Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela

Based on a tale from Russian folklore, Pétrouchka is a sumptuously scored energetic showpiece. The music of the Venezuelan composers Juan Carlos Núñez and Paul Desenne is spiced with the popular song and dance of their homeland, while reminiscences of his native Brazil and the music of Bach inspired Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras. The second of his nine suites is noteworthy for its closing toccata, a vivid depiction of a train traveling through the Brazilian hinterlands.