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Variations sur un thème populaire brésilien

The Variations sur un thème populaire brésilien, dedicated to “À mon professeur et ami Wertheimer”, were composed in 1887, according to musicologist Arnaldo Senise. Works of Brazilian musical historiography often mention that, upon Levy’s arriving in Europe, professors from the Milan Conservatory would have heard this piece and greeted him with enthusiasm (AZEVEDO, 1956: 157-8). However, in his travel journal, there is no mention of this encounter. The same sources often point to the Variations as an example of nationalism in Levy's work. However, it is worth remembering that the only Brazilian characteristic of this work is the choice of theme, a well-known urban popular song: Vem cá bitu, since its musical language remains within the scope of early European Romanticism. Also, according to Azevedo (1956:157), Bitu was a beloved figure in Rio de Janeiro who died in 1811, a victim of torrential rains. The song that narrated this tragedy spread throughout the country and became one of our best-known traditional melodies: Cai cai balão. The University Society edition of 1957 was used in this research There is another version in which the theme is exposed at the beginning, with a single voice, and some variations are added, making a total of 16 and not 13, as in the present version.
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Richard Octaviano Kogima

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Brazilian pianist, conductor and composer Richard Octaviano Kogima was described by critics as the creator of “memorable and revealing” performances (Gregory Sullivan, Theater Jones), “endowed with multifaceted nuances, transparency and extreme concentration” (Südkurier, Badische Zeitung). Richard lives in Zurich, where he completed his master’s in performance at the University of the Arts, in Konstantin Scherbakov's class, and in Music Pedagogy, as well as a course in conducting. He also attended the University of São Paulo, with the acclaimed pianist and pedagogue Eduardo Monteiro, the École Normale de Musique in Paris, with Guigla Katsarava (Diplôme Supérieur d'Execution), with Maria José Carrasqueira in his youth and with her grandmother Helgard Ostermayer Octaviano. Winning awards in several national and international competitions, he recently received the Nelson Freire award at the Geza Anda Competition, which will allow him to make his debut as a soloist and conductor in front of the Neojiba Orchestra in the 2023 season.
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