[Requires license] VILLA-LOBOS Rudepoêma - Tengku Irfan

Born in Rio in 1887, Villa-Lobos adapted Brazilian style and popular music to a classical Western Europe mold. He relished above all the motoric rhythms and melodic cells of his Latin American culture. He wrote Rudepoêma between 1921 and 1926, during his first residency in Paris. It became one of his paramount masterpieces for solo piano, and one of the most impressive and complicated compositions in the entire piano literature. He dedicated this complex work to Polish pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who also became a lifelong friend of the composer. The dedication of the score reads,
“My sincere friend, I do not know if I have been able to put all of your spirit into the Rudepoêma, but I am honestly able to say that, as far as I can tell, I have caught your true temperament on paper as I might have done with an intimate snapshot. Hence, if I have succeeded, it will be you in fact who will have been the real composer of this work.”
The composer’s dedication suggests how extensively Rubinstein has influenced him as a composer, as well as the composition of this work. Rudepoêma is rhapsodic in style - a single movement with no clear repetition of thematic material. The composer incorporated multiple Brazilian sources, African polyrhythms, material displacement and even dances such as tango and samba. Filled with harmonic inventiveness, contrasted rhythms and dynamic tempo changes, it was as though the composer drew a musical portrait of his friend and great admirer. The piece is a reflection and portrayal of Rubinstein’s fascinating and colourful personality.
Tengku Irfan, piano
Recorded live at the Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore, on 9 June 2023 at the 29th Singapore International Piano Festival.
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[@owenmcneill7746]

Wow! Beautiful performance 😊

[@Colonel_Kassad]

I listened to it as a background music. Two things stand out immediately: Bartok - Allegro Barbaro and Prokofiev - Toccata. There may be others, I was just skimming. Good playing.