Some time ago, the youth of the Heliopolis Symphony Orchestra faced a paradox: although they had studied music in the community in which they lived, they needed to leave there whenever they intended to perform on a stage that suited their artistic talents.
The Heliopolis Favela, the second most populous neighborhood in São Paulo, did not have a single cultural facility capable of hosting classical music concerts. I was not alone in this matter, as there was no favela in Brazil that contained this type of facility – which is usually associated by its nature with the lands of the elites.
But that changed last Tuesday (25), when the 533-seat Baccarelli Theater opened its doors for the first time. Located in Heliopolis, this venue is the new home for young musicians, who will finally be able to perform near the community’s 55,000 residents.
The historic initiative did not lack care. At a cost of R$48 million, of which R$32 million was raised through a good example of the use of Rouant’s Law, the theater has high-quality facilities. Suffice it to say that one of the participating architects developed the Sala São Paulo’s acoustics, which is one of the best in the world.
Unlike more famous concert halls, the audience at Heliopolis consists of colorful armchairs, with a touch inspired by the painted streets of slums. You lose in sobriety, no doubt, but it doesn’t matter: you gain in joy and fun.
Features like these are invaluable for a piece of equipment that’s not meant to be limited to the nerds. The theatre, which can accommodate up to 100 artists, is expected to accommodate classical music and other genres, such as opera, ballet, funk, rap, plays and film screenings.
In a way, the cycle begun by Maestro Silvio Baccarelli (1931-2019) in 1996 was completed. By founding the institute that bears his name, he created an organization that today teaches ballet and music to 1,600 young people in Heliopolis.
The symphony orchestra was an excellent arm of the initiative. Under the leadership of Isaac Karapcevsky, one of the most important conductors in Brazilian history, its musicians reached levels that can only be described as elite.
Thus, we put an end to the idea of considering the center and the peripheries as conceptual opposites, not geographical ones: the first is synonymous with progress, and the second is synonymous with backwardness. The theater, run by the Baccarelli Institute and the Heliopolis Symphony Orchestra, exists to challenge this characteristic of Brazilian inequality.
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