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.
Through a programme dedicated to chamber music, this concert brings together two of the most unique voices of German Romanticism. Fanny Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann, central figures in the development of nineteenth-century instrumental writing, are represented here by works that helped define a new expressive ideal for the nineteenth century.
Composed during a period of fertile artistic independence, Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E flat major (1834) reveals a strikingly original style, supported by expansive harmonic language and bold formal thinking. The Adagio ma non troppo opens with restrained tension, the Allegretto balances elegance and restlessness, and the Romanze offers a lyrical refocusing before the Allegro molto vivace closes the piece with vibrant impetuosity. Heir to Beethoven and the example of her brother Felix, Fanny projects here a voice of her own that anticipates future romantic experiments.
Schumann’s Piano Quintet, Op. 44 (1842), composed in his famous “chamber music year”, fuses the composer’s lyrical impulse with an almost symphonic ambition. Its dramatic contrasts, incisive piano writing and the breadth of dialogue between instruments defined a new paradigm for the romantic quintet, inspiring subsequent generations and consolidating this genre as one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire.
Together, these two works reveal the depth and individuality of two remarkable creators, from two distinct perspectives of the spirit of ‘romantic genius’.
Programme
Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat major (1834)
Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet, Op. 44 (1842)
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.
