Plínio Fernandes to Debut on Decca Gold

courtesy of Universal Music

This Friday Decca Gold will release the debut album of Brazilian guitarist Plínio Fernandes. The title of the album is Saudade, which is the Portuguese word for nostalgia. Fernandes was born and raised in São Paulo. However, he holds a master’s degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London, and he has been living in that city for the last seven years. This is the latest ball of a forthcoming release to be dropped by Amazon.com; and, once again, those interested in pre-ordering the album will be best served by a Barnes & Noble Web page.

As might be expected, the album is a nostalgic reflection on Brazilian composers and arrangers. As might be guessed, the best-known of those composers is Heitor Villa-Lobos. The most extensive portion of the album is taken by the five guitar preludes that Villa-Lobos composed. However, Fernandes is also joined by cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason in a performance of the first (Aria) movement of the fifth composition in Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras collection. This was originally composed for a soprano and orchestra of cellos, but Villa-Lobos himself rearranged that cello accompaniment for solo guitar. For his part, Kanneh-Mason could play the vocal line transposed down into a more suitable octave.

It is also worth while to note the presence of Sérgio Assad, whose contributions include seven arrangements and two compositions, “Valseana,” the second movement from his Aquarelle, and “Menino,” for which Fernandes accompanies violinist Braimah Kanneh-Mason. Assad’s arrangements include two popular songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim, “The Girl from Ipanema” and “Samba do Avião,” as well as the equally popular “Aquarela do Brasil” by Ary Barroso. This is probably where I need to put on my huckster’s voice and proclaim, “but wait, there’s more!” The fact is that the total number of tracks on this album is eighteen (five of which account for the Villa-Lobos preludes). This makes for an engaging panorama of diversity in the guitar repertoire, meaning that this is an album that is likely to stand up to multiple listening experiences, each of which may turn up its own aspects of novelty.