Concerts in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires

The Torre Paris cafe is just what one imagines a Buenos Aires cafe to be: a vaguely Parisian feel, but with a menu, decor and - crucially - waiters who could only be Argentinian. It is half-an-hour after the second concert of our tour. As Joanna MacGregor enters the cafe for a post-concert glass of wine, everyone stands up and cheers. These are the older members of our audience tonight, who have heard everything from Bach to Osvaldo Golijov, from Stravinsky to Joanna’s stunning solo encore of Libertango: and yet they respond with complete admiration and affection for a programme some of them must have found challenging.

Yesterday, we did the same programme in Sao Paulo. The response was brilliant: not an automatic response, more an indication of genuine enjoyment of a very special Britten Sinfonia programme. Two Bach keyboard concerti - we can do the light and airy baroque string sound too - the aggressive Golijov, the deeply intense world of Britten’s Lachrymae, and Joanna’s own very clever, atmospheric arrangements of Dowland and vibrant Gismonti interpretations. A warm reaction from a packed audience. We will be back in Sao Paulo next week on the 7th - details are on our website.

It’s a public holiday here in Sao Paulo today, so the drive in from the airport was blissfully free of traffic. The best concert tours depend on efficient and friendly local promoters, good hotels and splendid breakfasts, all three of which we experienced this morning. The players have the rest of the day free, so as I write, they are spreading out across the city to start exploring, the Museu de Arte Moderna and the Parque do Ibirapuera being popular early destinations. In fact I even saw at four players in the hotel lobby about to set off on a run - not a bad way to get rid of the effects of overnight flights (although I think I will stick to swimming in the pool). Joanna MacGregor is, however, working today and plans to practise later on the piano at the Teatro Cultura Artistica, the concert hall we are playing in tomorrow. I’ll bring you some of her insights into the programmes we are giving later.

If anyone wants to get tickets for the concert tomorrow night, details of the box-office are on our website www.brittensinfonia.co.uk. You can also find information about the programme, which includes works by Bach, Dowland (arr. MacGrgeor), Britten, Golijov, Stravinsky and Egberto Gismonti.
John Bickley