Guerassim Voronkov - Musique orchestrale et de chambre (2013)

Luis Carlos Figueroa, born in 1923, is one of the senior figures in Colombian music, much esteemed as composer, pianist and teacher. His works marry spontaneous lyrical charm — perhaps with a French twist from his student days in Paris — with vibrant South American folk influences, thus siting him downstream from Canteloube and Villa-Lobos. His 1986 Piano Concerto, for example, combines rhythms from the Caribbean and the Valle del Cauca around his hometown of Medellin with classical forms and structures, creating a work full of passion and energy. The String Quartet is a first recording; the other works have not been released outside Colombia before.

Wilson Casallas, piano
Bryan Muñoz, flute
Orquesta Sinfónica del Conservatorio Nacional de Colombia, orchestra
Guerassim Voronkov, conductor
Cuarteto Q-Arte, string quartet