There was a programme on the BBC last night featuring Michael Palin traveling through Brazil. In the city of Manaus (capital of Amazonas state), there is a magnificent-looking opera house (https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5388e453e4b0813d343199fc/1427933696609-TVVTO76BI7OMWCUXQU5G/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kGIrShIlNqc85Lq7z2kbqPJZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWEtT5uBSRWt4vQZAgTJucoTqqXjS3CfNDSuuf31e0tVEs3z_jpmJWAzNEyn6J0rDi2fT8xYHi6fvuk4jNmO5gSBDm7bb9nbLVL8j39Ozt4s0/Manaus+opera+house?format=500w) - a legacy of when it was a major production and trading hub for rubber.
While he was there, they filmed rehearsals for an opera by a Brazilian composer I had never heard of called Antônio Carlos Gomes (1836-1896). He has been mentioned once in passing on this forum. The rehearsals were for his opera "Il Guarany" ("The Guarany" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Guarany (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Guarany)). It turns out there are a lot of versions of it on youtube. I can't speak expertly about the genre, but to my ears it sounds as if he fills the space between Verdi and Puccini, anyway I like what I have heard, and the overture especially. I have scoured youtube for his other works and have copy-pasted here links mostly to the overtures of his other operas, complete versions of which are also on youtube. After Il Guarany, it seems "Lo Schiavo" ("The Slave" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lo_schiavo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lo_schiavo)) is his most popular work, premiered in 1889 when slavery was a very hot issue in Brazil which only abolished it in 1888. From it, the 8-minute orchestral piece "Alvorada" (meaning "Dawn") is particularly lovely.
Dawn ("Alvorada", from Lo Schiavo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJuLkDAiZc0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJuLkDAiZc0)
Prelude (Lo Schiavo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyX1Q7kQ8iw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyX1Q7kQ8iw)
Il Guarany - overture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxbR0k8AhBs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxbR0k8AhBs)
Il Guarany - ballet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2RBsaI3bJw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2RBsaI3bJw)
Fosca – overture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebDoUyS5O-U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebDoUyS5O-U)
Fosca – overture to Act 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh21dWZBBcw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh21dWZBBcw)
Noite do Castelo - overture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YTTyCV08FI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YTTyCV08FI)
Ave Maria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csQv5hGGH_0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csQv5hGGH_0)
Quem Sabe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv2yP6P0vPQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv2yP6P0vPQ)
Maria Tudor - overture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvfi0ga3r58 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvfi0ga3r58)
Salvator Rosa – overture-sinfonia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hP9vGdazzU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hP9vGdazzU)
Colombo (cantata) - introduction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tJzLRBeW2k (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tJzLRBeW2k)
Missa de Sao Sebastiao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C6P_VNZlos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C6P_VNZlos)
Joana de Flandres - overture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRsplBdtAVk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRsplBdtAVk)
Condor (aka "Odalea") – overture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twiS6wt6u1A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twiS6wt6u1A)
Condor – Noturno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjuLa1L330E (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjuLa1L330E)
Saluto del Brasile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwTQshm4QdA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwTQshm4QdA)
Saudade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcWDgTXpg94 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcWDgTXpg94)
There's a super recording of Il Guarany with Placido Domingo:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8152353--gomes-il-guarany
The idiom is very close to Verdi; I wouldn't say there's much of a hint of Puccini here.
QuoteHe has been mentioned once in passing on this forum
No, actually there's a whole thread on his opera Lo Schiavo:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,7358.msg77661.html#msg77661
Quote from: Alan Howe on Monday 22 March 2021, 18:31
QuoteHe has been mentioned once in passing on this forum
No, actually there's a whole thread on his opera Lo Schiavo:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,7358.msg77661.html#msg77661
Heavens....I did search for "Gomes" and this didn't come up.... (this was why I was asking earlier if the Search function was working) - anyway do listen to Dawn, I've had it on repeat all afternoon. It's one of those pieces that, if you didn't already know the title, you would probably call Dawn - there's a feeling of waking up, a new day, darkness receding, and eventually the sun coming up and its power changing everything.
I just searched for Gomes and got 7 hits including that one and this thread. I can suggest several reasons for the discrepancy.
Quote from: eschiss1 on Monday 22 March 2021, 19:28
I just searched for Gomes and got 7 hits including that one and this thread. I can suggest several reasons for the discrepancy.
Please do...
Well, obvious thing first, though this wouldn't have caused an error 403 now I think on it. Did you select "this topic" or "entire forum"?
Quote from: eschiss1 on Monday 22 March 2021, 19:53
Well, obvious thing first, though this wouldn't have caused an error 403 now I think on it. Did you select "this topic" or "entire forum"?
I clicked SEARCH (upper left of screen, between HELP and PROFILE, not top right) and typed "Gomes" in the box...
But you've got to select 'entire forum' from the drop-down menu to the right of the search box - otherwise you'll only get a partial result.
thanks for this heads up.
Thanks for reminding me of the opera "Il Guarany". I had forgotten about it. I was lucky enough to see a production by Washington National Opera with Placido Domingo in 1996. It was one of the first operas I attended. Here is a contemporary review of the production: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-11-12-1996317094-story.html
This performance would have been from around the time that the recording with Domingo came out. I will have to revisit it!
Also, thanks for the heads up on the BBC show. I will have to check it out. I believe the opera house that's featured in the TV show is the same opera house featured in the film "Fitzcarraldo" directed by Werner Herzog. Interestingly, Herzog also directed the production of "Il Guarany" that I saw in 1996.
Here's an hour-long documentary on the 1994 Bonn production of "Il Guarany" with Domingo:
https://www.operaonvideo.com/placido-domingos-tales-from-the-opera-4-forest-fever-il-guarany-bonn-1994/
There's also a rather charming Sonata for String Quartet (1894) here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MZC5ofIJ04).
I think there's a new and very good recording of Lo schiavo out that has received strong reviews.