Villa-Lobos on a Budget

Amazon has an MP3 set of the complete "Bachianas Brasileiras" and "Choros" by Heitor Villa-Lobos for $17.98. This consists of 8 hours and 45 minutes of music, which is also available in a 7-CD set for $89, but is currently out of stock. In other words, the download is a great deal, and also a lot less than on iTunes (love you, iTunes, but Amazon has you beat this time).     


Normally, at a bargain price like this, you might expect a less than outstanding performance or poor audio quality, but that's not the case here.  In the "Classics Today" online review, the CD version of this same set is given a 10/10 (10 for artistic quality, 10 for sound quality), and reviewer David Hurwitz writes: "these are the finest recordings of these works currently available."  Just in case the reader didn't get the message, at the end of the review, Hurwitz adds, "at seven discs for the price of three, you’d have to be insane not to grab this set immediately."


Villa-Lobos composed music from the early 1900s up through the late 1950s, and while his music may be technically considered part of the classical genre, it is highly influenced by Brazilian folk music.  He was the most prominent Brazilian composer of the 20th century, and his music is widely known throughout the world.  


The hauntingly beautiful aria from the Bachiana Brasileira 5 is one of the best known of Villa-Lobos' compositions, and here it is, sung by Donna Brown, from the above recording: