Theater and Classic Music Festival Opens in Rio this Wednesday

By Beatriz Miranda, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This Wednesday, August 9th, the Circuito Musica Brasilis (Music Brasilis Circuit) opens in Rio’s Centro. With three different presentations, the eighth edition of the project honors great names of the world’s erudite music through theater plays until August 11th.

With the theme “Cortejos e Colagens” (Cortege and Collage), this year’s edition is specially dedicated to French composer Darius Milhaud, who arrived in Rio exactly a hundred years ago.

The event opens this Wednesday, August 9th, at 12:30 PM, with “Abram alas para Chiquinha Gonzaga” (Clear the way for Chiquinha Gonzaga).

Taking place at SESI Centro, the presentation is a tribute to the 170 years of Chiquinha Gonzaga, first notorious female composer in Brazil.

Having created several traditional Carnaval songs, some still sung and played in the present day, Gonzaga broke significant gender barriers in the end of the nineteenth century. Besides her composing skills, she became the first female maestro in Brazil and created the first copyright society in the country.

Musicians José Staneck (harmonic), Marina Spoladore (piano) and Ricardo Santoro (cello) will run the opening concert, while actress Helena Varvaki will play Chiquinha Gonzaga. Pieces by Brazilian composer Villa-Lobos and Portuguese priest and musician José Maurício Garcia Nunes are also included in the repertoire.

Also happening today, August 9th, is the presentation “Marcha para o Conde da Barca” (March to the Barge’s Count), which will take place at BNDES Cultural Space, at 7PM. The play aims to honor Antonio de Araújo e Azevedo, Portuguese diplomat who conceived the French Artistic Mission, in which Austrian composer Sigismund Neukomm participated. Neukomm’s funeral march, originally dedicated to Azevedo, will be played in the concert.

With actor Marcos França as the “Barge’s Count” and musicians Marília Vargas (soprano), Rosana Lanzelotte (pianoforte) and Ricardo Kanji (flutes), “Marcha para o Conde da Barca” will also bring compositions by José Maurício Garcia Nunes, Brazilian guitarist Joaquim Manoel da Câmara and Portuguese organist Marcos Portugal. Exclusively at this show, the entrance will be free.

On Friday, August 11th, the project brings to Sala Cecília Meireles the play “O Boi no Telhado” (The Ox on the Roof), at 8PM. Celebrating Darius Milhaud’s 100 years of arrival in Rio, the plays’ name alludes to “Le beuf sur le toit”, the French musician’s composition made in 1919. Inspired by the Brazilian José Monteiro’s namesake tango composition, Milhaud’s famous piece is part of Friday’s repertoire.

The session will also present compositions by Brazilians that inspired Milhaud, like Ernesto Nazareth, Marcelo Tupinambá, Álvaro Sandim and Chiquinha Gonzaga. Performing on Friday, August 11th, will be group Caldereta Carioca and Rosana Lanzelotte (pianoforte). Actor Antonio Calloni will play the French musician.

Until September 27th, the VIII Circuito Música Brasilis will perform in six different cities in Brazil. Created in 2009 by musician Rosana Lanzelotte, the project has already brought over a hundred plays to the Brazilian audience, having performed to over thirty thousand people.

What: VIII Circuito Música Brasilis (VIII Music Brasilis Circuit)
When: August 9th – August 11th – see venue to check time details.
Where: Espaço BNDES, Sala Cecília Meireles and SESI Centro. Click here to check venue details.
Entrance: Espaço BNDES: FREE; Sala Cecília Meireles: R$10 – R$20; SESI Centro: R$5 – R$10.