First Volume of Orchestral Music by Freitas Branco Recorded in Dublin September 21, 2007
The RTE National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Álvaro Cassuto recorded for Naxos the first volume of a four-volume set of orchestral works by Portuguese composer Lus Freitas Branco (1890-1955). Branco’s output includes five symphonies, a violin concerto, symphonic poems and piano and vocal music. While studying with Humperdinck in Berlin the composer was greatly impressed by a performance of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. He brought influences from French musical impressionism and Schnbergs atonalism into Portuguese music. Freitas Branco is considered Portugals leading composer of his time.
Recorded were Symphony No. 1, Suite Alentejana, No. 1, and Fandango Ribatejano. Sessions took place on 10 and 11 September at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland, and were produced and engineered by Andrew Walton of K & A productions. |
