Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (his brothers were named Rossine and Verdi) has been widely regarded in Brazil as the country's second-ranked composer of the 20th century, after Heitor Villa-Lobos. He was a generation younger and lived even longer, adapting his style as nationalism went in and out of fashion, and he has been gaining attention outside Brazil. Those new to his music might try one of Brazilian-American pianist Max Barros' recordings of Camargo Guarnieri's six piano concertos, well-crafted works falling between Villa ...
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Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (his brothers were named Rossine and Verdi) has been widely regarded in Brazil as the country's second-ranked composer of the 20th century, after Heitor Villa-Lobos. He was a generation younger and lived even longer, adapting his style as nationalism went in and out of fashion, and he has been gaining attention outside Brazil. Those new to his music might try one of Brazilian-American pianist Max Barros' recordings of Camargo Guarnieri's six piano concertos, well-crafted works falling between Villa-Lobos and Bartók. The solo piano music recorded here is a bit more of a niche item, but it's far from uninteresting. The centerpiece is the group of five sets of Ponteios, a term that denotes the tuning improvisation engaged in by guitarists. They are essentially piano preludes, but they're of a special sort: they are very simple and similar in form, basically binary, and they have a minimal quality that brings to mind the music of Mompou. They're fascinating, even if they don't...
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