, I felt the harps either too resonantly recorded or just not dry enough to capture the guitar-like texture. A useful experiment and a surprising failure.

 Elena Garancia (Reorchestrated) - A Mezzo-soprano singing the soprano line magnificently. Yet while she sings in the traditional “operatic” voice, the accompaniment has been fleshed out. Perhaps as there is a certain discomfort in the original version, given that we are not used to listening to an orchestra made up of only baritonal cellos? A lovely version, but it definitely can not be called “authentic”. Is that a problem? Let the listener decide.

Victoria de los Angeles – The doyenne of Spanish singers is for many the ideal interpreter of this work. I personally find the cellist’s overindulgent rubatos too much to handle.

 Machaca Ensemble (re-orchestrated with percussion) - An interesting orchestration including Xylopohone. An experiment that perhaps is not yet complete. The use of percussion can be further explored.

 Martin Ostertag and Boris Björn Bagger both teach at the University of Music Karlsruhe and made an interesting version for Guitar and Cello only with the Cello replacing the voice. A lovely arrangement perhaps, but a rather dry-eyed performance. Sheetmusic available at http://www.edition49.de 

An audio clip is available on Amazon by Miles Davis protégé Wayne Shorter – as authentic and heartfelt a response to this work as one can hope to hear. Reinvented, original and beautiful.

 Reinvented but much more baffling is a version by Jorge Aragao, a Samba artist who started performing in the 1970s. The carnival feel seems very far removed from the heartfelt cantilena of the “moon rising over the infinite beauty of transparent clouds”

 John Williams & Nana Mouskouri - This rather baffling rendition has divided opinion for almost 40 years. Nana Mouskouri had an instantly recognisable voice ideally suited for folk music, aunique personal style which she applied to everything that she sang. She transposes the high notes down, making it a very strange listening experience. Yet it was hugely popular in its time and broadcast on BBC4.

 Joan Baez - A folk singer with a voice similar to Nana Mouskouri, but a vastly more successful performance in its original orchestration. Even when it was first recorded, critics had little idea what to make of this version. It was not classical, it was not folk. And it deffinitely was not bad. No it is not “classical”. Some might say, “Thank God”.

 Frida Boccara turns in a surprisingly successful version where the voice does not take centre-stage but rather melds with the cellos, at some points indistinct enough that it almost becomes one of the instruments of the orchestra.

 Lance Bryant’s version is for SAXOPHONE and String Quartet - Perhaps with a world-class saxophonist this version has potential.

 Bachianas goes Café del Mar: The Operatica rethink has left me undecided. New art or travesty?

And just when you think you have heard it all – I am afraid to comment on this choral version. Perhaps a successful choral version such as the “translation” of Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” into a choral “Agnus Dei” still waits to happen for this work.

 I include a version for Jazz Vibraphone and Harpsichord mainly for the dubious sake of completianism.

 I leave the worst for last. Undoubtedly an amateur, Hayley Westenra here reveals all the virtues  and mysteries of her non-art. Breathing in the middle of phrases is the least of her flaws. An attempt at pretty singing simply falls flat. It is as meaningless a performance as one could have the misfortune to encounter. ANd Mz Westenra commits the ultimate Bachianas Crime: to bore the listener.

Useful links

A  list of recordings of works by Villa-Lobos currently in the catalogue 

A list of scores and some archive recordings

Text and translation

 Some published arrangements

The Aria (Cantilena) has also been arranged for:

Voice and Guitar as performed by Andrés Segovia

Voice and piano by Burle Marx

Concert Band by W. Herbert

Organ solo by Camil Van Hulse

Flute and Piano by James Galway

Viola and piano by William Primrose

Clarinet Choir by John Krance

Alto sax solo and sax quartet accompaniment by Frank Bongiorno

Solo Soprano Sax (C Instrument), 2 Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Bass Sax all published by AMP (Hal Leonard)

(http://www.mola-inc.org/Bachianas.htm)

Bachianas Brasileiras #5 Aria (Cantilena) text and translation

 Bachianas Brasileiras #5 Aria (Cantilena) Text by Ruth Valadares Corrêa (who also sang its World Premiere in 1938)

 
Tarde uma nuvem rósea lenta e transparente.
Sobre o espaço, sonhadora e bela!
Surge no infinito a lua docemente,
Enfeitando a tarde, qual meiga donzela
Que se apresta e a linda sonhadoramente,
Em anseios d’alma para ficar bela
Grita ao céu e a terra toda a Natureza!
Cala a passarada aos seus tristes queixumes
E reflete o mar toda a Sua riqueza…
Suave a luz da lua desperta agora
A cruel saudade que ri e chora!
Tarde uma nuvem rósea lenta e transparente
Sobre o espaço, sonhadora e bela!

