FESTIVAL CRIASONS

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OPUS ENSEMBLE - DUO CONTRACELLO 

QUARTETO LOPES-GRAÇA

A project

To bring to light and establish works of Portuguese musical creation is a cultural objective shared by the three founding groups of Musicamera - Opus Ensemble, Duo Contracello and Quarteto Lopes-Graça. 

It is increasingly important to continue this effort, in the name of which the Opus Ensemble, has taken Portuguese chamber music to the four corners of the world.

To privilege works of Portuguese authorship shows an awareness that, in the contemporary world, the identity of a people, especially in Europe / Nation, is defined, first of all, by their cultural values, which prevail over geographic and economic ones and lead to their full development and differentiation. It is not by chance that we find cultural activity to be among the five most productive economic sectors of the developed World.

We also consider that there does not exist any endogenous motive for the low interest demonstrated by the national public for their own “erudite” musical creation.

This trend is not verifiable in other related areas, such as theatre and dance, activities which have managed to find a permanent place in programming and audience preference.

It is our understanding that the fundamental reason for this detachment may be found in the incapacity that music has demonstrated in promoting and acquiring “discursive fluency” and visibility in the media, with the aim of getting closer to the general public and thereby reaching levels of consumption equivalent to those enjoyed by other national genders such as fado, jazz, Portuguese rock and other urban expressions.

To achieve this there are two essential conditions: a serious investment by the artists – both creators and performers – and a helping hand from the State with which to counteract the timidity of many programmers and cultural agents. That has been the attitude of the Ministry of Culture (Direcção Geral das Artes) and it allowed us to get were we are now. 

It is our belief that chamber music groups, in permanent dialog with other artistic expressions, are fundamental vehicles 

for the realization of this task using the versatility and economy of resources which are their privilege.

Details:

FESTIVAL CRIASONS - Tendências da Música de Câmara Portuguesa Contemporânea

OPUS ENSEMBLE

DUO CONTRACELLO

QUARTETO LOPES-GRAÇA

Sérgio AZEVEDO [Coimbra,1968]

Concertino de Câmara (2010) 

Obra dedicada ao Opus Ensemble

Estreia Mundial no Festival CRIASONS

1. Deciso (Ana Bela)

2. Mesto (Bruno)

3. Intermezzo gravíssimo (Alex)

4. Valsa (Olga) 

5. Finale (Pedro) 

Jorge COSTA PINTO [Lisboa, 1932]

6. Bi-tone Scherzo, op. 106 (2010) 

Obra dedicada ao Opus Ensemble

Estreia Mundial no Festival CRIASONS

Anne VICTORINO D’ALMEIDA [Poissy, França, 1978]

Quarteto da Serra D’Arga (2010) 

Obra dedicada ao Quarteto Lopes-Graça

Estreia Mundial no Festival CRIASONS

7. Andante

8. Scherzo – Tarantella

9. Moderato tranquillo

10. Vivace e Fuga

Jorge COSTA PINTO [Lisboa, 1932]

Quarteto de Cordas op. 104, nº 1, Fado Luso (2009) 

Obra dedicada ao Quarteto Lopes-Graça

Estreia Mundial no Festival CRIASONS

11. Andante

12. Allegro

Amílcar VASQUES-DIAS [Badim, 1945]

13. Prelúdio à Sesta das Cigarras (2010) 

Obra dedicada ao Quarteto Lopes-Graça

Estreia Mundial no Festival CRIASONS

Alexandre DELGADO [Lisboa, 1965]

Burlesca (1991/2)

Obra gravada pelo Duo Contracello em 1996, integrada no cd Num 1055

14. Animato

15. Presto

16. Poco meno presto

Ref.: NUM 1218

Opus Ensemble - OPUS ENSEMBLE - 2007

OPUS ENSEMBLE 2007

I-Tunes:

Presenting world-premiere recordings of two notable works dedicated to the Opus Ensemble by Portuguese authors is the basic concept that determined the choice of repertoire on this CD.

The persistent action of dissemination of Portuguese music begun by the Opus Ensemble in 1980 had an unconditional proponent in Fernando Lopes Graça. His artistic and human relation with Olga Prats and Ana Bela Chaves predates the founding of the Opus Ensemble, which the great composer welcomed with sincere enthusiasm. In this way, preexistent ties generated new and vigorous connections.

Geórgicas was dedicated to the Opus Ensemble in 1989. The world premiere took place in Tomar (12/14/1991) and the Latin-American premiere was organized by the Wagnerian Association of Buenos Aires, with assistance from the ministerial guardian of culture of the Republic of Argentina and with the support of the Portuguese Embassy (08/25/1993). A studio videorecording of the work was made by RTP (Portuguese Television) and a live audiorecording was made by RDP (Portuguese Radio); but until now, the work was never published on CD.

De Profundis à memória de Bruno Pizzamiglio (Op. 130) by António Victorino d’Almeida was the first work dedicated to an Opus Ensemble regrouped as a quartet, after its reduction to a trio motivated by the death, in 1997, of the founding oboist of the ensemble.

Its premiere (Viana do Castelo, 09/20/2003) signaled the first performance of the Opus Ensemble with Pedro Ribeiro, who, is now a permanent member of the group.

In the program notes for that event, the composer wrote (excerpts): “Bruno Pizzamiglio left us and his place in the Opus Ensemble stayed empty and silent. But nothing can last forever - not even the absence dictated by death - when one considers such a superior concept, complex but concrete, called resurrection… De Profundis is, without a doubt, a long and agitated meditation on this strange phenomenon – at times frightening or even aberrant, in other cases, almost bearable as natural – which is the passage of someone we know, with whom we have dealt and worked, from the world, apparently far from his future resurrection”…. A single sonority clearly in the major mode, on the final beat of the final measure, defines the certainty that I have always had in the indisputable truth of that resurrection and that the Opus Ensemble would reemerge today without empty space or silence, not because the grief is past, but because time has passed.”

Haydn and Beethoven, heavy names in any repertoire, are particularly welcome here, as they constitute referential archetypes worthy of special admiration. This is assumed publicly, on the part of the two illustrious Portuguese creators that the Opus Ensemble, with pride and gratitude, pays homage on this CD.

Finally, a warm greeting for João Almeida (Antena 2) and Fernando Rocha (NUMÉRICA), who, enthusiastically and effectively made the realization of this undertaking possible. 

Alejandro Erlich Oliva

Lisbon, 2007

(Translation: Fredrick Gifford)

Details:

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN

(Rohrau, Áustria, 1732-Viena, Áustria, 1809)

SONATA Op. 11 Nº4, em Fá Maior 10’02’’

1 Adagio 03’24’’

2 Menuetto 02’50’’

3 Presto 01’48’’

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

(Bona, Alemanha, 1770 – Viena, Áustria, 1827)

4 VARIAÇÕES “PROMETEU” Op. 43 05’55’’

FERNANDO LOPES-GRAÇA

(Tomar, Portugal, 1906 - Parede, Portugal ,1994) 

GEORGICAS* 17’38’’

5 Pastoril 02’14’’

6 Idílico 01’33’’

7 Festivo 01’48’’

8 Contemplativo 02’40’’

9 Ritualmente 03’08’’

10 Gaio 02’02’’

11 Nocturnal 02’35’’

12 Rústico 01’38’’

ANTÓNIO VICTORINO D’ALMEIDA

(Lisboa, Portugal,1940)

13 DE PROFUNDIS 23’20’’

à memória de Bruno Pizzamiglio, Op. 130*

Total: 55’49’’

*: work dedicated to Opus Ensemble, first world discographic recording.

Ref.: NUM 1150