The first Parisian performance of Chôros 10 provoked a storm, one critic writing, ‘it is an art ... to which we must give a new name.' This exciting piece uses a chorus instrumentally in furiously contrapuntal rhythmic patter, brass and wind providing bizarre bird calls and monkey chatter. There's no doubt Villa-Lobos was an iconoclast whose raw, zestful music gave expression to a vibrant new polyglot culture. Twice thrown out of the conservatoire he took as much from his experience as a café musician as he did from his beloved Bach. We welcome Celso Antunes from Sao Paolo to conduct the BBC Singers, and soprano Anu Komsi, who is soloist in the popular and beautiful Bachiana brasileira No. 5.
