Brazilian Pianist Playing Czech Music

It was very nice to see and hear you again in Prague last week. We could admire your temperament and feeling for music, especially for Smetana and Brahms during the concert together with the violinist Jaroslav Sonsky. Your whole program was very nice. I am very glad to have met your husband, too. I understand, it is not easy for him to back you up at your profession, as well as your journeys, when you have children. It gives me pleasure to ask you a few questions.

Please, tell me, what kind of music was important for you throughout your first years of study?

Thanks to my parents, I grew upon listening Bruckner´s "Te Deum", Grieg´s "Piano Concerto", Haendel´s "Messiah", Bach´s The Brandebourgeois, many arias from the most famous operas (my father was an amateur singer), and, even, some movie themes from the 50´s!

From my two older sisters, who were teenagers when I was born, I learned Bossanova (Tom Jobim, Sérgio Mendes, Marcos Valle, Edu Lobo), MPB (Música Popular Brasileira), like Milton Nascimento, Ivan Lins, Egberto Gismonti, all of them excellent musicians. But they also liked the Americans: Supertramp, Bread, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel.

Which of the Czech composers do you like most?

Oh, I love Smetana, but I have a special feeling for the music of the 20th century, it is closer to me. I love Martinu, and also Oldrich Korte and Lubos Sluka. They are intelligent, they have richness in their musical ideas, and a great inspiration, not to talk about their perfect technique!

Are you also interested in other aspects of the Czech culture, such as literature or history? like most?

Certainly! I love to learn about the legends of the country, and its true history. Talking 0about Prague, for example, I read even about the "vodniks", the men from under the water. I learned about the Czechs, the kings you had, Svatopluk, Wenceslas, Prince Bruncvik, etc. The recent history is important as well. The uniting with Slovacs in 1918, the Nazi occupation...the communism... As far as other artists, I know something about Kafka, Kundera, of course, Jaroslav Seifert, Karel Capek, his brother Josef Capek (painter), Bohumil Kubista, Jan Neruda, Alois Jirásek?

What about your program of concerts in Brazil after you get home? like most?

I will play Brazilian composers in a program for piano 4 hands with Josiane Kevorkian, with whom I have a duo in June and July. In August we will play "Le Sacre du Printemps" version piano 4 hands and 5 percussionists, plus Lutoslawski "Variations on a theme by Paganini" for 2 pianos and two percussionists, and two Brazilian live composers, like Ronaldo Miranda and Caio Senna, for the same ensemble, at Sala Cecília Meireles, the big symphonic hall in Rio de Janeiro.

Do you happen to know our greatest musical festival, the Prague Spring? like most?

Have you got something like that in Brazil? If so, do you ever participate in it? Yes, of course, I know the Prague Spring. We have an important International Festival at Campos do Jordăo, in Săo Paulo State, but I have not taken part in it yet.

Is Czech music well-known in Brazil? Which composers? like most?

No, only Smetana and Dvorak...Martinu is known by lovers of special music only, le "grand publique" doesn´t know him unfortunately. So you and Jaroslav have been busy together with a very praiseworthy activity when introducing Czech composers to a Brazilian audience as well as playing here the pieces of Brazilian composers, who are also not so well-known in the CR.

And what about jazz, rock and other kinds of popular music? Do you and your husband like it? like most?

Yes, we do! We like good music, it doesn´t matter if it is classic or not. You have two children - a boy and a girl. Are they a drive for your career? They have always been a positive for me and my career, and, to tell the truth, it really started after they were born. When Otávio, the younger one, was 1 year old, I was awarded the 1st Prize in an International Piano Competition in Săo Paulo City! It was a confirmation for me, that if you have a wish, you find the way to get it.

Do your Brazilian female colleagues in art have children too, or do they prefer a career? like most?

Well, generally, Latin people like a family, a big family, and things like that. You will find some Brazilian artists who had children but didn´t care as they should, however it is not common here, we have children and try to combine the profession with the family.

What are your future plans? like most?

I would very much like to record a solo CD. People complain that I don´t have it yet... I think it is time!!! like most?

Thank you for your answers. We wish you a successful and nice summer together with your family and at your work.