Rare music of Ernesto Nazareth

A very charming piece indeed. It is up on the site. And for the first time ever in a recording of yours I could find something to nag about... At 4:15 -4:18 the hands are not exactly together. Don't worry, I won't make you re-record it

 

Hi Chris,

Thanks for commenting. I'm thinking about what you've said. I think you've misinterpreted the written music for an error of my part. That part is syncopated, as it is very usual in his phrase endings. Could you check the score, just for my curiosity?
http://www.ernestonazareth.com.br/pdfs/tupinamba.pdf

(the referred part if at the end of the last page)

Best,
Alexandre

 

I'll check tonight with score. It was just the tiniest imbalance I though I heard, not even worth mentioning expect for a compulsive nitpicker like me

 

I've listened again with score. What I referred to happens at 4:45 and 4:47, where the hands don't come down exactly together. But this is nitpicking of the highest order or course (those extremely tiny nits are real hard to pick :lol: )

I'm a bit puzzled by the huge pauses you take in bar 8 and similar places. Though it sounds very good and natural I must admit.

 

Hello Chris, I'm sorry for the delay in answering to your message (I didn't get the e-mail telling me that there was a post in this thread, as it usually happens).

Ah, I imagined you'd be referring to that part. I played the hands slightly out of phase on purpose, to sing the melody in the left hand, altough I recognize it didn't turn out to sound very natural.

Yes, I take many liberties in the agogics/phrasing of this piece, which I only do having in mind everything that I've studied and heard of Nazareth so far. This specific piece cannot be played a tempo throughly. It's piece to be sort of "recited".

Today I've recorded a new Nazareth: Desengonçado (difficult to translate. It refers to a person with discoordinated movements). It's one of his hidden gems, and quite challenging as well.

Hope you guys like it.

Best,
Alexandre


Nazareth - Desengonçado (Brasilian tango)(3:32)

 

What a delightful work! It pays great homage to Scott Joplin! You play it beautifully and with a clean touch. Thanks for the performance.

 

Hello Eddy,

Thank you! Yes, Nazareth and Joplin are musical brothers, altough there is no evidence that they heard each other compositions.

Best,
Alexandre

 

A nice and chirpy piece ! Impeccably played as usual. I find the digital sound of the highest notes a bit irritating here. Luckily they're only a few
I'd take Nazareth over Joplin any time. At least to my ears, his compositions have far more flair, variety, and joie de vivre than those of Joplin which I find often a bit plodding and four-square (though he wrote some nice things too).
This one is on the site.

 

Hi Chris, glad you like it, thanks.

Best,
Alexandre

 

Excellent recording and execution, as always. I have heard this piece played by Olinda Alessandrini. She does it a notch faster and a bit more "portato" at certain parts, but yours, while offering a different interpretation, is certainly of very high quality. Congratulations!

Marcelo

 

Hello Marcelo,

Thanks for the comment.
I'm not aware of any recording of Olinda Alessandrini playing Desengonçado. Did you hear it live?

The only recordings I know of Desengonçado are Polly Ferman's (1989), Orquestra Pan American (1928) and Daniel Dalarossa (2008).

Best,
Alexandre

 

I'm sorry!!! I must have missed the link to Desengoncado. I meant Tupinamba!... I will listen to Desengoncado shortly!

By the way, if I ever win the lottery, one of the top priorities of my gift list will be an acoustic piano for you.



Best Regards

Marcelo

 

My most sincere thanks, Marcelo.
I already have a Kawai Kx21 upright, but I'll accept a grand version of it

Best,
Alexandre

 

Excellent recording of "Desengoncado", another amazing piece. I'm not aware of any others out there for comparison, but I think you are definitely an authority. Even so, I must ask whether you think if it is not a bit too fast...?

 

I have never heard of this composer. Very interesting. I love public domain and find it useful in my teaching. I will keep this in mind.

 

Dear friends,

It is with immense joy and pride that I inform that Ernesto Nazareth is the first composer in the world to have his discography entirely available online. At the website www.ernestonazareth150anos.com.br - discography section ("discografia/gravações") an extensive table is available, which catalogs around 2.500 recordings of Nazareth's compositions made from 1902 to the present, in the whole world.

And to make the catalog richer, 2.043 recordings are available to be listened instantly on stream (downloads are not available). You just have to click on a line, and the player will appear. Then click on the play button.

There we have the first Brazilian 78-RPM recordings ever made, in the first decade of the 20th century by legendary Casa Edison, with the military bands and some of the first choro ensembles, going through Nazareth's own recordings, the explosion of his music in 1914 in the U.S. and Paris, the transition period in the 1940s with American influences, the first anthological LPs from the 1950s with Jacob do Bandolim, Radamés Gnattali e Carolina Cardoso de Menezes, the popular singers, his great re-descovery by the pianists Eudóxia de Barros in 1963 and Arthur Moreira Lima in 1975, which led his works definitely into the concert halls, entering the CD era with espectacular arrengements for the most diverse instrumentations, including symphonic orchestra, in a time which Japaneses, Americans, Frenchs, Norwegians, Uruguayans, Canadians, Icelanders, Brazilians, and many others, record him, showing the long reach of his works.

This is a previously unpublished research which I've been doing for the past 13 years, which shows that Ernesto Nazareth is one of Brazil's most recorded and cherished composers. To see it made available represents a more-than-dream, which was only possible thanks to the extraordinary vision of Instute Moreira Salles, represented by Bia Paes Leme and Paulo Aragão, also coordinators of the website.

Help us spread the word about it.

I wish you all a deep dive into the universe of Nazareth's discography, and that you may always marvel yourselves with the possibilities of his music.

Cheers,
--
Alexandre Dias