ACCENTS
What do we know in Europe about the street Chôros tradition for interpreting Villa-Lobos? Or American folk music? The Italo-Brazilian conductor Simone Menezes seeks to answer these questions with Ensemble K, the multicultural orchestra she founded and with which she has released her debut album under the Aparté label. Much like the works in its program, the musicians of Ensemble K come from all corners of the globe.
To capture the original essence of the pieces it performs, the ensemble draws on its own roots to get as close as possible to the musical traditions from which these works emerged. Its goal: to tell each story in its original language. Simone Menezes thus leads her ensemble to Brazil with Villa-Lobos' magnificent Chôros No. 5, into the primitivist Russia of Borodin with the Polovtsian Dances, into the exploration of Aboriginal culture with French composer Sophie Lacaze's Histoire sans paroles, and back to rural American folklore with Copland’s ballet Appalachian Spring. The ensemble also reimagines the natural accents for the Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune.
Repertoire for 14 musiciens : Borodin / Debussy / Copland / Villa-Lobos / Lacaze
"Copland's original chamber music version of Appalachian Spring is the highlight here – the penultimate section, an enchanting set of variations on the Shaker melody 'Simple Gifts,' has rarely sounded so ingenuously alluring." – BBC Music Magazine, April 2021
"The sonic journey offered by this debut album is remarkably fresh. Its poetic breath draws from the shimmering and flickering of the timbres, particularly those of the woodwinds and accordion – beautifully captured by the airy recording. Innocence and candor blend here [in Copland’s Appalachian Spring] with a sense of form, a sharpness of contrasts (tempo, attack, mood) that is highly appealing. A brilliant entry into the recording world." – Diapason