Monday, July 17 - in Rio
No photos today because I didn't take the camera.
Today the chorus got to work with Doreen Rao rehearsing the joint concert repertoire for the Buenos Aires and La Plata concerts. In the evening, three choruses--Minnetonka, Miami, and the Pacific Boy Choir--performed their individual programs at the church of Nossa Senhora de Candelaria, a somewhat grim basilica in the rather austere styleof Ibererian churches.
Tuesday night, CCW and Winnipeg get their turn.
Sunday, July 16 - in Petropolis
On Sunday, we traveled by bus about 60 km to the former imperial summer retreat of Petropolis. All four choruses performed at the Crystal palace, a sort of greenhouse in a square in the center of town and were heard by a large and enthusiastic audience.
Afterward, we had lunch at a local churascaria (Brazilian barbecue) and after returning to Rio, shopped at a craft market in Ipanema.--sw
Saturday, July 15 - Sugarloaf
This morning, the chorus participated in a cultural exchange and informal performance at a Rio samba school.. Unfortunately, I wasn't with them, but the kids, the chaperones and Ms. G all say it was wonderful.
In the afternoon, they took the cable car (right) to the top of Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf), the high pinnacle overlooking Rio's harbor and beaches.
Tomorrow: a concert at the royal summer residence of Petropolis.
Saturday, July 22 - in Buenos Aires
Today was the final performance of the tour, at the elaborate Teatro Colon. Like so much else in BsAs (as they abbreviate it) it represents the turn of the 20th century glory of Argentina. (Photography was prohibited in the theater, so I has to sneak at shot at the very end.)
The program was the same as in La Plata, with one small addition, but went much better. Partly it was the lovely acoustics of the Colon. Partly, I think, it was that the La Plata performance, in effect, became the missed rehearsal of Friday morning, and everyone was better prepared for this one. While we didn't fill the Teatro Colon ("the second largest opera house in the southern hemisphere"), the crowd was large and enthusiastic, with many children in attendance.
After the concert, the choruses enjoyed a lovely lunch at a restaurant in the Puerto Madero neighborhood on the waterfront.
After lunch, Susan and I took our leave of the Melodia tour, having had a wonderful time and making many new friends. We'll be staying on in Argentina for a few days, returning home late in the week. After we get back, I hope to make the best of the hundreds of photos I have taken available to anyone who wants any of them. I'll let you know about the plans. --sw
Friday, July 21 - in La Plata
Friday we traveled to the provincialcapital of La Plata, about 60 kilometers from Buenos Aires for a concert at the striking Sala Alberto Ginestera at the Teatro Argentina. The performance of all the choirs, including the Children's Chorus of Cordoba, Argentina, and orchestra, featured the premiere of Oscar Escalada's Elogia a los Ninos.
Before the concert, the kids had a chance to see some of the city, including an extensive tour of the cathedral. Another reminder that Argentina was once a very rich country, the the cathedral is a copy of Notre Dame de Chartres, only bigger, begun soon after the planned city of La Plata was created in the 1880s.
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