February 4, 2019; New York, NY—On February 8, 2019 Naxos—the repertoire label—will launch The Music of Brazil, a series which is part of the project Brasil em Concerto, developed by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to promote music by Brazilian composers. Naxos has a long recording history in Brazil, having already recorded the Villa-Lobos Symphonies. This new project builds significantly on this recorded legacy, and is to eventually include 30 albums featuring 100 orchestral works from the 19th and 20th centuries by composers such as César Guerra-Peixe, Alberto Nepomuceno, Cláudio Santoro, Edino Krieger, Antônio Carlo Gomes, Leopoldo Miguez, José Siqueira, Camargo Guarnieri, and many others. It will also include the songs and concertos of Villa-Lobos. The music will be performed by the Minas Gerais Symphony Orchestra, the Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra, and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra.
The first release focuses on the music of Alberto Nepomuceno, one of the first composers in his country to employ elements of folklore in his composition. Performed by the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra led by music director and principal conductor Fabio Mechetti, the album includes Nepomuceno’s Prelude to O Garatuja; Série Brasileira; and his Symphony in G minor [Naxos 8.574067].
In announcing this project, Naxos founder Klaus Heymann commented: “This new 30-album project, The Music of Brazil, introduces the general public to a wide range of often unknown composers and orchestral works. The project is a continuation of my longstanding interest in the classical music of Brazil. The Naxos catalogue already has more than one hundred albums featuring Brazilian music, including the award-winning “Complete Symphonies of Heitor Villa-Lobos” with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra that were released between 2011 and 2017. It is with great pleasure that we announce this new Naxos project that continues our exploration of Brazil’s great musical heritage.”
