Villa-Lobos - Bringing the forest to the Opera

Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer and conductor, died in Rio de Janeiro on November 17, 1959. 


He was largely responsible for the creation of a peculiar Brazilian language in classical music.  He is considered the greatest exponent of musical modernism in Brazil and Latin America, composing works that highlight the spirit of nationalism and incorporates elements of folk songs, popular and indigenous inspiration.

Raul Villa-Lobos, the composer's father, an official of the National Library and amateur musician, taught him the first steps, adapting a guitar so that the small Hector learn to play cello. At age of 12, he began playing cello in theaters, cafes and balls. Later, he became interested in intense musicality of "chorões", representatives of the best popular music of Rio de Janeiro.   Having a restless temperament, Villa-Lobos undertook journeys into the interior of Brazil, absorbing all the Brazilian musical universe. In 1913 he married the pianist Lucilia Guimarães.


The international impact of his work was felt especially in France and in the United States, evidenced by the extensive obituary that The New York Times dedicated to him.  Villa-Lobos had no children.

                            "Trenzinho Caipira"a composition by Heitor Villa Lobos and integral part of the "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2". The music is characterized by the imitation of the motion of a locomotive using the instruments of the orchestra.

The first compositions of Villa-Lobos bear the mark of European styles from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, being mainly influenced by Wagner, Puccini, by French Romantic school of Cesar Frank and the impressionists Debussy and Ravel.

Dances in African features (1914), however, begins to move away from the European manner, and to discover their own language, which became established in the Amazon and Uirapuru ballets (1917). 

In the creative audacity of the year 1920, which produced the serenades, the Choros, Studies Cirandas for guitar and piano, followed by a neo-Baroque period, whose flagship was the exquisite nine Bachianas Brasileiras (1930-1945), for different instrumental.  In his work, the conductor combined indifferently all styles and all genres, without hesitation introducing typically Brazilian musical materials  in typical forms of Western classical music, a procedure that led him to approach, in the same work, Bach and more exotic instruments.

"Music owes to this great genius not only the master pieces he created, but more importantly, his courageous attitude to oppose the so-called modern music. Villa Lobos followed the precepts of the  true music, enriching it and marking it embedded in his strong personality. (...) he will remain as one of the greatest personalities of his time and one of the greatest glories of his country"  

(Pablo Casals, cellist genius).


(adapted from the article published at OperaMundi website, in 2011)

Braga, Portugal - The 2012 European Youth Capital.

Holiday ideas? 2012 is an excellent year for you to travel to Portugal and visit its oldest city: BRAGA.  The city has been awarded the title of European Youth Capital for this current year and will be holding many attractions throughout 2012. 


The best time to visit Braga is during Easter, when for an entire week the city blazes with lights and there is a torchlight procession of hooded participants.


The European Youth Capital is a title granted to a European city for a year and is awarded by the European Youth Forum. Over this period the chosen city will have the opportunity to showcase its youth-related cultural, social, political and economic life and development and to host a number of corresponding events.  (source: wikipedia)



Braga is often described as one of the most beautiful cities in Portugal, typically Baroque, founded by a Celtic tribe called Bracari and later occupied by the Romans - it became the seat of a large archbishopric and the country's religious capital in the 11th century.

Today Braga is a modern city with a young population, bustling with commerce and industry surrounding a lively and attractive old center with a number of pedestrian streets.

To get to Braga from London a good choice is to fly to either Faro or Lisbon and from there, take another flight to the city of OPorto.  Porto is about 50 kilometres from Braga and is in itself another great city to explore during your holidays.  There are direct flights from the UK to O Porto as well if you prefer to save time although the choice for days and time are not as varied as if you are flying to Lisbon.. For those who like to explore the countryside, a good idea is to hire a car in Lisbon and plan your journey to Braga visiting the many charming villages you will encounter on your way to the north. 



Hope you have the chance to add Braga to your "Holidays wish list" and   when in there, don't miss the Frigideira de Braga, a puff pastry pie filled with delicious beef trimmings.  The most famous place to have them is at Frigideiras do Cantinho, founded in 1796!

What is the longest word in Portuguese?

If you answered "anticonstitucionalissimamente" , I am sorry to say, but you are wrong! 

Despite having 29 letters and 13 syllables, the word has lost its edge. The new champion has
46 letters and 20 syllables and describes the condition of people suffering from a rare disease caused by inhalation of volcanic ash.

