The 1960s proved to be a significant decade in Claudio Santoro’s ever-eventful life. The charged atmosphere of the Cello Concerto can be attributed to his experiences in East Berlin at the moment construction started on the Berlin Wall. Despite its challenging solo writing, the concerto is the most symphonically proportioned of all his concertante works. Exceptionally for Santoro, the dramatic Eighth Symphony combines serial techniques with an openly Expressionist idiom. Três Abstrações explores timbres and dynamic contrasts with string orchestra, while Interações Assintóticas is Santoro’s only work to use quarter-tone tuning for some remarkable effects.

This programme focuses on Claudio Santoro’s work during the turbulent 1960s, and the world-premiere recording of the Eighth Symphony included here is part of a first complete edition of Santoro’s cycle of 14 symphonies. This release of his stunningly eloquent and virtuoso Cello Concerto is also a world premiere.

This release follows on from our recording of Santoro’s Symphonies nos. 5 and 7, also with the Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Neil Thomson (8574402), released in March 2022: ‘The journey is navigated with aplomb by the Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Neil Thomson. Deftly woven counterpoint is contrasted with off-beat rhythms and expansive melodies that showcase each section of the orchestra to effect’ (BBC Music Magazine).

Santoro’s Symphonies nos. 11 and 12 (8574406) released in November 2022, also performed by the same forces received praise from Gramophone: ‘These impressive and rarely heard works are all played with absolute conviction and panache by the Goiás Philharmonic under Neil Thomson, and the recordings are crystal-clear’.

Neil Thomson has been principal conductor and artistic director of the Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra since 2014, leading the orchestra to national prominence with its championing of Brazilian and contemporary repertoire. He also enjoys a busy international career working with all the major UK orchestras and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (Osesp), WDR Rundfunkorchester, Lahti Symphony Orchestra and the Romanian National Orchestra, among others. He has performed with many distinguished soloists including Dame Felicity Lott, Sir Thomas Allen, Sir James Galway, Nelson Freire, Jean Louis Steuerman and Antonio Meneses.