Guarnieri: Pedro Malazarte

Camargo Guarnieri loved writing for the human voice, composing hundreds of vocal works over the course of his long and successful career. The works on this program are all based on texts by Mário de Andrade – an extremely influential writer who was not only Guarnieri’s friend and long-time collaborator, but also the mastermind of the Brazilian Modernist movement. The comic opera “Pedro Malazarte” is representative of a delightfully unconventional and colorful Brazilian Modernism that stands apart from Romantic traditions. Among other powerful settings, “A Serra do Rola-Moça” is one of Guarnieri’s finest dramatic vocal works, telling the tragic story of two young people who die on their wedding day when they and their horses fall into a ravine. This latest addition to the series presents world-premiere recordings of Guarnieri’s first opera and other significant vocal works. Other Guarnieri works in the “The Music of Brazil” series include two parts of his Chôros, which were described in BBC Music Magazine as “truly vivid music with a great sense of drama … a celebratory treat.” Roberto Minczuk was Artistic Director of the Theatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro and Principal Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfônica de Ribeirão Preto. He was the first artist to receive the ConcertArte Award from Ribeirão Preto, and he also won a Latin Grammy Award and was nominated for an American Grammy Award for the album “Jobim Sinfônico.” He is currently Principal Conductor of the OSM, Conductor Emeritus of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, where he served as Principal Conductor from 2005 to 2015, and Conductor Emeritus of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in Canada.