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The whole of November was taken by a tour of over 3 weeks in my home country Brazil.
Months of oh-so-cool British-surroundings gets to be too much for a hot-blooded
soul like me. And I also embarked on a sort of Crusade, by playing mainly recitals
of music by Brazilian composers, a first on home-ground. It was meant to prove
to many a sceptic mind that “our music”, if played with courage and
my kind of passionate commitment, measures up to all others ! And how “my”
public and critics became one, with me! It was most touching, I must admit, and
gave me the strength to believe in myself, something I needed desperately, at
this time in life…
Starting in Salvador, my birth town, what a joy it was to play for the great public
of the Teatro Castro Alves, thanks Zilah! Mabel, Loló, Graça, Maria
Teresa, Tatiana, meninas: viva o Pelourinho e o Sorriso da Dadá …
In São Paulo, I saw and said COURAGE! to Roberta Pais, a very especial
and talented girl , who will get better from her difficulties, I’m sure!
Most touching was the reaction I got from all the young people I heard and advised,
in the various Master Classes I gave (and their teachers’ unanimous appreciation,
was even more exhilarating!), in two delightful southern towns: Florianopolis
(thanks, Bernardete!) and Porto Alegre, where I stayed with Dirce, my 1st piano
teacher –the lady who came to play for me at the Oxford Festival - see My
Journal’s month of August… Here, apart from the discovery of a jewel:
the São Pedro theatre -perfect acoustics, and its rightful owner and fabulous
hostess dona Eva (she saved it from destruction!), un unfortunate accident, a
near-fatal-over -enthusiastic hand-shake sent me into painful oblivion and doubts
of any further career, let alone a recital that same evening! I shall never forget
that moment…Or shake hands again! NOW, you know!
Lastly but not least, I got to Rio, the gorgeous town where I grew up, nowhere
else will ever mean more to me. Then the prospect of playing with the OSB- the
orchestra I first played with, aged 11ys – see Photo Gallery – sadly
yet again, in dire financial trouble saved by more promises from a well-meaning
Mayor, while I was in town- with half my share of “tools” and a heavy
musical heart (no comments) well, was all extremely emotional to me. But the full
standing and appreciatively screaming audience at the Teatro Municipal, was quite
a rewarding sight for my efforts! Being with my family and friends is always a
treat, then sharing Music with colleagues in more ways than one: I even offered
to play for their benefit and did join some musicians in a Mozart Quartet (Piano
and Strings) + Poulenc’s brilliant Clarinet Sonata, at the lovely Cesarina
Riso’s charming residence in São Conrado, (thanks Laura and Fátima)
in what, I hope, will become a chamber music-series of “the OSB’s
and its visiting artists” … I must end by saying that I have never
been through such an emotionally-charged visit, and the reaction I got to my music-making,
everywhere I went, was amazing and unforgettable to me! Obrigada, meu Brasil!
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