Alberto Ginastera
Emerging on the international music scene in the late '40s, Alberto Ginastera established himself as one of the mid-20th century's most distinctive compositional figures. Although he eventually borrowed sonorities and procedures from the serialist and experimentalist movements of the ensuing decades, he did so selectively and undogmatically, synthesizing with ever-increasing sophistication and discretion the echoes of his native Argentina with the expanding compositional palette of the avant-garde.
Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires in 1916, and even in his childhood showed early promise as a performer and composer. His adolescent years were spent in formal studies at the Williams Conservatory, and within a few years of his admittance to the National Conservatory as an undergraduate, his music was receiving national acclaim in prominent performance venues. Ginastera's initial reputation rested largely on his creative interpretations of and allusions to Argentinean folk materials, as realized in short-form pieces and suites, but by the late '40s and early '50s he had completed more imposing works, such his Piano Sonata No. 1 and his first two string quartets. He had also ventured abroad, first to Tanglewood in 1941, where he became fast friends with Copland, then to other destinations throughout the U.S. in the late '40s, and finally to several venues in Europe during the early '50s, where works such as the Variaciones concertantes and Pampeana No. 3 enjoyed warm receptions. Ginastera likewise introduced internationally acclaimed composers to Argentina. He oversaw an ambitious department at Catholic University (1958-1963), and during his tenure as director of the Latin American Centre for Advanced Musical Studies (1963-1971), his invited guests included Messiaen, Nono, Dallapiccola, and Xenakis.
Ginastera's works from the 1960s, including the opera Don Rodrigo (1963-1964), grew more varied in their methods and ambitious in their scope. He worked actively as a composer and champion of new music despite considerable external obstacles. Ginastera's political views twice put him at odds with the Perón government, which forced his resignation from positions at the National Military Academy and the National University of La Plata (he regained the latter position after Perón's defeat). The opera Bomarzo (1967) was banned by Argentina's de facto president due to its provocative story. Personal problems, including marital strife, stifled the composer's productivity in the late '60s, but his divorce and subsequent marriage to cellist Aurora Natola, and his retirement to Switzerland after decades of teaching in Argentina's most prominent musical institutions, gave Ginastera his second wind. His last years were among his most fruitful, and saw the creation of the Guitar Sonata, Op. 47, Glosses on Themes of Pablo Casals, and the large choral work Turbae ad passionem gregorianam. He died at the age of 67 in Switzerland.
© J. Neal /TiVo
Discography
13 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Harp Concertos (Ginastera/Debussy/Boieldieu)
Concertos - Released by Claves Records on 4 Nov 2016
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ginastera: Harp Concerto, Op. 25 / Variaciones concertantes, Op. 23
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Sidsel
Classical - Released by Lawo Classics on 13 Sep 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Carlos Chávez: Toccata for Percussion Instruments - Alberto Ginastera: Cantata Para America Magica
The Los Angeles Percussion Ensemble
Classical - Released by Soundmark Records on 18 Oct 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Looking South
Classical - Released by Albany Records on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Alberto Ginastera:Obra Integral Para Piano Vol.2
Classical - Released by Irco Video on 1 Dec 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La Caja Mágica
Chamber Music - Released by Ars Harmonica on 1 Apr 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ginastera - Prokofiev - Janáček (Manos A La Obra)
Elias Gurevich, Haydée Schvartz
Classical - Released by Epsa Music on 7 Oct 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Panorama de la Música Argentina, Compositores Nacidos Entre 1916 - 1922
Classical - Released by Irco Video on 27 Aug 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live in Concert Recording #129
The University of Illinois Symphonic Band
Classical - Released by Tresona on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alberto Ginastera: Pampeana No. 3, Op. 24 - William Bergsma: A Carol on Twelth Night - Henri Sauguet: Les Trois Lys - Robert Ward: Euphony for Orchestra
The Louisville Orchestra, Robert Whitney
Classical - Released by First Edition on 27 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alberto Ginastera:Obra Integral Para Piano Vol.1
Classical - Released by Irco Video on 1 Dec 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo