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"The vocal performances are among the highest Buxton has to offer.......But the evening belongs to the outstanding Brazilian soprano Rosana Lamosa, utterly riveting up to the final scene where, betrayed by Renaud, the piqued enchantress destroys her palace. A performance to bring the house down in every respect."
The Guardian, julho 2006. Armide, Buxton Opera House



"Lang directs with a sure feeling for the opera's intensity, and has secured, in Rosana Lamosa as Armide, a vocally fleet and roundly characterised seductive sorceress."
The Independent



VILLA-LOBOS: Bachianas Brasileiras (Complete) - Rosana Lamosa, soprano/Kenneth Schermerhorn (conductor)/Nashville Symphony Orchestra - Naxos 8.557460-62 - Disc 1: Nos. 1-3 (73:10); Disc 2: Nos. 4-6 (40:42); Disc 3: Nos. 7-9 (62:22) ***:

For those who love the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos, this compilation will be welcome. There haven't been many complete editions of Bachianas Brasileiras, only selections discs like one put out by RCA Victor in 1996 conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Schermerhorn is a decent conductor and doesn't interpret these pieces as much as play them straight, with the lyricism and playfulness the text requires. However, if your only acquaintance with these pieces is No. 5 with its striking yet over-performed vocalise--my first recording was by Joan Baez--then you should be aware of certain things.

First, unlike Villa-Lobos' Choros pieces, this series has neither development nor coherence. There is only the slight hint, in the last three pieces, that the composer is progressing in technical and emotive skills. Often there is less here than meets the ear. Nos. 1 & 2 are tame experiments in blending traces of Brazilian folk tunes with Bachian counterpoint. They are also, and Villa-Lobos would be the first to admit it, attempts to cash in on the neo-classical craze of the twenties and thirties. Norman Lebrecht has called No. 1 "primitive minimalism" and he is not far off in that assessment. No. 2 for chamber orchestra ventures into hokey territory with its train toccata ("The Peasant's Little Train"). The series picks up slightly in No. 3, a piano concerto, but its toccata also contains faux-naive folk elements like woodpecker sounds. Don't get me wrong. This is perfectly adequate, occasionally charming music: its lack of jarring moments or impolitic dissonance qualifies it for suitable dinner music. No. 5 is, of course, the series' centerpiece and this recording doesn't disappoint. Soprano Rosana Lamosa, although heavier on the vibrato than Renée Fleming, sings with poignancy and drama. Villa-Lobos expanded the vocal section in 1945 to include two gushy poems that are effective and strongly sung.

Lively and often witty, No. 7 for orchestra treats listeners to a "Country Quadrille" in its giga and odd melorhythms in its "Joust" tocccata. (He spices it up with startling brass figures.) Written in grandiose style for the ages, it's actually firmly rooted it its own time. Its preludio sounds like opening credits music for a 40's Hollywood melodrama. No. 8 for orchestra has some strong moments, such as its aria and toccata, but it does meander with its fugue. No. 9 opens with a sentimental prelude that the composer labels "mistico." The concluding fugue would be an excellent teaching tool for high-schoolers. Be prepared for this set. Depending on your musical proclivities, it may or may not astound, startle, tickle, or disturb you.

[If on the other hand you are a fan of Villa-Lobos' tame experiments, you might want to check out the multi-disc set on EMI of Villa-Lobos conducting Villa-Lobos. It includes many other works and though mono is in surprisingly good sound with a fascinating note booklet...Ed.]
Peter Bates, Classical CD Review

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