VILLA-LOBOS: 12 Etudes; 5 Preludes; Suite populaire bresilienne; Choros no. 1 – Pascal Boelis, guitar – Calliope 9415, 79:24 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] *****:
The ever-prolific Villa-Lobos wrote surprisingly little for guitar, the early love of his life, and the instrument that he would always retain great affection for. But what he did write has become the cornerstone of the guitar repertory, and no one has yet supplanted these works. The Preludes are among the most popular—that title must surely belong to the Choros No. 1—and this is reflected in the 30-odd recordings currently available. The etudes, more dissonant and discordant yet still sublime, have about half that number on the market. Very few discs have the complete music for guitar as this one does, and few contain the Preludes and Etudes on one disc—this is music that is often chopped up and separated for live concerts and recorded recitals.
I’ll say from the beginning that these readings, while excellent, do not surpass the wonders found in Julian Bream’s recording of the Preludes and Etudes (RCA) nor that of Narciso Yepes (DGG); in this case the big names really do own the big interpretations. But Pascal Boelis throws a wrench in the works by playing these on a 10-string guitar, the additions being four bass notes that not only allow for an extended repertory but also a richer lower register, and surprisingly, a softer overall tone. In doing direct comparisons of the Choros No. 1, the Etude No. 11 and Prelude No. 4 with that of Bream, I found that in each instance Bream’s sound was edgier and more concise, while Boelis’s tone softened things considerably, leading to a dreamier feeling in the works in question, more impressionistic, and perhaps more Brazilian to Bream’s Bachian qualities. In the Choros this is a detriment to Boelis, but the Preludes pick up some rain-forest color that Bream either eschews or downplays. This is not to short-change Bream, a master in all he does; but I do think that Boelis is using his instrument to provide some nuances of sound that are present in the music yet perhaps impossible to pick up on a standard five-string guitar.
So you will want Bream for sure if you don’t know this music, but Boelis adds the Suite populaire bresilienne and the Choros to round out a complete edition that makes for a well-filled and great-sounding disc that he can be proud of.
–Steven Ritter
