Claudio Santoro

Origin

Manaus, AM

Years Active

1937–1989

Genres

classical music, contemporary classical

Instruments

violin, piano

Biography

Claudio Franco de Sá Santoro was a prominent Brazilian composer and conductor, born in Manaus. Showing an early aptitude for music, he began studying violin and piano as a boy, eventually moving to Rio de Janeiro to further his education and becoming an assistant professor at the Rio de Janeiro Conservatory of Music by the age of eighteen.

During the 1940s, Santoro studied under Hans-Joachim Koellreutter and became a vital member of the Música Viva group alongside Guerra-Peixe, championing serialism and dodecaphonic composition techniques. Later, following political difficulties obtaining a U.S. visa due to his affiliation with the Brazilian Communist Party, he traveled to Europe and studied with Nadia Boulanger, later adopting the Soviet doctrine of Socialist Realism.

Over his illustrious career, Santoro founded several important musical institutions, including the Department of Music at the University of Brasília and the National Theater Symphonic Orchestra of Brasília, which now bears his name. He was an incredibly prolific creator, composing numerous symphonies, concertos, chamber works, and piano pieces, and he received international acclaim, including a prize from the Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund evaluated by figures like Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copland.

Discography

• Orquestra Rádio sob a Direção de Claudio Santoro – Chorinhos Ontem e Hoje (1952)
• Sinfonia Nº 5 (1958)
• Л. Бетховен / М. Равель / Ф. Лист / К. Санторо, Сергей Доренский – 6-я Соната Фа Мажор, Соч. 10 / Сонатина Фа Диез Минор / Забытый Вальс, Фа Диез Минор, № 1 / Токката (1959)
• Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, Claudio Santoro, Radamés Gnattali – Sinfonia nº 6 e Sinfonia Popular (1966)
• Camargo Guarnieri / Claudio Santoro - Oscar Borgerth, Ilara Gomes Grosso – Sonata / Cantiga de Ninar / Canto No 1 / Sonata / Sonata para Violino Só (1968)
• Musik Im 20. Jahrhundert (1971)
• Luis Bacalov - Julian Aguirre, Jorge Berroa (2), Juan José Castro, Alberto Ginastera, Claudio Santoro, Guillermo Uribe Holguin – Latin American's Classic Music (1972)
• Fantasia (1975)
• Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Nobre, Villa-Lobos, Santoro – Untitled (1978)
• Paulo Florence, Claudio Santoro e Camargo Guarnieri - Oscar Borgerth – Sonata Fantasia / Sonata para Violino Solo / Canto No. 1 e Sonata No. 4 (1979)
• Música de Câmara Brasileira 1 (1981)
• Cinderela e Outras Histórias (1983)
• Claudio Santoro, Aldo Baldin, Lilian Barretto – Brasilianische Musik Prelude Und Lieder (1983)
• Aventuras de Peter Pan (1985)
• George Kaszás, Claudio Santoro, Osvaldo Lacerda, Ascendino Theodoro Nogueira, Carlos Cruz, Sérgio Oliveira de Vasconcellos-Corrêa, César Guerra-Peixe – Música Brasileira Contemporãnea (1986)
• Leonard Bernstein, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Claudio Santoro, Симфонический оркестр Самарской филармонии – West Side Story, Bachiana Brasileira No.8, Concerto No.1 for Piano and Orchestra (1992)
• Various, Côro e Orquestra Carroussell, Artur Neves (2), Claudio Santoro, Paulo Tapajós, Roberto de Castro – Aladim (1993)
• Cláudio Santoro, Valeska Hadelich, Ney Salgado – Sonatas para Violino e Piano de Cláudio Santoro (1995)
• Um Concerto, Três Sonatas, uma Sonatina, um Canto, um Vocalise e uma Música para Orquestra de Cordas (1998)
• O Piano de Claudio Santoro (2001)
• Claudio Santoro, Gilda Oswaldo Cruz – O Piano de Claudio Santoro II (2004)
