Unanimously praised by specialist critics, the OPUS ENSEMBLE is considered one of the most important groups to have emerged from the Portuguese musical panorama in recent years. With its unusual instrumental formation (oboe, viola, piano and contrabass), the group offers highly diversified stylistic possibilities and cultivates a wide repertory spanning different epochs and types of musical thought, from the 17th-Century to our time. The performers who constitute the OPUS ENSEMBLE are well-known artists within Portugal as well as musicians possessing brilliant curricula at an international level. From their first public appearance in 1980 (at the International Festival of Music in Estoril, Portugal), composers from various esthetic and geographic domains have dedicated works to the OPUS ENSEMBLE, namely: Fernando Lopes Graça, Joly Braga Santos, Fernando Corrêa de Oliveira, Constança Capdeville, João Pedro Oliveira, Jorge Peixinho, António Pinho Vargas and António Victorino d\'Almeida (Portugal); Ramón Barce and José Luis Turina (Spain); Gerardo Gandini, Celina Kohan, Alejandro Erlich Oliva, Gustavo Beytelmann and Astor Piazzolla (Argentina); Maurice Ohana, Edith Canat de Chizy (France); Guido Donati (Italy); Vasco Martins (Cabo Verde) and Eugueny Zudilkin (Russia). The group’s discography includes the following editions: OPUS ENSEMBLE, OPUS ENSEMBLE VOL. II, TEMAS DO CANCIONEIRO PORTUGUÊS AO ESTILO DO OPUS ENSEMBLE (Songs from the Portuguese Songbook in the style of the Opus Ensemble) and OPUS ENSEMBLE VOL. III (on the label “His Master\'s Voice”); VASCO MARTINS (published by the author); CONSTANÇA CAPDEVILLE (SEC edition - Discoteca Básica Nacional [National Recording Library]). The recording and artistic activity of the OPUS ENSEMBLE his received the following awards: the Critic’s Prize (1982 & 1984); the Golden Seven (1983); the Nova Gente Trophy (1983, 1986 &1987); Rádio Renascença’s Great Disc Prize (1988). In 1989, the OPUS ENSEMBLE was nominated as an official member of the Portuguese Counsel of Music for UNESCO.
Beyond their presence in the most important concert halls and music festivals in Portugal, the group’s growing international activity has included numerous appearances in Paris, London, Warsaw, Krakow, Madrid, Huelva, New York, Boston, Washington, Newport (R.I.), Tokyo, Macau, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Montevideu, Rio de Janeiro, Cabo Verde, Osaka and Seoul. The have recorded for RDP, RTP (Lisbon, Porto, Azores), Radio France (Paris), TDM (Macau) and Spanish National Radio (Madrid). One permanent parameter in the artistic profile of the OPUS ENSEMBLE is the systematic inclusion of works by Portuguese composers in the programming of all of their concerts. In this way, they offer an invaluable contribution to the dissemination of Portuguese culture throughout the world.
Details:
Performer(s)
Opus Ensemble: Ana Bela Chaves (viola) / Olga Prats (piano) / Bruno Pizzamiglio (oboe) / Alejandro Erlich-Oliva (contrabass)
Composer(s)
António Victorino de Almeida / Erik Satie / Maurice Ohana / Ludwig Van Beethoven / Leopold Mozart
Work(s)
Três andamentos a procura de um quarteto / La belle excentrique / Kypris / Duo in C Major for viola and contrabass / Sonata in G major
Ref.: NUM_1015