English translation:

Evening, a rosy, translucent cloud, slowly crosses the drowsy, beautiful firmament!

The moon gently rises into infinity, adorning the evening, like a sweet maiden dreamily getting ready, making herself beautiful, desiring her soul to be beautiful.

She calls to the heavens, the earth, to all of Nature.

She silences the birds’ melancholy laments, and the sea reflects all her treasures…

Softly the moon awakens, a cruel yearning which laughs and weeps!

Evening, a rosy, translucent cloud, slowly crosses the drowsy, beautiful firmament!

 

“Yes, I’m Brazilian—I’m very Brazilian. In my music, I let the rivers and seas of this great Brazil sing. I don’t put a gag on the tropical exuberance of her forests and skies, which I intuitively transpose to everything I write.”

— Heitor Villa-Lobos  (http://www.brazzil.com/2003/html/articles/sep03/p109sep03.htm)

Bachianas #5 is performed by Albert Combrink and Louise Howlett on their upcoming CD.

Rossini’s “La Scala di Seta”: meet the players

I have been a repetiteur for many productions, from Operas to Musicals to Cabarets. But I have enjoyed few of them as much as this production conducted by Alex Fokkens and directed by Lara Bye.  The story is delightfully funny and charming. A young couple are in love and already secretly married, and this becomes the engine that drives the farce. I think it is a real “Closet-Opera”: there is always at least one closet on the stage, with always at least one person hiding in it, about to hide in it, or who has just come out from hiding in it. It is a lovely excuse for some comic bussiness and delightful Bel Canto music with exhilirating runs, high notes, cadenzas and furious finales. The work itself is a pleasure, Rossini’s 5th opera, the work of a twenty year old. Musch of the mature Rossinian genius is already to be found. Team leaders Alexander Fokkens and Lara Bye created a production bubbling with life, humour and energy.

Conductor Alexander Fokkens

Alex Fokkens uses a light touch on the score. The orchestration had to be reduced for this production and the Cape Town Camerata certainly has their work cut out for them. Alex understands voices well and it is evident that he has studied singing himself. The skill he brings to conducting Rossini is the ability to keep things “light and frothy” but not “frothy and frivolous”. He has a way of insisitng on what he wants, musically, while keeping the mood positive and creative. His experience as an opera conducor certainly pays off in the devellish ensembles as much as in the slow arias, where a misjudgment of tempo could be fatal. I appreciated all his discussions with the cast about expressive detail. The atmosphere of exploration and discovery was one to treasure.

Director Lara Bye

Lara Bye is so refreshing to work with. Willing to think “outside the box”, she rethinks operatic conventions and came up with a classic comedy that has a very contemporary feel to it. Her eye for comic timing is excellent and she has the ability to keep everybody focussed on what she is trying to communcate to an audience, while keeping the mood light enough for all the cast members to feel relaxed enough to make their own contributions. I felt asif I was watching a growth process in which the joy and fun of Rossini’s opera revealed itself in stages, a series of discoveries. Multimedia elements, animations and projections by Jon Keevy adds to the comedy and freshness of the production. The off-beat production had audiences of all ages laughing and giggling at its first public outing in February. Packed houses enjoying an afternoon of Opera? How delightful!

I very much enjoyed working with the cast. The two Baritones Aubrey Lodewyk and Conroy Scott both have very striking stage-personalities and the voices to match.

Baritone Aubrey Lodewyk

Aubrey plays the likeable servant Germont, who’s only real charachter-flaws are his fondness for the lovely “lady of the manor”, Giulia, and the bottle. He creates much confusion by falling asleep at the wrong time in the wrong place and getting messages mixed up.  In particular, Aubrey’s aria is one of the trickiest obstacle-courses a Baritone could tackle. While no-one ever doubted that he would master the role, I remember the first run-through at the piano. Page upon page upon page of tremendously taxing music lay before us. My eyes popped open. His eyes popped open. The rest of the cast’s eyes popped open. So many notes! Such a long aria! And such leaps from high to low. As we turned the page for the second verse of the fast cabaletta Aubrey took a deep breath and said – mid-cadenza – “Coffee Break!”

