Music Operafest chose the gardens of the Marquês de Pombal Palace to kick off its fifth edition.
Image: Operafest, 2023 edition.
In the year in which it celebrates its fifth edition, the Operafest will be held for the first time in the municipality of Oeiras, before moving on to other stages in the Portuguese capital. The gardens of the Marquês de Pombal Palace were the chosen setting to host the event for seven nights, between 22 and 31 August, with the support of the Municipality of Oeiras.
In this new and charming opera house, the public will be able to watch two works, great classics of this musical genre: “Cavalleria rusticana” by Mascagni and “Palhaços” by Leoncavallo. There will also be a national premiere for the youngest audiences of the contemporaneous opera “O Thumbegarzinho” by Isabelle Aboulker.
This edition, under the motto of “Fatal Instinct”, aims to evoke “our irremediable attraction to extreme situations, the passage to a point of no return that ruins everything and today, more than ever, we are on the verge of our total destruction”, says the producer Ópera do Castelo.
In recent years, Operafest has established itself as an important opera festival at European level and a showcase for national talent, combining tradition and the avant-garde. The aim is to bring opera closer to today’s audiences. “By exploring opera in a comprehensive way and focusing on renewal at all levels, we propose a diverse summer programme to appeal to all audiences”, adds the organisation.
The festival also celebrates the 500th anniversary of the birth of one of the most important cultural figures in Portugal, and one of our greatest poets, Luiz Vaz de Camões, with the premiere of the cantata performance “Tormento”, based on Canto V of “The Lusiads”.
The independent opera festival is led by soprano Catarina Molder and shared with the Lisbon council. Divided into cycles, it will also feature workshops, a competition for new librettos, as well as film-opera sessions.
It will also pass through the open-air amphitheatre of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Âmbito Cultural auditorium of El Corte Inglés, the Lisbon Triennale, the Cinemateca Portuguesa and the Titanic Sur Mer. On these stages, the public will be able to watch Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and others, between 30 August and 11 September. The full programme is available at site official.
The shows last 140 minutes, with an interval. Tickets are now on sale. onlinewith prices ranging from €30 (3rd stalls), €40 (2nd stalls) and €50 (1st stalls). For more information, please send an email to info@nulloperafestlisboa.com.
“Cavalleria rusticana” and “Clowns” are the works exhibited in Oeiras.
