A cycle of brief concerts followed by evening talks, dedicated to Music and Romanticism, started yesterday, September 30th at 7 pm, at the Extension of Romanticism. Pianist and researcher Sofia Lourenço and conductor, organist and theorist Pedro Monteiro were the hosts, receiving as their first guest Rui Vieira Nery for a reflection on romanticism in the city through two paradigmatic composers: João Guilherme Bell Daddi and Óscar da Silva.
The Museu da Cidade‘s Extension of Romanticism thus constitutes a sound resonance chamber where, on the one hand, it proposes to recover the city’s musical repertoire, on the other hand, it revisits canonical authors from the Romantic Period, analyzing the persistence and reinvention of the Romantic spirit in our time.
The first session of the Music and Romanticism program, which took place in the Extension of Romanticism room, formerly Romantic Museum, has as its protagonist the piano, the true musical instrument of the Romantic Era.
Pieces by composers João Guilherme Daddi and Óscar da Silva, born in Miragaia and Paranhos, were interpreted and discussed. Daddi (1813-1887), established himself as a pianist, his talent as a performer impressed Liszt, but he was also an important agent in promoting artistic and cultural life at the time, having been one of the founders of the Chamber Music Society. As a composer, he dedicated himself to sacred and theatrical music, but also to some pieces for piano that showed his mastery of the piano technique, such as Il Lamento and Andante Cantabile, now performed by Sofia Lourenço. By composer Óscar da Silva, who defined himself as a “spontaneous romantic” with pieces that reveal an intimate character of late romanticism, the pianist performed Dolorosa (Triste Canzone), Mazurkas Op.9 and Valsa n.º2.
The cycle takes place every last Thursday of each month at 7 pm, until March 2022. The next session, on October 28, is dedicated to German Romanticism, with guest John Greenfield. Tickets are available at the City Museum stations 48 hours before each session, or at the online ticket office.
