Intro

 

jean-baptiste-debret-

Celebrating 200 years Independence!

Brazil: the Monarch Composer
Brazilian music of the early 19th century,: the Emperor's Credo, Missa Pastoril for Christmas, Lundu dance! 

Celebrating 200 years of Independence, this powerful program of Brazilian Music of the early 19th century revolves around Emperor D. Pedro I. It includes the splendid Credo composed by him, the Pastoral Mass for Christmas by José Maurício Nunes Garcia (the greatest Brazilian colonial composer), a delightful orchestral overture by Marcos Portugal, and a popular dance which is at the root of the samba: lundu!

Soloists: Monica Schwartz (soprano), Noa Hope (alto), Itamar Hildesheim (tenor), Gili Rinot (classical clarinet).
The Madrigal singers directed by Itay Berckovitch
Ensemble PHOENIX on period instruments
Conducted by Brazilian Myrna Herzog


The works are performed on period instruments, including classical clarinets, classical bassoons, classical flute, natural horns and period string instruments and bows. 

  

We wish to convey our hearty thanks to Musica Brasilis, for their invaluable help with the musical scores. 

 This project has the support of the Embassy of Brazil in Israel.

 

חוגגים 200 שנות עצמאות

ברזיל: הקיסר המלחין
בכורה ישראלית ליצירות ברזילאיות מהמאה ה 19 לציון 200 שנים לעצמאות ברזיל. התכנית מתמקדת בקיסר ברזיל פדרו הראשון (שהיה גם מלך פורטוגל) וה-Credo הנהדר שהלחין, שנחשב למגנום אופוס שלו. עוד בתכנית - המיסה הפסטורלית לחג המולד מאת חוסה מאוריסיו נונס גרסיה - גדול המלחינים הקולוניאליים הברזילאי, פתיח תזמורתי מענג מאת מרקוס פורטוגל, וריקוד פופולרי שעומד בבסיס הסמבה: לונדו.

מוזיקה ברזילאית של תחילת המאה ה-19, כולל מיסת חג המולד וגם ריקוד עממי

 עם מוניקה שוורץ (סופרן), נועה הופ (אלט), איתמר הילדסהיים (טנור), גילי רינות (קלרינט קלאסי, זמרי המדריגל בבימויו של איתי ברקוביץ', אנסמבל פניקס בכלים מהתקופה - והמנצחת והמנהלת המוזיקלית הברזילאית מירנה הרצוג

 

                        logo brasao da republica                                   Rafael MainLogo                                  

 

The program

Herzog family in Rio photo Myrna Herzog

 

Padre José Maurício Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) - Missa Pastoril para a Noite de Natal
I. Kyrie - II. Gloria - III. Laudamus Te - IV. Gratias Agimus Tibi - V. Qui Tollis - VI. Qui Sedes -
VII. Cum Sancto Spiritu - VIII. Patrem omnipotentem - IX. Et Incarnatus - X. Crucifixus -
XI. Et Resurrexit - XII. Sanctus - XIII. Hosanna - XIV. Benedictus - XV. Agnus Dei


Marcos Portugal (1762-1830) Overture Il Duca di Foix

D. Pedro I, de Alcântara e Bragança (1798-1834) - Credo in C Major (1829)
I. Credo – II. Et Incarnatus – III. Crucifixus – IV. Et Ressurexit/ Confiteor – V. Sanctus –
Hosanna - VI. Benedictus/Hosanna – VII. Agnus Dei/ Dona nobis pacem

 

Anonymous, early 19th century - Lundu da cachaça

 

 

 

Artists

 

D Pedro autor anonimoMonica Schwartz (soprano), Noa Hope (alto), Itamar Hildesheim (tenor), Gili Rinot (classical clarinet).

 The Madrigal Singers directed by Itay Berckovitch


Ensemble PHOENIX
on period instruments:

Noam Schuss, Nahara Carmel - violins
Dafna Ravid, Amos Boasson, Cesare Zanfini, Hila Heller – violins & violas
Miriam Fingert, Rona Tavior – violas
Marina Katz, Hamoutal Marom – celli
Evie Bloom – doublebass
Guy Pardo - organ
Genevieve Blanchard - classical flute
Gili Rinot, Nurit Bloom – classical clarinets
Gilat Rotkopf,  Alexander Fine – classical bassoon
Barak Yeivin, Shlomi Eini – natural horns 
Evgeny Karasik – timpani

Conductor, musical director: Myrna Herzog

On the program

 Dom Pedro I por Simplício Rodrigues de Sá

In 1808 the Portuguese Royal family fleeing from Napoleon arrived to Brazil. Scattered in several ships, the whole court,  their servants and the Royal Chapel, 15,000 people bringing a library with more than 60,000 books, landed in the port of Rio! Their stay, which lasted until 1821, brought about a true cultural revolution. In 1822, it was the Portuguese king's son, Pedro de Alcântara, who proclaimed the Brazil's Independence from Portugal. 

José Maurício e Marcos Portugal
Emperor Pedro I of Brazil and Pedro IV of Portugal, was nine years old when he arrived to Rio. There the Portuguese boy would have a a refined education, which included extensive musical studies, with teachers such as Sigismond Neukomm and Marcos Portugal. He played 12 instruments, including clarinet, cello, bassoon, and as a composer, was strongly influenced by Rossini, whom he came to know personally in Paris. The Credo is regarded as his most important work.

Considered the most important Brazilian composer of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Father José Maurício Nunes Garcia stood out for the great quality of his work. With the arrival of the Portuguese court in Brazil in 1808, he impressed the Portuguese king D. João VI with his talent, and was accordingly named Master of the Royal Chapel.  His Missa Pastoril para a Noite de Natal written for the Christmas of 1811 has an interesting scoring of violas and celli (no violins!); its naive atmosphere, with enchanting clarinet solos pervading the whole work, often in dialogue with the first cello, transports us to another world. 

Born in Lisbon, Marcos Portugal had immense success as an opera composer, achieving international fame still unsurpassed in thehistory of Portuguese music. He came to Brazil in 1811 at the request of King John VI and remained in Rio de Janeiro when the Portuguese court returned to Portugal, in 1821, continuing to serve his pupil, the king’s son, Pedro, as he became the first Emperor of Brazil. Marcos Portugal died a Brazilian citizen in Rio de Janeiro in 1830. The composer wrote the first official national anthems of both Portugal and Brazil and left a major mark in Brazilian music. Representing the lighter side of the life in Rio de Janeiro at the turn of the 19th century, we present one of his opera overtures.

The lundú or lundum was a popular sensuous African dance brought to Brazil by Bantu slaves. Closing the program, a delicious lundu from the early 19th century, the Lundu da Cachaça, praising the virtues of the Brazil's national hard drink.