The 300th anniversary of The Patriarchade of Lisbon – a Celebration Concert

Founded in 1713 by King João V, the Lisbon Patriarchal Royal Seminary would become the most important and authoritative School of Music of Portugal long before the creation of the National Conservatory in 1835. Together with the employment of foreign musicians such as Domenico Scarlatti, Giovanni Giorgio or David Perez, the Royal Seminary had as its first goal to provide young Portuguese musicians with strong musical training. The 1755 earthquake not only destroyed the building but also its valuable library packed with manuscripts of incalculable musical and historical value. 

With the Napoleonic invasions and the departure of the royal court to Brazil in 1807, the Royal Seminary went into a slow decline. However, it was this institution that formed almost all the 18^th century Portuguese composers as well as countless singers and organists who would later occupy important posts in several Luso-Brazilian music establishments.  

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The first part of this concert will be fully completed with sacred works of composers who, in a way or another, were closely associated with the institution founded by the King Magnanimus. From Carlos Seixas (1704-1742), composer born in Coimbra specially famed by his vast output of sonatas for keyboard we will hear the Credo from his Mass in G major. From Francisco António de Almeida (1745-1799) an aria from La Giuditta, a biblical oratorio premiered in Rome in 1726, a true gem of the Portuguese baroque music. From João de Souza Carvalho (1745-1799), Chapel Master of the Royal Seminary two excerpts from Mass for 4 voices and Te Deum. From António Leal Moreira (1758-1819), another Chapel Master and the first Director of São Carlos Royal Opera House , two excerpts from  his Te Deum Laudamus, composed in 1786.

In the second part of this commemorative concert it will be performed the Te Deum in D major, P04.08 composed by Marcos Portugal (1762-1830), a Music Master of  the Patriarchal Seminary and perhaps the Portuguese composer whose works were performed all over Europe and Brazil during his lifetime. Specially written to celebrate the birth of infant D. Miguel, this piece was first heard on 14th. November 1802 in Queluz Palace by the occasion of the christening of the royal infant.

Conductor | Rui Pinheiro

Soprano | Sandra Medeiros

Alt | Cátia Moreso

Tenor | Mário Jorge Alves

Bass | Rui Baeta

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CORO DO TEATRO NACIONAL DE SÃO CARLOS

Principal Conductor | Giovanni Andreoli

ORQUESTRA SINFÓNICA PORTUGUESA

Principal Conductor | Joana Carneiro

Carlos Seixas | Mess for soloists, chorus and string orchestra

III.Credo

– Patrem Omnipotentem
– Et Incarnatus Est
– Crucifixus
– Et Resurrexit
– Fuga, Et Vitam Venturi

Francisco António de Almeida | La Giuditta: Saggio nocchiero

João de Sousa Carvalho | Mess for Four Voices: IV. Quoniam Tu Solus

João de Sousa Carvalho | Te Deum, n.º 6. Gloriosus

António Leal Moreira | Te Deum Laudamus

Symphony
N.º 15 Dignare, Domine
N.º 17 Tantum Ergo

Marcos Portugal | Te Deum P04.08