Restless and dynamic by nature, Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez was a key figure in the cultural life of Rio de Janeiro, founding numerous influential musical institutions both journalistic and educational. He gained international fame for the primordial power of Batuque, the final dance movement of his Afro-Brazilian influenced Reisado do Pastoreio suite. Without ever abandoning his Brazilian roots, in his later career Lorenzo Fernandez moved away from explicit nationalism towards a more universalist idiom as can be heard in the vigorously themed and atmospheric First Symphony of 1945 and the programmatic Second Symphony, inspired by the life and death of the heroic 17th-century explorer Fernão Dias Paes Leme.

Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez gained international fame with Batuque, a piece championed by conductors such as Toscanini, Koussevitsky, Bernstein and Chávez. This became something of a stand-alone hit, but here it is heard in the context of the less commonly represented entire Reisado do Pastoreio suite. Fernandez’s two symphonies suffered neglect after the composer’s untimely death at the age of 50 and both of these recordings are premieres, with a world-premiere release of the powerful First Symphony, and the first modern studio recording of the programmatic Second Symphony, both representative of post-war creative energy and optimism.

Founded in 2008, the award-winning Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra has become one of Brazil’s most successful cultural organisations. The Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra has appeared on several releases in The Music of Brazil series, including Almeida Prado’s First Piano Concerto and other works (8574225), described in BBC Music Magazine as a recording that ‘showcases the composer’s startling musical imagination and is performed with mastery and poise by Brazilian pianist Sonia Rubinsky and the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra’.

Fabio Mechetti has been artistic director and principal conductor of the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra since its foundation. Under his leadership, the orchestra has received numerous awards, recorded nine albums, including several for Naxos, and undertaken a tour of South America. In 2014, he became the first Brazilian music director of an Asian orchestra when he was appointed principal conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. In the US, Mechetti conducted the Jacksonville Symphony for 14 years and is now its conductor emeritus.