Jaragua Do Sul, Brazil.
about 100 degrees F
If someone told me a few years ago that I would be going to
Brazil on a regular basis I would have exclaimed “Really?!” Not because it’s located 5000 miles from
American shore or that it’s full of unknown tropical fruits but because for me
this country represents a childhood memory of a story told in a book and a
movie. There is a famous character in a classic Russian novel whose utmost
desire is to visit Brazil and in particular Rio de Janeiro where he believes
everyone wears white pants and smokes cigars. You may ask why am I writing
about this? Well, this character is so iconic that every time I think of Brazil
or go there I can’t help but remember numerous funny quotes from this story. If you are Russian reading this you will know
in a heartbeat that the character is Ostap Bender from the novel The Twelve
Chairs. Synchronicity, according to Swiss
psychiatrist Carl Jung, is the occurrence of two or more events that appear to
be meaningfully related but not causally related. It is this synchronicity that
connected my passion for that story to my now annual journey to the beautiful country of Brazil.
This is my fourth
time being there. Three of those four
times were attending FEMUSC, an International Music Festival of Santa Catarina.
It has become a very special place for the Arianna Quartet. We all look forward to being there every year
as it is one of the highlights of our season. Each year we meet and get to work
with wonderful pre-formed string quartets from around South and North America.
This year is no exception. We have four quartets: two from Brazil, one from
Colombia and one from the United States. Here are their names: Sorocaba (their
3rd time at Femusc), Oliver Toni, Efferus and Pavo String Quartets. All of them
are fantastic. Each group has 3 quartets to work on during the two weeks.The
amount of progress they make by the end is astonishing. I am always amazed and
thrilled to see the eagerness to learn, the openness to new ideas, the fast
development of the technical skills and an enormous amount of energy coming
from these FEMUSC quartets. These kind of students are always the biggest
source of our inspiration. Teaching is a two way street. It works successfully
only if both parties want it to work.
Our other
favorite thing to do at FEMUSC is to make music with our wonderful friends and
colleagues. This year we have several collaborations which include Antal
Dorati’s Notturno and Capriccio for oboe and string quartet with Alex Klein, Brahms Viola Quintet with Daniel Guedes;
Prokofiev Quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and bass with Catalin
Rotaru, Ovanir Buosi and Alex Klein; and Brahms f minor piano quintet with
Alexandre Dossin. It is both an honor and joy to work with these outstanding
musicians. By the end of the concert I wish there is another movement or page
to play. Luckily the night is still young after the concert and we all go to a
local pizzeria for a night of celebration, good food and a shot of cachaca, a
traditional Brazilian drink! Saude!
I would like to take this opportunity and say thank you to the
founder and artistic director of FEMUSC Alex Klein. It’s because of his immense
vision and tireless energy we all are able to experience this unique music festival.
People like him make a difference in our lives.
My personal goal for next year is to learn some Portuguese and
to be able to carry a simple conversation. It took me 4 times being in Brazil
to realize that I need and want to learn this language. It is absolutely
beautiful! The sound of it resembles Romanian somewhat, language spoken in
Romania and Moldova. I was born in Moldova and though never had an opportunity
to learn the language was always interested in being able to speak it. I am
going to finish this entry by saying one very important phrase in Portuguese.
Actually it’s just one single word but it contains a very deep meaning and is
sort of a signature word in Portuguese: Saudade. It means to miss someone or
something, to be longing for. Saudade, Brazil! Until next time.
Julia Sakharova
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| ASQ Performs Beethoven String Quartet op. 135 in F major. Photo by Cesar Castro. |
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| Brahms Piano Quintet op. 34 in f minor. Kurt Baldwin - Cello. Photo by Diego Redel |
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| Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola and Bass op. 39 by Prokofiev. Julia Sakharova-violin. Photo by Cesar Castro. |
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| Performance of the Brahms Piano Quintet op. 34 in f minor. John McGrosso - violin Photo by Cesar Castro |
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| Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola and Bass op. 39 by Prokofiev. Joanna Mendoza - viola. Photo by Cesar Castro |
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| Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola and Bass op. 39 by Prokofiev. Pictured left to right: Joanna Mendoza-viola, Julia Sakharova-violin, Catalin Rotaru-bass, Ovanir Buosi-clarinet, Alex Klein-oboe. Photo by Cesar Castro. |
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| Group shot of the quartets. |
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| Farewell party |
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