By Lisa Flueckiger, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – For those who are not attending mega music festival Rock in Rio this weekend, the Petrobras Symphony Orchestra is offering an alternative music show. The classical music outfit will play a free concert in the Sagrado Coração de Maria church in Copacabana on Sunday, September 15th.
The concert, which starts at 4PM, will feature Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito”, Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Concert for Oboe hob VIIg:C1” and Heitor Villa-Lobos’ suite “dedicado a Mindinha.” It will be directed by Sammy Fuks and feature oboist Victor Astorga as a soloist.
The show will also be a cyberconcert, encouraging the sharing of the concert’s sounds and images via social media and the Internet. It is part of a series of concerts known as the Mestre Athayde, which strives to bring classical music to the churches of Rio de Janeiro.
The Symphony Orchestra was created in 1972 by Armando Prazeres and featured 45 musicians. Today, with the sponsorship of Petrobras for the last 25 years, it encompasses eighty instrumentalists and is directed by Isaac Karabtchevsky.
The orchestra, which regularly plays in Rio’s Theatro Municipal and other well-known venues, works towards the “brazilianization” and democratization of classical music, often combining the genre with modern and Brazilian elements, such as samba.
The Sagrado Coração de Maria church lies in the heart of Copacabana and is part of a church and school complex that has its origins in France. The concert will take place in the church’s chapel.
What: Petrobras Symphony Orchestra Concert
Where: Sagrado Coração de Maria church, Rua Tonelero 56, Copacabana
When: Sunday, September 15th, 4PM
Entrance: FREE
Read more (in Portuguese).
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