The Rio Villarmônica Orchestra is promoting, next weekend, multiple celebrations to celebrate the birth anniversary of its patron, conductor and composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and the National Day of Classical Music.
On Saturday (4th), at 7 pm, the orchestra will perform at the Teatro de Câmara da Cidade das Artes Bibi Ferreira, in Barra da Tijuca, west of the city, and on Sunday (5th), repeat the program at 4 pm, at Sala Cecília Meireles, central region. Tickets cost BRL 50 (full ticket) and BRL 25 (half ticket). For the Cidade das Artes concert, interested parties should access the site from the orchestra. Tickets for Sala Cecília Meireles can be purchased at site from the room.
“We are going to celebrate Villa-Lobos’ birthday, one year of existence of the Rio Villarmônica Orchestra and our National Classical Music Day, playing music by Villa and by his most famous composer, whom he considered his universal source of inspiration, which is Johann Sebastian Bach”, said this Tuesday (28) to Brazil Agency maestro Tobias Volkmann, artistic director and conductor of the concerts.
The maestro pointed out that the Teatro de Câmara da Cidade das Artes and Sala Cecília Meireles have the two best acoustics in the city. “They are ideal for groups of musicians that are not so large. That’s why we chose works by Villa-Lobos with small formations,” he explained.
Program
The program starts with Ciranda of the seven notes, for bassoon and string orchestra, with Jeferson Souza on bassoon. He follows Fantasy for soprano saxophone and small orchestra, with Pedro Bittencourt on saxophone, and Choros nº 5 Brazilian soulwith arrangement for solo violin and strings by Mateus Araujo.
Tobias Volkmann pointed out that Circle of the Seven Notes It is Fantasy are two of the few works that Villa-Lobos wrote for small orchestral formations. In general, his works are aimed at groups of 70 musicians or more, with great instrumentation and a percussion section with Brazilian instruments. “ciranda it is an emblematic work”, said Volkmann. “There are two works for unusual solo winds and small orchestras. It is a Villa-Lobos that we are not used to hearing.”
First time
The work Fantasy, by Villa-Lobos, was never recorded, but will be recorded for the first time in video and audio at Teatro de Câmara da Cidade das Artes Bibi Ferreira. “Recording is a project for the future,” said Tobias Volkmann. The soloist, Pedro Bittencourt, is a professor at the School of Music at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).
The program ends with Johann Sebastian Bach, with Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major and Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor. Bach’s two works are also for solo winds, in this case flutes, and small orchestra. “This is another link with Villa-Lobos”, he indicated. There will be an encore, but the conductor stated that it is a surprise for the public, although it is related to the identity of the orchestra.
Volkmann defined that the repertoire is a combination between theoretical organicity and sonority, which complement each other. “And we have a variety: while we have a Villa from the first half of the 20th century, we have baroque music from the second half of the 18th century”.
Creation
Orquestra Rio Villarmônica was born last year, on January 27, Mozart’s birthday, after all the work of conception and organization. Their first concert took place in June 2022, reported Tobias Volkmann.
“In our first program, we played Mozart and Villa”. The objective of choosing Teatro de Câmara da Cidade das Artes was to form an audience in the west zone, “which has been very warm with us and has attended concerts there”.
The orchestra develops significant communication work on social networks and received many manifestations from people asking that the presentations be in Cidade das Artes. “We ended up deciding to do it in both (spaces) to serve everyone”.
The Rio Villarmônica Orchestra is organizing the 2023 concert season. The idea, as the maestro anticipated, is to do at least four programs this year, repeating the dimension of 2022.
