This Friday and Saturday there will be no shortage of music with the Metropolitana Soloists. Five performances that bring Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert to the concert halls.
are often divided into chamber music ensembles
This afternoon, at 6.30 p.m., the Metropolitan Soloists will begin another day of chamber music in two venues in Lisbon simultaneously. At the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, 14 musicians from the Metropolitana will present Serenatas Noturnas. At the same time, at the Casa Fernando Pessoa, in Campo de Ourique, there will be a performance of Weber and Schubert – Piano for Four Hands.
” This week of chamber music and the other five we have during the season are always very special for us, because they are an opportunity to play pieces from the repertoire, to continue to cultivate and train in a different kind of context than that of an orchestra,” explains violinist Joana Dias.
The musician from Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa underlines that these “are more intimate concerts, with fewer musicians on stage, which allows spectators to focus on one musician at a time. It’s an opportunity we have to take music to various venues around the city, and also to audiences a little different from the ones who usually don’t come to our concerts,” believes Joana Dias.
This weekend’s program starts today and lasts until tomorrow, with different proposals capable of conquering the public. But not only. With the Nocturnal Serenades that the Soloists will take to the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga on Friday and to the Moscavide Church on Saturday at 9pm, the idea is to soften the hard times we have been living through.
” This program we are offering is music of happiness, peace and hope. It’s the ideal program to take some of the anxiety and unhappiness away from all of us who are scarred by everything going on in the world, ” explains violinist Diana Tzonkova.
Joining her for both concerts will be Ana Pereira, Carlos Damas, Lúcia Salvado, José Teixeira, Daniela Radu, Anzhela Akopyan, Miguel Ferreira (also violins), André Castro (timpani), Sara Ramalho, Andrei Ratnikov (violas), Catarina Gonçalves, Jian Hong (cellos), and Vladimir Kouznetsov (double bass).
The program includes Serenade No. 6, KV 239, Serenata Notturna, and Serenade No. 13, KV 525, Uma Pequena Serenata Noturna, by Mozart, and Nocturno Silêncio Repousado, by Ana Seara.
“Mozart is always positive. It’s amazing how this man has always managed to create music that leaves us with a sense of harmony and serenity,” Diana Tzonkova emphasizes.
Also at 6:30pm this Friday, at Casa Fernando Pessoa, in Lisbon, and Saturday at 9:30pm, at Centro Cultural e de Congressos das Caldas da Rainha, pianists Anna Tomasik and Savka Konjikusic will perform Weber and Schubert – Piano for 4 Hands, with the works Grande Polonaise and Rondo Brillante, by Carl von Weber, and Allegro in A Major, Lebensstürme and Fantasia in F Minor, by Schubert.
Finally on Saturday, with a unique performance at 4:00 pm, at Espaço Santa Casa, in Lisbon, the Metropolitan Soloists play Beethoven’s Septet. On stage will be Nuno Silva (clarinet), Lurdes Carneiro (bassoon), Daniel Canas (horn), Pedro Meireles (violin), Joana Cipriano (viola), Nuno Abreu (cello), Margarida Afonso (double bass), who will perform Septet, Op. 20, for the Empress Maria Teresa.
“The audience that will come and see us can expect to hear high quality music. The Septet is a piece of the best that the composer has done, and it’s almost like having a mini orchestra playing. But with the added benefit that we are all closer to each other. Everything that each one of us does is more perceptible to the public,” explains clarinetist Nuno Silva.
All these Metropolitan Soloists concerts are free of charge, with the exception of the Saturday concert in Caldas da Rainha. For this concert, tickets can be purchased on the Congress Center website.