The "Guia dos Curiosos - Portuguese language" by Marcelo Duarte, published by Panda Books, has the answer to this and other curiosities.



Did you know that the word "perereca" (type of frog) comes from the indigenous Tupi language " pere reka" and means "hopping"?   


Did you know that besides Portuguese, the official language of Brazil, there are 192 living languages ​​in the country?   

Marietta Baderna

 And my favourite finding: Did you know  the word "baderna" became a synonym with "confusion, riot" because the ballerina dancer Marietta Baderna (see picture) used to lead her fans to the height of excitement?



Marcelo says that the idea for the book arose when going through his database: In letters, Emails or questions from readers during his talks, the most recurring theme was the origin of certain Portuguese expressions.

"We repeat these expressions over and over, without knowing how they appeared... And some stories are amazingly curious. ", says Marcelo

Marcelo researched from the history of the alphabet to the history of the media. How the words were "born", how they evolved, the influence of different communities on the languages ​​of other peoples, neologisms. There are curiosities of our major writers; the origin of the names of animals, flowers, Brazilian states, acronyms, truck bumpers sayings and proverbs, names of one hundred local artists, a chapter dedicated only to football expressions and words.

And for those who are curious to know what the longest word in Portuguese language is, here it goes: 


pneumoultramicroscopicossilicovulcanoconiótico



Original text published in Almanaque Brasil.  (Portuguese Language)

Learning a Language and Culture Shock

I suppose many of you who are reading this article either have already moved to Portugal or are willing to make the big step in your lives and certainly agree that when we leave our home country and our “comfort zone”, we carry with us all our values, our beliefs which were acquired by sharing a certain social circle, through our families, our professional life and as we settle in the new land, most of the times, we suffer from what  the world famous anthropologist Kalervo Oberg (1901-1973)  called as “culture shock”, as he described:  “the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within an entirely different cultural or social environment, such as a foreign country”.


A brand new life!

Different scenario, climate, cuisine, urban organization, bureaucracy, banking, different ways to deal with people, a new society, habits, rules and laws, health issues and, here it is:  a new language!   In the beginning some may think it is “okay” not to learn the language as “most of people are English speakers” and if in trouble, English can easily be understood and used as bridge between the newcomer and the locals.  But for those who want to make a step forward into the local culture and broaden their horizons, the acquisition of the local language is one of the ways to narrow our relationship with the country that hosts us temporarily or for the rest of our lives.  

And what does make a language so important?

A language is made up of all the cultural aspects of a nation, just like the gastronomy is, taking us to a time travel in history through its scents, colours and tastes.   A language is like an “abstract gastronomy”, being built and shaped by the local characteristics, habits and beliefs.   It can also be compared to the local music rhythms, the speech rhythms, the guttural “r”, the intonation of a language; everything jumbles in order to make up the soul of a people.

It’s healthy!

Besides that, as we open ourselves to a new language our brains remain active, making parallels, relating what we already know to the new knowledge.  Some like to play crosswords, others chess, how about adding the acquisition of a second language as a brain exercise to this list? And with plenty of benefits: it improves our memory skills, sponsors the opportunities of enlarging our social circle, improves our self esteem, brings back the youth as we feel ourselves in the learning process again which is crucial to keep us alive and healthy.  And psychologically speaking, when one tries to assimilate the local language, the symptoms of the culture shock tends to minimize as the learner improves his skills in the new language.

If we assume the learning of a new language as an opening process, the monolingualism is, as a consequence, restrictive and limitative. 

Am I too old?

As adults, we don’t suffer anymore from family pressure or school pressure, we have definitely more time to dedicate to the study, we have certainly more experience in life and our logical skills are far more trained that it is when we are beginning our lives.   Therefore, if you are considering moving to another country, begin to learn the local language.   There is no age limit for the incredible and divine learning process.  A language is the soul of a people and nothing compares to the chance of enjoying each and every aspect of the place we chose to live in.


 Kalervo Oberg (1901-1973) was a world-renowned anthropologist. Oberg was dedicated to fieldwork, serving as a civil servant and a teacher. He traveled the world and wrote about these experiences so others could enjoy them as well.

Articled written by Cristiane Jacobs, published in Portugal Magazine, in 2008