Latest news and stories about classical music in Portugal for expats and residents.
The official highlighted that regular opening for night visits, starting next year, will help create 'attractiveness for the national public'.
There are several gestures this season from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation that signal a new openness to repertoires beyond the canonised ones, but 20th-century music remains an issue.
It was about two months of inspiration: Manuel dos Santos painted the 14 portraits “almost in one go”. The author highlights, in Bach, the “very assertive” expression and, in Vivaldi, “a kind of smile”.
“There are countries where classical music is as popular a phenomenon as football,” says Jorge Rodrigues, an opera enthusiast, describing the art form that exists “to fill our souls.”
Home News Algarve opera night to end with wine tasting Algarve opera night to end with wine tasting In Faro, opera lovers will have the chance to enjoy an evening of classical music followed by a wine tasting when Swiss baritone Äneas Humm returns to the Algarve capital later this month.
Until June 2027, the season will feature over 120 concerts and present four premiere works. The first concerts in the Grand Auditorium, at the foundation's headquarters in Lisbon, will take place on the 9th and 12th.
Three (expanded) live classical music proposals for the coming period: the annual Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir concert at Vale do Silêncio, tributes to Kurtág and Betsy Jolas at the foundation's ‘home’, and this year's edition of Operafest, taking place between the capital, Caxias, and Oeiras.
Vicente Lusitano gained international prominence with articles in The Guardian and specials on the BBC. He is considered the first Black composer to have his work published.
The first Art'Amoris International Music Festival begins this Friday in historic venues across the city and runs until September 13th. The goal is to bring the public closer to classical music.
Algarve classical music association Amigos de Música will launch its 2026/27 concert season in September with two performances by Berlin-based musicians Adele Bitter and Holger Groschopp. Cellist Bitter and pianist The post Amigos de Música launches new Algarve concert season appeared first on Portugal Resident.
The Romanian singer visited Portugal several times and received an award from the Government. One of the great sopranos of the second half of the 20th century, she passed away this Thursday at the age of 87.
Is an extravagant staging enough to capture the essence of Beaumarchais's 'The Mad Day'? This production takes on that bold challenge. Set in the cloister of the Cartuxa Monastery in Caxias, the performance is marked by a chaotic, wind-swept atmosphere that mirrors the madness of Mozart's opera. Director Mónica Garnel and assistant Anna Leppänen opt for a burlesque, comic-book-inspired aesthetic, moving away from traditional 18th-century costumes toward a vibrant, colourful, and sometimes incongruous visual style. While the cast—featuring André Henriques, Camilla Mandillo, and Cecilia Rodrigues—delivers strong, nuanced musical performances, the production's frenetic, one-dimensional comedic approach occasionally clashes with the opera's more graceful moments. Despite some staging choices that feel out of place, the musical execution by the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Pedro Carneiro, remains excellent.
When German conductor Christoph Poppen discovered the medieval village of Marvão in 2010, he envisioned transforming the hilltop location into a premier classical music festival venue. Now in its 12th year, the festival attracts thousands, and Poppen, alongside his wife Juliane Banse, aims to expand the project into a year-round cultural hub. Architect Manuel Aires Mateus has designed a proposed 550-seat auditorium and museum, intended to mirror the success of the Guggenheim in Bilbao by blending music and visual arts. The project, estimated at 50 million euros, seeks public and private funding to establish Marvão as a permanent landmark on the European cultural map.
Far from the monumentality of great sonatas, with fast tempos and without consuming herself in meticulous timbral explorations, Tamara Stefanovich demonstrated the charm of small pieces.
The German musician will also serve as conductor-in-residence at the Porto institution in 2027. He will take over from Peter Rundel, who led the Remix Ensemble for two decades.
In a programme dedicated to Schubert, the legendary pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja led the audience on a journey, chronological yet timeless, through the depths of the Viennese composer's imagination.
The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (TNSC) is the guest 'main artist' for next year's Saaremaa Opera Festival in Estonia, according to the programme announced by the festival.
Fidelio, Carmen, Un ballo in maschera, and a Fado Night make up the Portuguese programme at the Estonian festival, from 20 to 25 July 2027.
Musicians Eszter Haffner, Edgar Moreau, Stephan Picard, Anna Samuil, Alexandra Scott, Matthias Samuil and Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro headline today's opening concert of the 12th Verão Clássico Festival in Lisbon, which continues until August 1st.
The singer, who taught at ESMAE and the Porto Conservatory, graduated in Munich and performed on the biggest national and international stages, from the Baroque period to contemporary works.
Performed by conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Philharmonia Orchestra, the album “Life is a Dream” is scheduled for release on August 21st.
The next season of the S. Carlos National Theatre, presented today in Lisbon, features 33 opera performances, 16 symphonic concerts, and seven chamber music programmes, which will take place outside the main building, currently undergoing renovation works.
Beethoven, Bizet, Verdi, Bach, Strauss, Camões: these are some of the names converging in the new programme for the opera house, which, while still closed for renovations, will travel through ten cities next year.
José de Pina comments on the mosquito swarm that disrupted a classical music concert at the Belém Tower, noting the recurring nature of unexpected incidents at such events in Portugal.
A brief note.
Croatian tenor Tomislav Jukić was crowned the winner of the 3rd edition of the Cascais Ópera International Singing Competition. The grand final took place on Sunday, June 7, at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. Jukić, currently a member of the International Opera Studio at the Opernhaus Zürich, impressed the international jury to take the top prize, as well as the Carlos Gomes / Amazonas Opera Festival Award. The final stage featured eight young singers from five countries, selected from a record 499 applicants from 59 nations. The finalists were accompanied by the Cascais Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antonio Pirolli. Portuguese soprano Beatriz Maia also stood out, winning several special awards and future performance contracts. The organization has confirmed the 4th edition of the competition for June 2027.
Erbarme dich! is a rare triumph that manages the feat of combining academic inclination and the historical redefinition of the continuo with a visceral interpretation.
Portuguese soprano Beatriz Maia is among the eight finalists competing in the Cascais Ópera international singing competition. The final will take place on June 7 at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, featuring performances accompanied by the Cascais Symphony Orchestra. Artistic director Sergei Leiferkus highlights the competition's goal of fostering a new generation of Portuguese singers, noting that this year's edition received 499 applications from 59 countries.
