Marcelo Bratke at the Penitenciária Feminina do Butantã

I came across another interesting project by the amazing pianist Marcelo Bratke. He recently performed a concert (in his Cinemusica Villa-Lobos and Brazil series) before an audience of 270 at a women's prison in Sao Paulo. This story at Estadao.com.br is full of moving bits.  Raquel, serving 4-1/2 years for armed robbery says "É uma música diferente, faz bem para a alma." (It's a different song, it's good for the soul).  Bratke was a bit surprised by such a positive response:

"Elas chegaram a cantarolar quando toquei as Cirandinhas do Villa-Lobos, não esperava que isso pudesse acontecer....Senti aqui uma energia diferente. Elas me ajudaram a tocar." (They began to sing when I played the Cirandinha of Villa-Lobos; I did'nt expect this to happen.... I felt a different energy here. They helped me play.)

Here is a video with some highlights from that concert.  The piece being played is Caixinha de Musica Quebrada, from Bratke's latest Villa-Lobos CD.






Bratke will bring his Cinemusica Villa-Lobos and Brazil project to London, when he performs Brazilian music in front of a film by Mariannita Luzzati, at Southbank Centre on December 2nd.