Modern-day romantic: Pedro Vilarroig

[febnyc]

Born in Madrid in 1954, Pedro Vilarroig is represented on a Verso CD by his Piano Concerto (1990), String Quartet No.1 (1998) and Sonata for Saxophone and Piano (2004).  Each work is totally tonal and really romantic - especially the gorgeous Concerto.  And I see that Vilarroig has written a number of symphonies - although I've not heard a note of any.

Here's a video I found of the whole work in concert:

http://www.rtve.es/mediateca/videos/20081214/conciertos/361289.shtml

Unfortunately, the orchestra leads off with Smetana's Vlatava - and it is not until the 14:00 mark on the video that the Vilarroig concerto begins.  But it's worth hearing, believe me.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks a lot. What a pretty piece the Concerto is.

[JeremyMHolmes]

A quick glance on amazon shows that 8 of the 9 symphonies are available as downloads, albeit 'only' in MP3 quality sound, and at less than £3 per symphony. Excerpts of each movement are available to "try before you buy" first. I think I shall be exploring this a bit further, and thanks for the tip!

[febnyc]

Thanks, Mark - it is, indeed, a lovely work.

And Jeremy - I did notice the clips from the downloads of the Symphonies.  I listened to one or two and found them less appealing than the Piano Concerto and the other works on the CD I own.  Perhaps I gave them short shrift.  Please let us know what you think when you've had a chance to hear Vilarroig's Symphonies.

[monafam]

I bit on the relatively low MP3 album price on the first three symphonies.  I am only onto movement 2 of the 1st Symphony and might report later, but I had a question....

Does anyone know if "Orquesta Symphonica Cybernia" is actually an electronically generated thing?  It doesn't sound bad, but it doesn't always sound like real people are playing real instruments -- just wondering if anyone knew.

[monafam]

I had a chance to listen to Symphonies 1 - 3 at work -- not the ideal setting to really get a good feel, but my initial impressions were positive.  The music was tonal, although I wouldn't say that it's on par with a Schmidt-Kowalski.

That said -- I am a bit of a snob when it comes to what I believe to be a synthesized sound.  I'll reiterate my earlier inquiry --

Does anyone know if "Orquesta Symphonica Cybernia" (the recording artist I believe) is actually an electronically [synthesized] generated thing?

It's not bad by any means.  I only hesitate to recommend based on not knowing if it is mostly/all synthesized (the string specifically give me that feeling).