Rain-Forest Opera.(classical music in Brazil)(Brief Article)

It's a long way from Minsk to Manaus, but Igor Jouk is glad to have made the trip. Since the 36-year-old violinist came to this Brazilian river town from Belarus four years ago, he has built a career for himself in an exotic new land. Sure, the heat is oppressive and the food a little strange. But he gets to play Puccini and Mozart for adoring audiences every night--and he does so inside the magnificent Teatro Amazonas, the city's recently refurbished century-old opera house, replete with Carrara marble, wrought-iron balustrades, red velvet chairs and sweeping balconies. "I miss the change of seasons," says Jouk, who left his job with the Minsk Philharmonic. "And I would do anything for a fresh pear. But every place has its charms."

Amazonia has many charms indeed, but classical music generally has not been considered among them. Until now. Thanks to Jouk and dozens of other musicians from Russia, Bulgaria and Belarus, the rain forest has a new repertoire. They are the new stars of the Amazonas Filarmonica, a 65-piece professional symphony orchestra that is making headlines, not to mention joyful noise, in an unlikely setting. Together they have helped put Manaus on the international cultural map, and given world- class opera its newest and perhaps most exciting venue. Recent offerings included "La Boheme," "The Magic Flute" and "The Threepenny Opera," all of which played to packed houses.

It's no coincidence that the house they're packing is an architectural gem. The Teatro Amazonas was a monument to the rubber boom of the turn of the 20th century, when latex extracted from the wilds was Brazil's "white gold." The domed building with the painted pink facade became Brazil's handsomest contribution to the Belle Epoque. But when cultivated rubber from Malaysia came on the market in ...