Nocturne – David Ganc interprets chamber music of Nivaldo Ornelas
David Ganc has just released the fifth CD of his career, Noturno – David Ganc interpreta a música de câmara de Nivaldo Ornelas.
A saxophonist, flautist, arranger, and composer, Ornelas has set the standard for generations of musicians. He is a legend in Brazilian popular music for his performances with Milton Nascimento and Clube de Esquina, his appearances on CDs and at shows with Egberto Gismonti and Hermeto Pascoal, and the 14 CDs he has recorded of his own compositions.
Featuring music written by Ornelas from 1980 to 2014, Ganc’s latest CD pays special tribute to his friend, who turned 75 just as Mills Records launched the disc.
The friendship between the two dates to the 1970s, when Ganc opened Egberto Gismonti shows as a member of A Barca do Sol and Nivaldo played backup in Gismonti’s group Academia de Danças. Over the years, they’ve shared time in dressing rooms and at recording studios, and their personal bond remains strong today.
The music on Noturno straddles the boundary between popular and classical – something else that has been common to the musical paths of Ganc the interpreter and Ornelas the composer. With this CD, Ganc brings to the forefront a rather unfamiliar body of work by Ornelas: his classical music.
Ganc is accompanied on all tracks by the celebrated and talented Maria Teresa Madeira. She is the ideal pianist for this disc – indispensible, in fact. In 1986, Madeira and Ganc recorded Ornelas’s first classical composition, Noturno, for which this CD is named. The disc is further enriched by the masterly performances of Zeca Assumpção on acoustic double bass, Mingo Araújo on percussion, and Iura Ranevsky on cello, each playing a track.
The CD opens with Variations for Flute and Piano, recorded in 1990 on Ornelas’s LP A Colheita do Trigo. That first rendition was a popular performance featuring piano, bass, drums – and Ornelas on tenor sax and Ganc on flute. Now a classical version in three movements is offered by flute and piano.
Canção Breve is an unpretentious theme heard in the velvet tones of a G flute.
The Suite for Tenor Saxophone and Piano in 5 Movements – recorded here for the first time – can be thought of as a central idea split into five parts.
Sentimentos Não Revelados is a re-recording. The first time around, Milton Nascimento sang the melody, but now it’s presented by Ranevsky on cello and Ganc on flute.
Canções do Interior (A Praça) belongs to a notebook of songs for cello. Ganc transcribed it for tenor sax because the two instruments share similar ranges and because so little music has been written for this woodwind.
Performed for the first time on this CD, Suite Brazil-Holland in 6 Movements was the inspiration behind Ganc’s project. The suite is part of a broader exploration of Brazilian history that Ornelas embarked on in 1996 and completed in 2014, focusing on Holland’s invasion and occupation of Northeast Brazil from 1630 to 1654. In his sound interpretation of the era, Ornelas fuses European Baroque with melodic and harmonic genres and patterns from Brazil’s Northeast.
The suite is divided into six movements: “Arrecifes,” “Praia dos Flamengos,” “Fortaleza de São Luís,” “Cana do Reino,” “Arraial do Bom Jesus,” and “Recife, Oh Linda!” Zeca Assumpção’s bass and Mingo Araújo’s Northeast percussion blend Brazilian swing with classical sounds.
The disc closes with the piece that lends its name to the CD: Nocturne for Flute and Piano in 2 Movements. Written in 1984, it was Nivaldo Ornelas’s first foray into classical music – and it was dedicated to David Ganc. And so, says Ganc, “It’s a cycle that closes. While another one begins.”
Telling the world about this uniquely beautiful music, Egberto Gismonti writes: “The music in Noturno is an open window onto any one of our horizons. . . .It is a beautiful gift to our apparently impoverished world, bereft of dreams, of passion, and of affection that squeezes the heart to tears of joy. A beautiful gift to our contradictory, miscegenated, self-taught country. Beautiful music, of dedication and passion.”
The liner notes include an introduction by Egberto Gismonti. The photos, paintings, and video clips are by the artist Nando Chagas. Luciane Nardi was responsible for graphic design.
Noturno is now available on all digital platforms, by track or complete CD. The physical CD is distributed by Mills Records (www.millsrecords.com.br) and can be purchased at http://distribo.lojaintegrada.com.br/.
On Stage:
David Ganc – Flutes, saxophones, musical director
Maria Teresa Madeira – piano
Check it out on youtube:
1- Variações para Flauta e Piano Introdução e 1º movimento
2- Variações para Flauta e Piano 2º e 3º movimentos
https://youtu.be/czi5UQ_Kb_I
Downloads:
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