Meeting Point.

• Author: Holston, Mark

Egberto Gismonti (ECM 1586 78118-21586-2)

Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist Gismonti's ingenious use of folk-derived rhythms from his homeland and penchant for shifting the focus of his avant-garde writing and playing from sophisticated, improvisational-based popular idioms to classical-oriented works makes him one of his country's most consistently compelling musicians. Comparison to such lauded national talent as Hector Villa-Lobos, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Hermeto Pascoal fails to do justice to the astounding range of Gismonti's talents and the singular quality of his creative genius.

This spellbinding recording pairs the Brazilian's piano and compositional skills with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gintaras Rinkevicius. The suitelike program includes two short, Stravinsky-esque pieces based on the maxixe and zabumba rhythms that Gismonti conceptualized as tributes to the...