Monday, December 14, 2009

Feliz Natal or Happy Christmas!

Last night, we walked the few blocks together from our house to the Teatro Amazonas because I had a concert there. To our lovely surprise, as we approached the praça outside of the theater, we were reminded of our good ol' Rockefeller Christmas tree in NYC. Ok, so it's not a real tree like the one at Rockefeller, and it's still in the 80's here, but the spirit was certainly there! There were tons of families out there to see the tree, look at the nativity scene, and eat popcorn and cotton candy under the lights. I get the feeling this is a very big holiday here cause they start putting Christmas decorations in the stores in October here.
As I went inside the theater to warm-up for our concert, I sent Jay on a mission to take pictures of all the decorations.



You can actually walk inside the tree,
and this is angel is hanging there.


The front of the theater is decorated with a beautiful, huge wreath, is all lit up,
and there are two fountains out front adding to the festive mood.


View from the other side.



After his mission was accomplished, Jay came inside the theater to hear us play St. Cecilia Mass with a full chorus written by the Afro-Brazilian composer, José Mauricio Nunes Garcia. He was a contemporary of Mozart, wrote in the Classical style, and was an ordained priest dedicated to the church.

Despite there being various distractions from kids in the audience throughout our performance, we managed to pull-off a good concert. While we do like the fact that the concerts are free and families bring their children of all ages, it can get frustrating when parents allow their kids to cry, talk, or drop things from the boxes while we're playing. On a better note, no pun intended, I am grateful that no one applauded between movements!

Inside the Teatro


My section tuning-up


With the chorus... I was smiling cause I could see Jay!


We made it! Our bows at the end.



This was our last real orchestra concert of the year. The next one we play will be a Christmas concert with pieces we've played this season and various Christmas tunes. I haven't seen the music yet, but I am guessing there won't be any Hanukkah songs!! HA!

3 comments:

  1. Hi there. Parabens on arriving in Manaus. How long are you staying? Playing in the orchestra? I need to dig deeper into your blog. I spent a year in Belém in 92-93 and then going back almost every year through 2004 for more research. I got to Manaus in 2000. I recently started a series of postings on my blog about Belém and my time there, which you might find interesting. Called Tamba-Tajá, after the local plant that people grow in their yards in Amazonia as a talisman for romance and marital happiness. I'll look foward to keeping up with your journey. Enjoy, John

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  2. Hey, John! We're gonna try to make it to Belem some time while we're down here cause we've got several friends from there that say it's pretty nice. Did you take the ferry or plane from Belem to Manaus? Thinking about going one way on each for a little adventure!
    I will definitely check-out your blog, too. Até!

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  3. Awwww, that pic of you looking up with a smile is sooo cute!

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