Conductor Simone Menezes constructed a 45-minute orchestral suite for soprano and symphony orchestra from Villa-Lobos's Floresta do Amazonas, based on a newly revised edition by the Academia Brasileira de Música.
Composition History
Heitor Villa-Lobos's symphonic poem Floresta do Amazonas was originally composed in 1958 to accompany the Hollywood film Green Mansions, starring Audrey Hepburn and Anthony Perkins.
Cultural Impact
The 'Amazônia' exhibition by photographer Sebastião Salgado and producer Lélia Wanick Salgado, accompanied by concerts featuring Villa-Lobos's music, has been presented worldwide to over 1.4 million visitors.
Recording & Production
The 'Amazônia' project, featuring music by Villa-Lobos and Philip Glass, was conceived to accompany photographer Sebastião Salgado's 'Amazônia' exhibition, with images matched to musical phrases.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Heitor Villa-Lobos, a Brazilian composer, stated that his music allows the rivers and oceans of Brazil to sing, and he instinctively carries the tropical exuberance of its forests and skies into everything he writes.
Composition History
Villa-Lobos was infuriated when Hollywood orchestrators "eviscerated" and "shamelessly cut to ribbons" his score for Green Mansions, leading him to reclaim his music as an independent concert work.
Historical Context
Sebastião Salgado, a Brazilian photographer, and his wife Lélia Wanick Salgado founded Instituto Terra in 1998, which is dedicated to reforestation, conservation, and environmental education in Brazil.
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