Art and Music at MASP

Yesterday I headed to the city's most famous museum, MASP (Museo de Arte de São Paulo). I knew none of the locals would be as interested, so I made the excursion solo. There is something wonderful about seeing art alone, as if you can have a deeper, more meaningful experience with each piece. On the other hand, I do like going with other people, so I can ask what their favorite in each room was.

My favorites of this collection were Renoir's "Menina Com as Espigas" for the color palette, and Lady Callcott Graham's "Panorama De Baia De Guanabara" for the unique panoramic design. The Italian section of art was a little unnerving as I found myself surrounded by what seemed like way too many Virgin Marys, Baby Jesuses and Christs on the cross. It was like a carnival fun house mirrors with a religious twist.

I couldn't read a lot of the descriptions, but I did quickly figure out that "retrato" is "portrait" and "nu" is "nude." The Darwin exhibit had just ended and the new exhibit wasn't up yet. Surprisingly, this left just one floor of art.

As I was leaving the museum, I stumbled up on a concert that was going to start in two minutes. The program said something about violão, which I know to be guitar, so I bought tickets and took the last front row seat. I was in for an unexpected treat.

The concert featured the Duo Siqeira Lima, two classical guitarists playing simultaneously. The program had a hefty artist biography which I was able to catch bits and pieces of. The last paragraph read:

"O que principalmente nos envolve é sua sonoridade clara e objetiva, como um brilhante, perfeito em todas as faces. On sentido musical, com toda sua flexibilidade interpretiva, possui um acabamento perfeito e é trabalhado com todas suas nuances colorísticas, mostrando um completo conhecimento do instrumento e de suas reais possibilidades."

This basically translated to "they rock!" It's beautiful enough to hear one amazing guitarist, but two side by side is a whole new level of depth. They seem to take you through he entire range of emotion, from joy to jealousy, anxiety to admiration.

And the most engaging part for me was that one of them was a woman. To see a female perform on guitar with such incredible skill is rare. Bonnie Raitt is up there, and I have a soft spot for French model-turned-singer (yeah, I said model) Carla Bruni. But in rock music, you learn some chords and repeat. Sheryl Crow and Jewel come to mind. In a related category of women, Ruyter Suys said Courtney Love "uses her guitar as a necklace not as an instrument."

From my perspective, classical guitar takes much more talent as it has a vastly more complicated composition. I was mesmerized by Uruguay-born Cecilia and the insane speed and dexterity of her fingers as they danced with every section of the strings.

Like jazz, there were no words to distract from the music, so your mind could focus on the instrument sounds. You can also easily wander into your own thoughts. You are in control of what the songs say, what they're about.

I was also happy to discover that I'm not the only one who confuses "Good morning," "good afternoon" and "good night." Fernando Lima said "Boa tarde" and then corrected himself with "Boa noite." Everyone laughed so I must have missed something with the language barrier, as usual.

The audience excitedly gave multiple standing ovations. I did my best to ignore the cheesy photo on the back of their CD where they stare happily at one another, his arm around her, and made my first Brazilian music purchase.