Conroy Scott – who also plays the Double Bass professionally – is given the role of Blanzac, whose overconfidence and fall from grace, is plotted and portrayed with excellent comic timing. I enjoyed his awareness of what the basses would be playing at any given moment in the opera. Even in this early Rossini opera, the trademark harmonic drive is evident, and Conroy’s orchestral experience creates a sense of being very aware of and in tune with whatever is happening in the orchestra pit. There’s a sense of youth, energy and enjoyment about being in rehearsal with Conroy that I enjoyed.

Conroy Scott and Zanne Stapelberg: Die Burger Gala Concert Feb. 2009

 

Magdalene Minnaar "La Scala di Seta" 2009

Magdalene Minnaar has a wonderfully expressive colloratura. Working with her on runs and cadenzas is truly fun. She has an excellent ear and faultless intonation – from many years of music lessons and performing also as a violinist, no doubt. And if one suggests just one more high note, or one more tricky little hairpin bend on some ridiculously high note, she is not only willing to try it, but can actually pull it off! I really enjoy her willingness to find a dramtic reason for a cadenza, and to let the music guide the movements to go with the notes. She will be fitting in this production on her way to New York for Masterclasses.

Elizabeth Frandsen

Elizabeth Frandzen sings the role of Lucilla with the perfect mixture of comedy, irony, and a touch of the “Adams Family”. Her popping in and out of the closet is one of the highlights of the evening, and her seduction of Blanzac is delightfully funny. Her powerful mezzo can be brandished like a sword to subdue a cocky baritone, or like a ticklish little feather to seduce the man of her dreams. Her aria is one of the highlights of the show and it is very hard to leave the reharsal room without whistling her perky little tune.

For the present revival only one cast-change was made: Sunnyboy Dladla will now be singing the role of Dorvill, the romantic hero. His comic flair is remarkable and his lyric tenor is ideal for the florid writing. Dorvil is a sweet mixture of the desperately tragic hero and the sweet innocence of the young lover.

Sunnyboy Dladla in Verona, Italy 2009

Jacques Louw

Jacques Louw sings the tutor Dormont. A character role, he tends to pop up at inconvenient times and in even more inconvenient places.

The project is presented under the auspices of the South African Wagner Society and coordinated by Music Maestro’s

“La Scala di Seta” – Synopsis

 

January 2009: Artscape Theatre

Catch  ”La Scala di Seta” 12 and 13 June 2009 at Atrscape Theatre

 

Synopsis

Dormont is the teacher and guardian of the beautiful Giulia, and he is determined that she will marry Blansac despite her continual rejection of his advances. The fact is that Giulia is already married to Blansac’s friend Dorvil, who every night is able to exercise his conjugal rights because Giulia lowers a ladder made of silk down to him from her bedroom window.

The opera opens in the morning. Owing to the attentions of Giulia’s cousin Lucilla, and the family servant, Germano, Dorvil has great difficulty making his escape by his usual method. Blansac is due to arrive at any minute in his quest for win Giulia’s love, but she has devised a scheme to divert his amorous attentions towards her cousin, who would make an excellent wife for him.

Giulia intends to bring Lucilla and Blansac together, and persuades Germano to spy on them from a secret hiding place to see how the relationship develops. Blansac arrives with his good friend Dorvil, who desperately tries to persuade him that Giulia is not looking for a husband. Unfortunately this only has the effect of making Blansac more determined, and more confident of success. He suggests that Dorvil might care to hide and see how successfully he is able to woo Giulia. Consequently, when Giulia enters, her meeting with Blansac is being overhead by both Germano and by her husband.

Giulia decides to probe Blansac to see if he would make a good and faithful husband for her cousin. Her questioning deceives all of the men listening into thinking that she is genuinely interested in Blansac. Dorvil emerges from hiding and storms off in fury, much to Germano’s surprise, who also shows himself. In the midst of all the confusion and noise Lucilla enters and Blansac suddenly notices what a fine looking young woman she is. Decidedly prettier than her cousin Giulia.

