LUÍS DE FREITAS BRANCO (1890-1955): Symphony No. 2 in B Flat Minor, ARMANDO JOSÉ FERNANDES (1906-1983): Violin Concerto in E Minor.

Description: Portuguese post-Romanticism from a Canadian label and Spanish performers! Freitas Branco's second symphony, from 1926, is much more personal in style than his Franckian First of two years before. Recognizable elements of folk music appear in his motivic melodic invention although, at 42 minutes, this is still a work in the conservative late Romantic style. Fernandes' concerto dates from 1948 and is also a four-movement work, allowing for a delicious little scherzo with a village fiddler-type trio. A certain harmonic refinement shows the influence of Fauré and, overall, the concerto combines a neo-classical elegance with considerable elements of good, old-fashioned Romanticism. Alexandre da Costa (violin), Extremadura Symphony Orchestra; Jesús Amigo.