Cultural context Between the 19th and 20th centuries, the theater scene in São Paulo was consolidated with the visit of tourists coming from
Rio de Janeiro, the federal capital at the time, and from
Europe. From the 1880s, renowned actors and actresses nationally and internationally such as
Sarah Bernhardt, Gustavo Modena,
Ernesto Rossi and
Eleonora Duse arrived in the city and encouraged the organization of dramatic amateur societies. Several groups emerged, the most famous were the Filodramáticos. There were also others of various nationalities, such as Portuguese and Spanish. The Grêmio Dramático do Real Club Gymnastico Português was the group with the highest constant activity and duration. The context of cultural effervescence incentivized the creation of the Dramatic and Musical Conservatory of São Paulo, inspired by the
Conservatoire de Paris. However, on December 29, 1904, Mayor Antônio da Silva Prado, at the request of the Finance Commission, recommended the rejection of the project on the following terms:In conclusion, the foundation project of a Dramatic and Musical Conservatory, in charge of the Municipality, should not be converted into law: 1. Because it exceeds the competence of the City Council, in view of the Organic Law of Municipalities. 2. Because it burdens the municipal coffers with an expense incompatible with their resources, making it impossible to carry out the realization of the city's improvement plan, in the execution route.The Bill n. 43/1904 was not approved and the Conservatory was founded only on February 15, 1906 as a private institution. A house was rented on Brigadeiro Tobias street in
Bairro da República, São Paulo to host the activities of the conservatory. while activities started on April 25 of the same year. Foreign and Portuguese language classes were taught at the beginning for both courses, of dramatic art and music (which lasted five years). More specific subjects were addressed in the following years. In the course of dramatic art, the first teachers were Pedro Augusto Gomes Cardim, Venceslau de Queiroz (who taught Literature and Aesthetics), Luiz Pinheiro da Cunha, Hipólito da Silva (Diction) Augusto César Barjona (History of Theater) and Felipe Lorenzi (who was replaced in 1922 by
Mário de Andrade).
Second and ultimate headquarters With the need to sell the rented house, the founders sought a new headquarters for the school. The building on
São João Avenue that would house the Dramatic and Musical Conservatory of São Paulo was built in 1896 by industrialist Frederico Joachim, representative of Rudolph Ibach Sohn pianos since 1891 and later of
Steinway & Sons. The site, which was created to house the commercial establishment of Joachim, had on its ground floor the exhibition and sale of pianos and, on the first floor, the Steinway Hall. It was used to hold concerts of
classical music and events for artistic purposes, such as literary meetings. The Steinway Hall was renamed Carlos Gomes Hall, in honor of the late opera composer Carlos Gomes, and remained with this name until the building was sold to the conservatory in 1908. In 1908, with the help of the government, the board received 100 contos de réis and bought the building on Avenida São João for 160 contos de réis. In the new space, the conservatory gained prominence for its superior level of quality and became a reference of musical art in the city. In the period of 1930 there was a decline in the amount of enrollment, a trend that followed in the coming years until it reached the crisis of the institution in 1940. In 1932 there were 1,211 students enrolled, a number that dropped in 1943 to 377. The reports of 1938 do not cite the course of dramatic art, which had possibly been suspended in the period. Between 1942 and 1943, the federal government intervened in the school's administration, citing alleged irregularities. Carlos Augusto Gomes Cardim, Pedro Augusto Gomes Cardim's brother, was appointed as the interventor. With this measure, the drama course was reinstated. The change allowed new productions to take place, such as the productions
Rosas de Todo o Ano, by
Júlio Dantas;
O Nefellibata, by Carlos Cardim; and
Eis o Caso, by Dante Constantini. The school remained under federal intervention until the 1970s. In the listed area, decorative paintings were made on the walls and ceiling of the ground floor hall. The sculptural ensemble of the parapet was cleaned and duly restored. Four floors were created to house a library with 12,000 volumes and hundreds of scores. The process was approved in 2014, and the justification was due to the significance in the cultural panorama of the city of São Paulo that the conservatory has since the 20th century, due to the relevance of the activities developed in the building, the architectural importance in the characteristics linked to the neoclassical style and the existence of the performance hall on the upper floor.
Construction of the Praça das Artes In 2006, the year of the centenary of the institution,
José Serra, then mayor of the city of São Paulo, determined the expropriation of the place for the construction of the cultural complex Praça das Artes. To this end, the administration of the municipality deposited 4 million reais in court by the building of the conservatory and 170,000 reais by the collection, which was donated to the
Municipal Library Mário de Andrade and the
Centro Cultural São Paulo. The project of the Plaza de las Artes provided for the restoration of the main building of the conservatory, with the installation of the Municipal Theater Museum on the ground floor, intended for temporary exhibitions and events. In order to preserve aspects of the building, the authors of the project point out that, on the ground floor, for the construction of the Municipal Theater Museum, a careful work would be done that would restore columns and metal beams and beams and install air-conditioning, lighting and acoustics according to the
Venice Charter, seeking minimal intervention. It was also defined that the concert hall on the upper floor would be restored and recovered in its original elements, but with the necessary addition of new thermo-acoustic solutions. Construction work on the Praça das Artes began in May 2009 and its first phase was completed in 2012. The building at the back of the main conservatory building, built in the 1980 renovation, was demolished and a new vertical circulation tower was built in its place, with three elevators and
fire safety stairs. This structure serves some buildings in the complex, providing access to the São Paulo Municipal School of Music, the
São Paulo School of Dance, the administration of the Fundação Theatro Municipal de São Paulo,
Spcine and the Documentation and Memory Center of the Municipal Theater. The complex is managed by the Fundação Theatro Municipal de São Paulo and has become the stage for various types of events, exhibitions and performances. The second phase of the project is currently under construction.
Sala do Conservatório Since the inauguration of Praça das Artes, the building houses an Exhibition Hall on the ground floor dedicated to the exhibition of fine arts that are eventually displayed in the space or exhibitions of the historical collection of the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo. The upper floor houses the Conservatory Room, the name that came to be used for the building of the former music school, which even received an identification plaque affixed to the facade of the building on Avenida São João. With a capacity for 200 people, the concert hall is the official headquarters of the São Paulo City String Quartet and hosts chamber, contemporary, orchestral and choral music performances. The venue has been consolidating itself as an important concert hall in the city's music scene. ==External links==