NUM 1129
Title: Orquestra do Salão Jardim Passos Manuel do Coliseu do Porto
Artists: Orquestra do Salão Jardim Passos Manuel do Coliseu do Porto
Composers: G. Buck, J.F. Hanley, Oscar Strauss, A. Pellottieri, A. D’Ambrosio, Pierre Arezzo, Vivian Grey, Vincent Youmans, Edmond Missa, Herman Finck, George Botsford, H. Frantzen, Casablanca
Not so long ago, we could easily find in Oporto several dancing couples always ready to show the art of dancing. The city was filled with spaces, all with private orchestras, that were ready to entertain those who were looking for an evening of amusement.
The Passos Manuel Garden had it’s oppening in March 18th – 1908, and for three decades sheltered the Oporto bohemian nights, the cinema lovers (with the best state of the art cinema of it’s time), the music-hall and of lots of other cultural events. Inspired by the Parisian gardens, presented the greatest musical hits that were playing in Europe at the time (the waltz, the rag-time, the one-step, the march, the maxie, the fox-trot, the tango, and so on).
At the beginning of the XX century, Oporto became the center of the nation most important musical events and Passos Manuel Garden was the place for culture and also a “rendez-vous” for the Oporto society. A place of elegance, with wide gardens, were it was possible to find all kinds of entertainement: an esplanade garden, a cinema, a loto room (today occupied by the Passos Manuel cinema), an open air cinema, kiosks, a luxury restaurant, a business cafe, a cafe-concerto with a permanent orchestra and two sextettes, a party parlour, a night-club, a shell shapped bandstand for the Phillarmonic Bands and a play-ground for the children. To be in Oporto and not to visite the Passos Manuel Garden was like going to Paris and not seeing the Eifel Tower or visit Rome without entering the Vatican. This space was of the outmost importance for the city, and even had it’s own coins that were also accepted in the local stores and cafes.
In 1938, the Passos Manuel Garden was closed an later demolished in order to built a new theatre: the Oporto Coliseu. The great hits of the time were played by many orchestras at the Coliseu. There were music for several formations, like the sextette and the nonette: piano, two violins, viola, cello and bass (sextette), and clarinet, flute and oboe. All that is left of that time are news, photos, memories and over 2.000 scores that are today used for the Orquestra do Salão Jardim Passos Manuel do Coliseu do Porto.
In 1991, the Salão Jardim Orchestra presented itself once in the celebrations of the fifthieth aniversary of the Oporto Coliseu and in 1996, the Associação Amigos do Coliseu do Porto acquired this hall and recommenced this project. At November 25th – 1998, the orchestra performs again in the oppening of the Salão Jardim do Coliseu do Porto and in the 31st December presented itself for the first time in television at the “Praça da Alegria” program, broadcasted by RTP 1, becoming a regular participant until December 2001. At the 19th Decembber – 2001, played at the sixthieth aniversary of the Oporto Coliseu, and since it’s formation has played in several cultural events, both in Portugal and in the north of Spain.
The Oporto Coliseu re-started in the end of 2002, the lost tradition of the dance spaces, giving life to the down-town, and, once a month the nine orchestra musicians enliven the sundays afternoons with the re-creation of the environment of freshness and joy that was lived in the early XX century at the Passos Manuel Garden.
The Orquestra do Salão Jardim Passos Manuel do Coliseu do Porto is an autonomous project, althought their name references the Coliseu and the scores they use are property of the Associação Amigos do Coliseu do Porto that supports this project. Considering their repertoire, of the late XIX and early XX century the Orquestra do Salão Jardim Passos Manuel do Coliseu do Porto is an unique project in the Iberian Peninsula.
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Classical & Contemporary Music 