A celebration of the music of Almeida Prado
The Embassy of Brazil in collaboration with the Keyboard Trust
A special evening of music on Thursday, 25 April 2024.
Three very fine musicians from the Keyboard Trust ‘stable’ had prepared two of his most significant chamber music works rarely performed in public and it was just a foretaste of the 400 works that Almeida Prado has left us.
The sixth of the 18 Cartas Celestas revealed a very individual sound world written obviously by someone who knew the intimate secrets of the keyboard. Brilliantly played by Ellis Thomas it was just a foretaste for the extraordinary four movement cello Sonata that revealed the colour and style of a highly original composer unjustly neglected.
Whilst some of his piano music has been recorded by Naxos there is as yet no recording of the cello sonata which on tonight’s showing is something that needs rectifying. The concert was video recorded for the Keyboard Trust web site and hopefully this might encourage the powers to be to issue a commercial recording of a very important work to add to the cello repertoire. It was played with great conviction and poetic artistry by Benedict Swindells and Ivelina Krasteva. The cello added another poetic dimension and colour to Prado’s rather spiky almost percussive style of compositions of a stimulating and provocative intellect.
Read more here at Christopher Axworthy’s blog
