In Wednesday’s (8/15) Guardian (London), Stephen Moss writes, “I didn’t know what to expect when I visited the home of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra … I imagined the orchestra as a Brazilian version of Venezuela’s Símon Bólivar Orchestra—an instrument of social change in a country with a high level of deprivation. And the orchestra does tick the usual social-consciousness boxes … But it is avowedly not the Símon Bólivar Orchestra. … No, the São Paulo Symphony has a more single-minded goal: it is aiming to be one of the great orchestras of the world, which is why so much is riding on its Proms debut tonight, under new chief conductor Marin Alsop. For the first time in its 58-year history, the orchestra will command a global stage. … [Alsop] admits it was not love at first sight when she came to the city to guest-conduct two years ago. … But the orchestra quickly convinced her it was all worthwhile. ‘I was doing Mahler’s Seventh and I thought they sounded good, but what I was so impressed with—besides the gorgeous concert hall—was the exponential growth in the orchestra over just a couple of days. They were hungry for hard work and have enormous potential.’ ”
Posted August 15, 2012
