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New Reviews“...Castagna’s excellence in this repertoire is not surprising. What might surprise some, though, is how idiomatic the German orchestra is. ...At no point sis I feel that the music’s full potential was not being realized" "vibrant orchestration of the Milongón Festivo... Castagna´s arrangement is terrific...Under such expert guidance, the Württemberg musicians play as if they never experienced a day under 85º F in their lives" "This is high-octane stuff – gauchos, pampas, coffee (not decaffeinated). There’s a gaudy start to this Latin-American disc, Astor Piazzolla’s Milongón festivo, its exhilaration enough to make Bernstein’s ‘Mambo’ (West Side Story) seem tame! Passion abounds.... maestro Castagna clearly having a bent for the music of South America (he himself is Argentinean) and this is his fifth Chandos release of this type of thing. He is clearly in his element and takes his Baden-Württemberg musicians flying along, too... Musically, there is a great deal of pleasure to be found here fun, sentiment, siestas and fiestas" "All the pieces are performed with great conviction and receive vibrant recordings full of vim and vigour as benefits their lively character" This is high-octane stuff – gauchos, pampas, coffee (not decaffeinated). There’s a gaudy start to this Latin-American disc, Astor Piazzolla’s Milongón festivo, its exhilaration enough to make Bernstein’s ‘Mambo’ (West Side Story) seem tame! Passion abounds. The piece is not as left by its composer, for this date-uncertain music is arranged for large orchestra by our conductor, Gabriel Castagna, the credit making clear that this version is without bandoneón, Piazzolla’s own instrument, and a feature of other versions of this piece. This is music at once suggestive and thoroughly diverting through its own diversions, a steamy and seductive six minutes’ worth. It also shows that Castagna is a dedicated conductor of the sort of rhythms and colours that we expect – demand! – from Latin-American orchestral extravaganzas. What might surprise is how ‘native’ the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen is! This programme is entirely of premiere recordings – sure thing, none of this music has been recorded before (which seems to be our loss up until Chandos’s initiative). The album’s title-piece, Fiesta criolla (1941), by Manuel Gómez Carrillo, enjoys a lighter and festive touch in these orchestrations by the composer of piano-solo originals. However, four vignettes lasting seven minutes do not the listed Symphonic Suite make! Juan José Castro’s Arrabal is fascinating – Bernard Herrmann’s music for Hitchcock’s Psycho meets Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. It would be interesting to hear the rest of Sinfonia Argentina. More Argentina-related music follows, and more from Carillo, his Rapsodia santiagueña (1922), another orchestration, another piano original, but this time with a title-change for it used to be known as Rapsodia Argentina; rather nice though, quite waltzy, quite European too, almost a composer visiting South America rather than someone indigenous to the region. Dare I mention that Concierto indio of 1940, by Theodoro Valcárcel Caballero, is an arrangement of Suite indigena for violin and piano of 1930? But such information doesn’t tell you about the sexy and slinky nature of the first movement or the easy melodiousness of the following ‘Cantabile’. There are four movements altogether, all charming in their different ways, even with some Elgarian wistfulness and Dvořákian folksiness; Nora Chastain is a lovely violinist. Congada by Francisco Mignone (1897-1986) is an entr’acte from an opera; it’s lively, pointed and even a little spectral; insinuating without being insistent. Guillermo Uribe Holguin (1880-1971) wrote eleven symphonies and three-hundred piano pieces. Tres Danzas is easy listening yet the pieces seem curiously form-less and unmemorable while also being delightfully courteous. Finally, the oldest music on the disc, from 1889, Alberto Williams’s Primera obertura de concierto, a product of this then young man’s studies in Paris including with none other than César Franck. With not a note suggestive of Buenos Aires, but not because of that, this is an impressive Concert Overture. How good it would be to hear Williams’s nine symphonies – yes, the magic/superstitious nine! – the last composed in 1939. This is a rather good collection, varied and stimulating, with conductor and orchestra doing the music proud – the strings can sound a little thin at times though – with maestro Castagna clearly having a bent for the music of South America (he himself is Argentinean) and this is his fifth Chandos release of this type of thing. He is clearly in his element and takes his Baden-Württemberg musicians flying along, too. The recording is vivid if a little synthetic, courtesy of a three-in-one man, Reinhard Geller, who is producer, engineer and editor. Musically, there is a great deal of pleasure to be found here fun, sentiment, siestas and fiestas.
More ReviewsDANIEL PIAZZOLLA (son of Astor Piazzolla) speaks in a radio interview about Castagna´s premiere recording of the Sinfonía Buenos Aires. Gabriel Castagna leads the Wüttembergische Philharmonic Reutlingen in well-honed, lithely muscular performances that are also intensely idiomatic… this is a disc that no one interested in twentieth-century music would want to be without. The first volume of Castagna’s survey of Piazolla’s orchestral music offered a rare and valuable account of the tango master’s 1953 Sinfonietta… on this new disc, Castagna gives us the first recording of the Sinfonia Buenos Aires. Composed in 1951, it is far more ambitious in scope than the Sinfonietta – and more daring as well… Castagna inspires some ferocious playing from his German orchestra, particularly in the frenetic and feral finale. Gabriel Castagna conducts the German Württembugisches Orchester with a real feel for the tango, especially in the loud, thrilling last movement of the Sinfonia Buenos Aires. "Maestro Gabriel Castagna, is something like a "Tango Native Speaker" and, with a sincere elegance, leaded the orchestra the orchestra through the refined arrangements ." The "new tango" sounded original and authentic with Gabriel Castagna, a conductor with his roots in Buenos Aires, who possessed finesse and engagement given by his classical background." "A seldom heard fresh an ideal Mozartian Orchestra. This was the result of the superior gifts of conductor Gabriel Castagna, who had from the beginning to the end the sound in his hands (Mozart Clarinet Concerto).... One could hardly imagine a better version of this cheerful and temperamental music (Respighi's Antiche Aria and Dances)." "A very efficient conductor....Castagna inspired a sacral enthusiasm to the orchestra to perform an impetuous Beethoven." "Versions resolutely satisfactory of works with severe requirements." - Comments by personalities of the music world - "I was quite impressed with the Beethoven 7 th -it is a very good piece of conducting. They seemed spirited, energetic, and committed, which is what one looks for. I enjoyed the recordings." Mr. Henry Fogel, President, Chicago Symphony Orchestra. "I have great respect for the Berliner Symphoniker and also for Mr. Castagna...The quality of the recording is excellent as well as the performance of the Berliner Symphoniker and the conductor Gabriel Castagna." Aurora Nátola-Ginastera, international cellist, widow of the composer Alberto Ginastera. "An exceptionally gifted young conductor, he will make his mark." Professor Samuel Jones, conductor/composer (Composer in Residence, The Seattle Symphony Orchestra).
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