Sinfonietta Ventus - Una tarda en la Alameda (2005)

Una tarde en la alameda (An Afternoon in the Park) is, to quote booklet writer Juan Arturo Brennan, an attempt "to revive the playful and popular spirit of wind bands." The Sinfonietta Ventus is an octet of wind players, pictured on a Mexico City street in, perhaps, a large square in front of a centuries-old cathedral. A group of top orchestral performers from Mexico City (they seem to be roughly equal parts Mexican and American in origin), they have made an elegant selection of contemporary pieces that is more imposing than background music but less severe than a formal concerthall program -- there is room for the listener to relax and let things filter in. The sound of this Mexican recording, made in a large old university hall, fits the concept as well, suggesting the outdoor concerts the program is meant to evoke. The varied program, international but nevertheless quite characteristically Mexican, is the main attraction here. All the pieces are arrangements of orchestral (or small-band) works, and if you've ever wondered whether Mexicans play Copland's El salon México enthusiastically, you'll find that the Sinfonietta Ventus certainly does. The listener travels from the U.S. (Bernstein, Gershwin), to the Soviet Union (Shostakovich's Festive Overture), back to the U.S. (Copland), to Mexico with Silvestre Revueltas, to Spain (for music from Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat), back to Mexico for a traditional paso doble or two-step, and finally back to the U.S. for Glenn Miller's In the Mood. The ensemble holds all this music together and has a nice way of letting the personalities of the individual players come out. In all, this is an unusually satisfying disc for light listening or for something unusual to put on the stereo as friends come over for drinks after work.