Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, who became Emperor Ferdinand I in 1835, commissioned the leading watercolourists of his day to create a “picture book” of the major towns and most scenic regions in the Austrian Empire and neighbouring lands. The project was carried out from 1833 until 1848 when, at the end of that Year of Revolution, Emperor Ferdinand was forced to abdicate.  

The Albertina owns 226 of the more than 300 large, boldly illustrative views in this panorama of Austrian watercolour painting, the finest of which are by Jakob and Rudolf von Alt

The Tropicália movement developed around the highly conceptual art of Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica and incorporated music (Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil), film (Glauber Rocha), and poetry (Augusto + Haroldo de Campos). Though the movement did not explicitly fall into line with the orthodox Left, its energy and vitality, the pleasure in shrill spectacles, and the increasing emphasis on participatory art were mainly directed against the oppressive years of Brazil’s military regime.

The exhibition presents a historical cross-section of the variety of works brought forth in that short summer of anarchy in the arts and reveals the creative impulse prompted by Tropicália in the production of contemporary Brazilian artists such as Rivane Neuenschwander or Ernesto Neto.

Artists:

Artur Barrio, Augusto & Haroldo de Campos, Lygia Clark, Antonio Dias, Rubens Gerchman, Cao Guimarăes, Nelson Leirner, Anna Maria Maiolino, Cildo Meireles, Ernesto Neto, Rivane Neuenschwander, Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Pape, Décio Pignatari, Glauber Rocha

J. S. Bach, Franck, Vierne, Naji Hakim

Naji Hakim, organ

Wagner: Vorspiel zu Tristan und Isolde
Wagner: Schlussszene (Götterdämmerung)
Liszt: Les Preludes
Bartok: The Marvellous Mandarin

The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Antonio Pappano, conductor
Nina Stemme. soprano