Villa-Lobos wrote five piano concertos as well as other works for piano and orchestra with less concertante titles, such as Momoprecoce and the third of the Bachianas Brasileiras: in fact Choros No. 11 is the largest-scale of them all, though despite its ferociously demanding solo part it has been described rather as a “mammoth concerto grosso”. If that term conjures up for you an image of a neat neo-classical work, forget it: this is Villa-Lobos in his usual excitably coloured, hyper-exuberant style, writing in a grandiose loose form that – since few of its vast proliferation of themes are developed – defies analysis but whose overall effect is strangely riveting. Every so often lyrical passages occur among the manic busyness, and the linked second movement, profligately overscored as it is, is really romantic, with three related but not identical melodic ideas (and a big cadenza). The finale, which begins with a fugato, is thematically more integrated than the rest (for a time, at least) and consequently could be considered the most successful movement.
The only previous recording of this extraordinary work was that made 40 years ago with a seemingly under-rehearsed orchestra under the composer’s direction (available only in a six-CD EMI set), and it is scarcely surprising that the present performance should be more vivid in sound; but it is also infinitely better played, with Ralf Gothoni contributing prodigious feats of virtuosity and the Finnish orchestra showing total commitment.'