It is now late evening. Giulia is desperate for Dorvil to arrive so that she can explain the reason why she was questioning Blansac so closely about marriage. Once again the servant Germano is on hand and realizes that his mistress has an assignation. He can only assume that it is with Blansac, and decides to hide once more and see what happens. Unfortunately he is unable to keep his secret to himself and he lets Lucilla in on it. She is distressed to learn that Blansac, who she now loves dearly, is meeting Giulia and she also determines to find a hiding place in Giulia’s bedroom to observe proceedings.

There is general surprise and joyful amazement when it is Dorvil who climbs into the bedroom, followed closely by his friend who is intent on using the silken ladder to further his wooing, not of Giulia, but Lucilla. Everyone scatters when Dormont, who has been woken by all the noise, enters in his nightshirt. Seeing the way that everything has turned out for the best, he quickly forgives the couples for their underhand behavior and all ends in general rejoicing.

Duets for Soprano and Mezzo: Some Suggestions

As a freelance pianist working with a variety of singers, I am often looking for “programme-fillers”. I make some suggestions here of duets for Soprano and Mezzo and would appreciate others to leave suggestions as comments. I have to include the warhorses. This is just a list off the top of my head, so I would appreciate other input. So far I have not included song repertoire per se. A few Handel duets are included but probably require a post on their own.

SACRED:

J.S. Bach: Wir eilen mit schwachen, doch emsigen Schritten – Kantata BWV78

Pergolesi: “Stabat Mater -

Vivaldi: “Gloria” – Laudamus te”

Rossini: “Stabat Mater” – Quis est Homo

Verdi: “Requiem” – Recordare

OPERATIC:

Gluck: “Iphigenie en Aulide” – C’est Mon Pere, Seigneur

Monteverdi: “L’Incoronazione di Poppea” – Signor, hoggi rinasco

Purcell: “King Arthur” –  Shepherd, Shepherd, leave decoying

Handel: “Giulio Cesare” – Son nata a lagrimar + Caro Bella

Mozart: “Cosi fan tutte” – Prendero + Ah Guarda Sorella

Mozart: “Nozze di Figaro” – Conzonetta sull’aria (2 Sopranos but can work with one mezzo) +Aprite presto aprite

Mozart: “La Clemenza di Tito” – Non ci pentiam…Ah perdona al primo affetto

Mozart: “La Clemenza di Tito” – Come ti piace imponi

Bellini: “Norma” – Mira o Norma

Donizetti: “Anna Bolena” – Dio, che mi vedi in core…Al par del mio…Va, infelice, e teco reca

Strauss: “Der Rosenkavalier” – Presentation of the Rose  (Mir ist die Ehre) + The Final Duet (Spür nur dich allein)

Dvořák: “Rusalka” – Act 1: Tvoje Moudrost Všechno Tuší

Weber: “Der Freischütz” – Schelm, Halt Fest! Ich Will Dich’s Lehren

Humperdinck: “Hansel und Gretel” – Evening Prayer (Abends will ich schlafen gehn ) + “Brother come and dance with me)

Offenbach: “Tales of Hoffman” – Barcarolle (Belle Nuit)

Ponchieli: “La Gioconda” – L’amo come il fulgor + E un anetema

Puccini: “Madama Butterfly”  – Flower Duet (Tutti i fior)

Delibes: “Lakme” – Flower Duet (Viens Mallika)

Menotti: “The Old Maid and the Thief” – opening scene

Donizetti: “Maria Stuarda” – Morto al mondo

Rossini: “Bianca e Falliero” – Ciel! Qual destin terribile!

Rossini: “Tancredi” – Fiero incontro…Lasciami: non t’ascolto

Rossini: “Semiramide” – Giorno d’orror!… e di contento

Mozart: “Mitradate” – Se viver non degg’io

Bellini: “I Cappuletti i Montecchi”

Tchaikovsky: “Pikova Dama” – ACT I Sc.2: Duet: ‘Uzh vecher’ AND Duetto – Moi milenki druzhok

MUSICALS

Bernstein “West Side Story” – A boy like that

“Calamity Jane” – A Woman’s Touch

“Pal Joey” – Take Him”

“Guys and Dolls” – Marry the Man Today”