• O Piano de Claudio Santoro, Vol. 2 (2004)
• Claudio Santoro, Rosana Lamosa, Marcelo Bratke – Love Songs & Popular Songs - Preludes & Paulistanas For Solo Piano (2005)
• Santoro: Songs & Piano Works (2005)
• Claudio Santoro, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo & Coro, John Neschling – Sinfonias 4 & 9, Ponteio, Frevo (2006)
• Elisa Fukuda & Giuliano Montini (2006)
• Santoro: Symphony Nos. 4 and 9 / Ponteio / Frevo (2006)
• Heitor Villa-Lobos Villa-Lobos Ronaldo Miranda Miranda Mozart Camargo Guarnieri Guarnieri Francisco Mignone Mignone Luciano Gallet Gallet Santoro, João Guilherme Ripper – Klang Der Welt: Brasilien - Brasil - Brazil (2008)
• Guarnieri, Guerra-Peixe, Santoro, Lacerda, Pitombeira, Danilo Mezzadri – Epigrams (2017)
• Claudio Santoro / Hugo Pilger / Ney Fialkow – Claudio Santoro - A Obra Integral para Violoncelo e Piano (2020)
• Obra Completa para Violino e Piano (2020)
• Jardim Noturno - Canções e Obras para Piano de Claudio Santoro (2020)
• Claudio Santoro, Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra, Neil Thomson – Symphonies Nos. 11 And 12 (2022)
• Claudio Santoro, Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra, Neil Thomson – Symphony No. 5 / Symphony No. 7 "Brasília" (2022)
• Santoro: Symphonies Nos. 11, 12 & Other Orchestral Works (2022)
• Santoro: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 "Brasília" (2022)
• Claudio Santoro, Denise de Freitas, Marina Martins, Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra, Neil Thomson – Symphony No. 8 / Cello Concerto (2023)
• Claudio Santoro, Soloists of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra – Fantasias Sul América • Violin Sonata (2023)
• Canções de Amor (2023)
• Claudio Santoro, Pedro Bittencourt, Emmanuele Baldini, Goiânia Symphony Choir, Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra, Neil Thomson – Symphonies Nos. 4 And 6 (2024)
• Claudio Santoro, Alessandro Santoro – Complete Piano Sonatas (2024)
• Santoro: Complete Piano Sonatas (2024)
• Santoro: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6 & Other Orchestral Works (2024)
• Claudio Santoro, Gabriel Marin, Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra, Neil Thomson – Symphonies Nos. 13 And 14 (2025)
• Obra Completa para Piano Solo, Vol. 4 - Sonatas e Sonatina (2025)
• Obra Completa para Piano Solo, Vol. 3 - Álbuns para Piano (2025)
• Santoro: Symphonies Nos. 13 & 14, Viola Concerto & Concerto for Chamber Orchestra (2025)
• Obra Completa para Piano Solo, Vol. 2 - Peças Solo para Pi (2025)
• Pablo V Marquine plays Claudio Santoro: Solo Piano Live in Vienna and Sofia (2025)
• For Lia: The Piano Music of Claudio Santoro (2025)
• Claudio Santoro, Gilda Oswaldo Cruz – O Piano de Claudio Santoro
• Radamés Gnattali / Claudio Santoro, Quarteto de Cordas Municipal de São Paulo – Quarteto N.° 1 • Quarteto N.° 3
• Claudio Santoro, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado da U.R.S.S. – Sinfonia Nº 4 da Paz / Ponteio
• Claudio Santoro, Renzo Brancaleon, Heitor Alimonda, Altéa Alimonda – Sonata N.3 - Violoncelo e Piano / Sonata N.4 - Violino e Piano
• Claudio Santoro & Vinicius de Moraes - Aldo Baldin, Lilian Barretto – Prelúdios e Canções de Amor
• Arthur Neves, Geny Marcondes, Henrique Lobo, Tatiana Belinky, Julio Gouveia, Claudio Santoro – Ramalhete de Contos - Histórias Infantis nº 1
• Camargo Guarnieri / Claudio Santoro - Oscar Borgerth, Ilara Gomes Grosso – Sonata / Cantiga de Ninar / Canto No 1 / Canto No 1 / Sonata para Violino Só
• Claudio Santoro, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin – Sinfonia Nº 5 e Sinfonia Nº 7