Classical works, classic performances.

• Author: Holston, Mark
• Position: Music Notes

Alberto Ginastera Estancia

(harmonia mundi HMC 901808) Aaron Copland, with whom Alberto Ginastera (1916-83) studied composition at Tanglewood in the mid 1940s, called the native of Buenos Aires "the great white hope of Argentine music." In the following decades, Ginastera more than validated Copland's bold claim and in the process became the most celebrated Latin American composer of his generation by far.

Estancia is from what the composer terms his "objective nationalism" period. The work's four ballet dances are supremely nationalistic, incorporating Argentine folk rhythms and a theme that celebrates the rural life of the gaucho. The balance of the program, recorded by Spain's Orquesta Ciudad de Granada under the baton of Josep Pons, includes the "Concierto para arpa y orquesta" in three movements, featuring harpist Magdalena Barrera, which represents, according to annotator Victor Estape, a transition between Ginastera's "subjective nationalism" and "neo-expressionism" periods. Throughout the work, Ginastera emphasizes contrasts, in both dynamics and mood, which ranges from placid to frenetic. The composer's vision is dramatically revealed on "Variaciones concertantes"--a dozen miniature movements, each exploring the role of different instruments and alive with his audacious synthesis of folkloric and avant-garde classical elements.

O Universo Musical de Baden Powell

(Sunnyside SSC 3016) In the mid 1960s, when Time magazine published a cover article on the emergence of Brazil as a world power, it singled out guitarist Baden Powell (1937-2000) as one of the country's major cultural assets, lauding his classical technique and affinity for churning Afro-sambas. Four decades later, the importance of Powell to both Brazilian music and the classical guitar tradition remains undiminished.

In the four years since his death, the guitarist's artistry has undergone a reevaluation. Part of the process has been the reissue on compact disk of many essential Powell recordings. This two-CD set captures on twenty-nine tracks the guitarist at the peak of his technical prowess during his long tenure in Paris. From the archives of Barclay Records come fourteen exquisite tracks recorded between 1964 and 1972. Among the most mesmerizing are J.S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," Brazilian composer Ary Barroso's "Folha Morta" and his own well-known composition "Berimbau," all solo guitar performances. A rotating cast of Brazilian and French rhythm-section...