EVERETT — A highlight of the Everett Philharmonic Orchestra’s season finale May 14 is sure to be Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5.
The piece is from a set of nine suites by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written between 1930 and 1945. Students of any genre of music would do themselves a favor to attend this concert because Villa-Lobos employs notable modern compositional techniques in these suites, especially in No. 5.
The passionate piece is written for soprano and cello choir. If the audience doesn’t get goosebumps when they hear this, I am not sure what would move them.
The Bachianas Brasileiras series was a nod to J.S. Bach and the music of Villa-Lobos’ native country. Philharmonic director Paul-Elliott Cobbs’ selection of this piece for this concert is a good one as we head into the Summer Olympic Games in Brazil.
Soprano soloist Ellaina Lewis and the Philharmonic’s principal cellist Cami Davis previously have performed the first movement of No. 5. They each said they look forward to performing the entire suite.
“I would encourage all to attend who have an interest in folkloric music or poetry, Baroque music, riveting lyricism or the passionate exaltation of nature’s beauty that this music evokes,” Lewis wrote in a note to The Herald.
Lewis, originally from Washington, D.C., lives in Seattle and has performed extensively in the region. She studied at the Aspen Opera Theater Center, the University of Washington, Iowa State University and at the Astoria Music Festival and Academy.
In the first movement of Bachianas Brasileiras, the celli present the organized moving lines reminiscent of a Bach concerto and the soprano’s contrasting aria is as poignant and filled with longing as any Portuguese fado song.
In the second movement, a dance, the celli take on the drums portion of a Brazilian folk song, with the soprano playfully competing for attention.
Davis calls Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 one of her favorite compositions.
“I have listened to this piece for many years and own at least three recordings,” Davis said. “The cello has such a large range of pitches, which allows the instrument to be at once a partner with the voice and a very full accompaniment. The human voice is also not that different from the sound of a cello and the two pair very well. Also, Villa-Lobos’ first instrument was the cello.”
The other highlight of the concert is pianist Alexander Ardakov performing Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor.
Adakov is known to local concert-goers because of his appearances with the Mukilteo Community Orchestra. A Russian native, he lives in London where he is a professor of piano at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. His recordings include Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
The program opens with John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” and concludes with Antonin Dvorak’s lyrical Symphony No. 8.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
If you go
Everett Philharmonic Orchestra, 7 p.m. May 14, Everett Civic Auditorium, 2415 Colby Ave. Tickets are $25 general admission, or $20 for students, seniors and active military. Cobbs talks about the concert at 6 p.m. More information is available at www.everettphil.org.
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