Nelson Freire - Brasileiro: Villa-Lobos & Friends (2012)

While Nelson Freire is world famous as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Frédéric Chopin, he is well known in Brazil as a brilliant exponent of the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos and other composers of his country. Brasileiro is a 2012 release on Decca that explores Freire's lifelong relationship with his compatriots' music, and reveals him to be as eloquent in their colorful pieces as he is in the European classics. Serving up a generous program of solo piano music by Villa-Lobos, Camargo Guarnieri, Henrique Oswald, Alexandre Levy, Joaquim Antônio Barrozo Netto, Oscar Lorenzo Fernández, Claudio Santoro, and Francisco Mignone, Freire demonstrates that it is all highly sophisticated fare, often as cosmopolitan as it is concentrated with local flavors. Villa-Lobos certainly reflects both in his charming character pieces, which show a blending of dreamy impressionism with witty neo-classicism, while the dance impulse is particularly strong in many of the selections by other composers, along with suggestions of Brazilian folk songs and moody scene painting. The sound of this recording is generally soft and warm, suffused with a resonant ambience that lends a special glow to Freire's playing, though without blurring his crisp attacks and lively rhythms.