A HARPISTA CATALÃ ESMERALDA CERVANTES NO BRASIL

CIRCULAÇÃO MUSICAL, EDUCAÇÃO FEMININA E REDES DE SOCIABILIDADE (1875–1901)

Abstract

The trajectory of the Catalan harpist Esmeralda Cervantes (Clotilde Cerdá y Bosch, 1861–1926) contains gaps and contradictions, particularly regarding her time in Brazil. This study investigates her journeys to the country in 1875 and 1880, her relationship with the Brazilian Imperial Family, and the period she lived in Belém between 1895 and 1901. The research—based on newspapers, textual and iconographic documents from Brazilian and foreign institutions, especially the National Library of Barcelona and the Imperial Family Archive—reconstructs her social, artistic, and intellectual integration. It reveals a precocious artist trained in the musical circles of Paris and Vienna under the patronage of figures such as queen Isabella II of Spain and the countess of Montijo. The study highlights her intense international career—launched at the age of twelve at the Vienna Universal Exposition—and her prominence in Brazil, where she received the title of “Harpist to the Imperial Household” and performed on major stages, maintaining direct contact with emperor Pedro II and Empress Thereza Christina. The research also underscores Esmeralda’s role as an intellectual committed to social, feminist, and abolitionist causes, culminating in the foundation, in 1885, of the Academia de Ciencias, Artes y Oficios para la Mujer in Barcelona. By reconstructing her presence in Brazil and her transnational networks, the study contributes to a broader understanding of artistic circulation in the nineteenth century, as well as the role of women musicians in shaping spaces of sociability, education, and female emancipation.