Gramofone publica crítica sobre o CD em que a profa. Dra. Iara Fricke Matte foi regente preparadora do coro com a Filarmônica de Minas Gerais

Like many monarchs, King Pedro I of Brazil (1798-1834) received a fine musical education, in his case from Marcos Portugal and Sigismund Neukomm, Haydn’s favourite pupil. He was not only a performer, however, but a composer, whose most significant works are sacred in nature. Two are recorded here. The Credo, probably his most frequently performed piece, is well crafted but short-breathed, though the ‘Et resurrexit’ section is undeniably impressive. What he might have achieved in the purely instrumental realm is demonstrated by his only surviving orchestral work, the Abertura. Again, it is not staggeringly original but it is extremely well crafted, and Rossini was sufficiently impressed to organise a performance in Paris (hoping for some Brazilian coffee in exchange!).

The Te Deum (1820) is the star of the show, genuinely impressive and showing a real understanding not only of orchestral writing but of choral effect. It is a work of tremendous exuberance, and Rosana Lanzelotte points out in her booklet notes that Pedro’s wife, Leopoldina, on sending the score to her father, Francis I of Austria, noted that he might find the score somewhat theatrical, since for the Portuguese court ‘the church was a place of celebration, and its services occasions for social gatherings’. The Hino da Independência do Brasil, written in 1824 and acting as a kind of coda to this recording, is a typically stirring anthem and is still sung today.

The sure orchestral direction of Fabio Mechetti and the choir, prepared by Iara Fricke Matte, provide a triumphant demonstration of how far understanding of the performance of repertoire from the 18th century in Brazil has come over the past few decades, and the recorded sound, captured at the Sala Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, is exemplary.