Heitor Villa-Lobos’s 10th symphony, which was composed to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of São Paulo in 1954, was not performed until 1957. It is hardly a symphony at all. The first movement is purely orchestral; while the third and fourth are dominated by the chorus and baritone and bass soloists in the setting of a poem by a 16th-century Brazilian evangelist. The poem attempts a synthesis between Christianity and the creation myths of Amazonian peoples, celebrating the rich diversity of the natural world. The work is by no means one of Villa-Lobos’s greatest achievements, or one of his more convincing symphonies, but the score has its moments, particularly when the sheer exuberance of the writing and the almost naive delight in its orchestral and choral effects exert their own charm. Isaac Karabtchevsky does a good jobin keeping everything shapely and well balanced, though at times that’s nearly impossible, and as part of Naxos’s series devoted to Villa-Lobos’s symphonies, it’s certainly worth exploring.