The São Luiz Municipal Theatre hosts some of the shows from the São Carlos National Theatre’s programme, particularly during the opera and chamber music seasons. The Jardim Aberto (Open Garden) cycle continues the Foyer Aberto (Open Foyer) initiative, which was very popular with the public, maintaining the format of free admission to recitals and concerts. At these events, musicians from the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra and/or the São Carlos National Theatre Choir perform in small ensembles, showcasing their virtuosity as soloists.
In turbulent times, art often expresses itself through soft colours. And few palettes are as striking as that used by composers during the First World War. Colours in Grey brings together three works that explore the gradient between the brightness of the pre-war period and the fragile introspection that followed, presented in this concert in transcriptions for flute, viola and harp.
Maurice Ravel’s Sonatina, originally a virtuosic miniature for piano, acquires a new transparency with Carlos Salzedo’s transcription. Written before the war, but already marked by a refined economy of sound, its discreet elegance is revealed even more lightly when filtered through the diaphanous sounds of this instrumental trio.
Claude Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, completed in 1915 when bombs were already tearing through the skies of Europe, inhabits a world where elegance and melancholy coexist. The transience of its colours, its elusive rhythms and moments of lyrical refinement reveal both nostalgia for an idyllic France and adherence to modern sounds.
Composed during Ravel’s participation on the front lines, Le Tombeau de Couperin transforms personal loss into a deliberate and luminous memorial. Jocelyn Morlock’s transcription preserves the baroque grace of the work, while allowing its resilience – rather than mourning – to rise to the surface.
Rui Matos, Maria Inês Monteiro and Ana Aroso will give voice to these ‘shades of grey’ in a concert where restraint is transformed into splendour.
Programme
M. Ravel: Sonatina (1905) (*)
C. Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (1915)
M. Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917) (**)
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(*) transcription for flute, viola and harp by Carlos Salzedo
(**) transcription for flute, viola and harp by Jocelyn Morlock
Jardim Aberto
Chamber Music
23 September – Bomtempo
14 October – Faust
17 November – Women Composers
19 January – The Seasons
10 February – Fanny Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann
13 April – Colours in Grey – French Music from the Great War
9 June – Music in the Feminine
The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, in partnership with the São Luiz Teatro Municipal, presents a series of concerts with commentary specially aimed at school audiences, in parallel with Jardim Aberto. Find out more here Uma viagem pela música com o Teatro Nacional de São Carlos – Commented Concerts for Schools, comments by Susana Henriques.
