What I am Listening to Today

I am starting a new series of posts on what I am listening to today. I listen to a great variety of classical music. Early music to John Adams, Bach to Bernstein, warhorses to the bizarre, I love it all, for the most part.

So today:




Francisco Mignone (1897-1986). Born in Brazil of Italian immigrants, Mignone's music is Brazilian inspired with a bit of Respighi, Verdi and early Stravinsky thrown in the mix. Always melodic, always rhythmic as only a Latin can be, and certainly accessible.

Festa das Igrejas (Church Festivals) from 1940s rivals any of Respighi's tone poems, with tolling bells and organ creating atmospheres both meditative and festive. Sinfonia Tropical is an evocative tone painting of the Amazon jungles.

Maracatu de Chico Rei is a vibrant ballet with chorus, heavily inflenced by Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Afro-Brazilian rhythm and lore. The colorful and exciting music describes the building of a church by African slaves and the eventual winning of their freedom.

We used to call discs like this "lease breakers". Ones you played so often and so loud so as to catch every thrilling climax, every throbbing drum beat and booming bass that you risked getting tossed out of your apartment.

Fun, exciting, colorful, different.

BIS CD 1420

Available at record stores, ArkivMusic.com, CDUniverse, Amazon, HB Direct, or where ever you buy recordings.