This past month was a busy one for theBrazilian Guitar Quartet, with the release of their new album “Brazilian Guitar Quartet Plays Villa-Lobos” and a concert tour of the U.S.! Take a look at what people across the U.S. have to say about The Brazilian Guitar Quartet in live performance:
Winter Park/Maitland Observer
By Louis Roney
“On Sunday afternoon, Jan. 30, in Tiedtke Hall at Rollins College, the Brazilian Guitar Quartet played in an exhibition of guitar mastery that one rarely hears.
Just plain “good” guitar playing doesn’t have a chance once you have experienced the excellence of those who know how to turn four guitars into a whole orchestra of varied sounds.
…The program included perhaps an unbalanced emphasis on the Brazilian compositions of Heitor Villa-Lobos, the highlight of which was the Suite Floral, a piece in three sections written in 1910…”
Reichel Reccomends
By Edward Reichel
“In a refreshing change from string quartets and piano trios, the Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City brought the Brazilian Guitar Quartet to Utah. The foursome (Everton Gloeden, Tadeu Do Amaral, Luiz Mantovani, Gustavo Costa) has been around for more than a decade and has made quite a name for itself in the concert hall and in the recording studio in that time…
… Being Brazilian the group naturally focused on the music of countryman Heitor Villa-Lobos. Half of the works they played were by him. The main piece on the program was the String Quartet No. 12, a late work from 1950. This was an excellent transcription that captured the depth of the music. The work is rather intense but lyrical and the ensemble gave a perceptive reading that brought out the bold expressiveness compellingly.
The quartet also performed selections from Villa-Lobos’ “Suite Floral” and “Cirandas.”
“Suite Floral” is an early work, and in the three movements that were played one could easily discern the influence French impressionism had on the young composer. Gorgeously melodic, the four guitarists gave a nuanced and finely crafted reading.
In “Cirandas,” Villa-Lobos transformed traditional Brazilian children’s tunes and created a clever and witty work that the foursome played with subtle dynamics and expressions…”
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