Sunday morning at the Teatro Municipal

After 10 days of garoa (drizzle--Sao Paulo's choice in weather), last Sunday dawned bright and sunny. I met a friend and we took the Metro downtown to the Teatro Municipal which offers affordable classical music every Sunday at 11 am.

The Teatro Municipal sits like a well-used jewelry box in the heart of downtown São Paulo. Completed in 1911, its design and decor borrow liberally from a range of European styles. Today, the Teatro's facade is being restored and hence covered by a series of grafittied wooden panels that add yet another style to this eclectic building.

In honor of the Year of France in Brazil, Sunday's program featured pieces by Ravel and Debussy played by the Orquestra Experimental de Repertório. It was the first time I heard one of my favorites, Pavane pour une Infante Defunte, played live and I was not disappointed (even if one of the violin players did leave the stage mid-performance). The Sunday morning crowd was small, but enthusiastic as the music surged beneath the benevolent gaze of Aphrodite (left).