Henrique charms with sounds of Brazil

Michael Reckord, Gleaner Writer

For the Brazilian Embassy in Jamaica it was probably a case of one good concert deserving another.

Following his well-received recital by an overflow audience at the PCJ auditorium last year October, the embassy again invited acclaimed Brazilian guitarist Alvaro Henrique to play at the same venue.

The recital on Wednesday evening was no less delightful and almost as well attended. Evidently happy to be back, Henrique told the audience that he found their enthusiasm "amazing".

There was a period in the first half of the programme, however, when Henrique played what one patron termed "experimental" music and dragged some in the audience a mile beyond their comfort zone. This was during the playing of an avant-garde piece, Brasilia 50, by Jorge Antunes.

The performance comprised Henrique's guitar music and recorded spoken commentary on important Brazilian and world events between 1960 and 1970. The commentary, in Portuguese and English, was on major Brazilian political incidents, the assassination of former United States President John F. Kennedy, Neil Armstrong's moon landing, and the scoring of Brazilian foolballer Pele's 1,000th goal, among other things.

Henrique told the audience that the composition was not yet complete as only the first 11 movements had been written. The work ended the first part of the evening's programme.

Some members of the audience seized the opportunity to slip away — after partaking of the refreshments: wine, orange juice and sodas. It may be that the difficulty of the Brasilia 50 piece drove them away.

One woman who returned to the recital said she was hoping the second half would bring more regular Brazilian music. It did, and the applause was noticeably more enthusiastic than it had been previously.

In fact, the music in the second half was quite stirring - to none more so than to a Brazilian woman who became so enraptured by Henrique's playing of Louis Moreau Gottschalk's Fantasia on the Brazilian National Anthem that she felt she just had to sing along.

This greatly annoyed fellow patrons, especially as she and a companion had made a noisy entrance on heavy heeled shoes in the middle of the playing of the first item.

Henrique, dressed in full black, plucked, strummed, caressed and occasionally slapped his guitar, all the while wearing a smile. Often, throughout the evening, it got quite big. The guitarist, considered to be "one of the most talented musicians of Brasilia", clearly enjoyed his music.

The first item was Pequena Suite Candanga by Mario Ferraro. As the approximately 20-minute long, generally gentle, suite ended, Henrique announced that his audience had just heard the first performance of the work outside of Brazil.

Delighted applause ensued, but some patrons would not have been surprised. Henrique is well known in his country for his 'premieres'. They include Antunes' Sighs in 2000.

While Ferraro's composition was being played, photographs by Leon Rodriques of Brazilian scenery, buildings, art works and people were projected on to a screen behind the guitarist. Knowing that, in addition to being a music lecturer, pianist, composer, arranger, choir conductor and music producer, Ferraro is also a director of theatre, film and documentary videos, could make one see a connection between the visuals and the music.

Composing contemporary classical

Since 2000, when he began composing contemporary classical music, Ferraro has produced many works for solo instruments, choir, chamber music, three orchestral pieces, and a chamber opera. His work has been selected for entry in the last four Biennial Festivals of Brazilian Contemporary Music, important events for composers and performers of new music in Brazil.

In 2007, Ferraro was awarded a government scholarship to pursue a PhD programme in music composition at City University, London, researching contemporary opera.

On the other hand, during the playing of Antunes' music, abstract, computer-generated visuals were shown on the screen. Again it was appropriate.

Artunes, who was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1942, began studying music in 1958 and in 1960 entered the National School of Music of the University of Brazil (then the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). He became interested in electronic music and began a physics course in the National Philosophy Faculty.

After constructing a variety of generators, filters, modulators and other electronic equipment, Antunes founded the Studio for Chromo-Musical Research, and he has since been recognised as a pioneer in Brazilian electronic music. As he started establishing himself as one of the leading avant-garde Brazilian musicians, in 1965 he began research into the relationship between sound and colour, and composed a series of works called 'Cromoplastofonias'. Performed by orchestra, magnetic tape and light, they also appeal to the senses of smell, taste and touch.

In 1967 he was invited by the Villa-Lobos Institute, Rio de Janeiro, to set up a centre for musical research and was appointed professor of electro-acoustic music there.

Henrique's final piece for the evening was a soothing, melodic piece by Villa-Lobos (1887- 1959), a composer recognised as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". He is special to Henrique.

As he told The Gleaner, it was during a "magical moment" while listening to a performance of Villa-Lobos' music by Paulo Pedrassoli in Sao Paulo that Henrique became inspired to devote his life to music.

He had begun studying music five years before, and since turning professional has played throughout Brazil, and in Mozambique, Peru, England, Ireland, Greece, Germany and Switzerland. He is a past president of BRAVIO (Brasilia Guitar Association), a non-profit organisation that mounts monthly guitar concerts.