The Land: Joaquín Sorolla’s Spain

Until March 31st the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga presents the exhibition “The Land: Joaquín Sorolla’s Spain”.

Born in February 1863, Joaquín Sorolla was a Spanish painter that shined in the painting of portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes. His most typical works are categorized by a dexterous representation of the people and landscape under the bright sunlight of his native land and sunlit water.

In the late 19th century, artistic landscapes painting became a requisite practice rather than a minor genre, Sorolla’s “inland” landscapes reflect artistic trends of the time which involved both experimentations with outdoor painting and significant ideological element.

In a partnership between Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the Sorolla Museum in Madrid, this exhibition, curated by Carmen Pena, brings together 118 paintings by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida from the museum and from Spanish private collections.

The exhibition shows how Sorolla, the master of the "open air" and the "intense light", unveiled new versions of the various Spanish landscapes, at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, giving them new meanings and participating in a cultural movement that sought another image of the country.

The selection of pieces also includes some paintings representing scenes on the seashore and the work of fishermen on the coasts of Valence, some of Sorolla’s most typical themes.

What to do this weekend

If you’re planning to visit us this weekend here are some of the events taking place in the city.

Exhibitions

Quel Amour
The exhibition brings together 68 artists from different generations, countries and cultures, for whom love has been an inspiration – in its many forms – in the creation of exclusive works. Among exclamations and questions, there are more than 150 works on different supports, including painting and design, sculpture, video, photography and performance, all of which seek an answer to “Quel Amour!?”.

Music

Gavin James
Gavin James is one of the top artists of the moment, and he is coming to Portugal for the first time tohappy sad songs”. “Start Again”, “Put You Back Together” and “Cigarette Break” are just some of the tunes he will perform at this concert.
present his new studio album, “Only Ticket Home”, which was released in October 2018. The Irish musician, who saw his debut album “Bitter Pill” go platinum, said he wanted to leave the world of ballads behind him, and that this new album is different, with “

Alceste
This opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck starts with an episode of Greco-Roman mythology in which Alceste sacrifices her life to save that of her husband, Admeto, the king of Thessaly. “Alceste” was first performed in Vienna in 1767, with an Italian libretto by Ranieri de Calzabigi, followed nine years later by a French version with a libretto by Le Blanc Du Roullet. It is this French version that will be performed at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos. This new production will be presented by Graham Vick, with musical direction by Graeme Jenkins.

Lisbon's Popular Festivals

A municipal holiday is celebrated in Lisbon on the 13th of June, Saint Anthony's Day (Saint Anthony - Lisbon, 1195? – Padua, 1231). 

Although the main festive events are held on that day and on the preceding evening,  the celebrations continue throughout the month of June in commemoration of two other saints (Saint John and Saint Peter), together constituting the so-called "Festival of Popular Saints".

During this period, the houses and narrow winding medieval streets of the old quarters, in particular those situated around the castle (Alfama, Mouraria and Castelo) are decorated with arches, flowers and colorful balloons, and anyone wanting to dance, drink and eat the traditional grilled sardines, “chouriço assado” (flamed pork sausages) and “caldo verde” (kale soup) is made welcome. It is also a tradition for men to buy and present their girlfriends vases of sweet basil, decorated with paper flowers and love poems, since the festivities are associated with the summer solstice and ancient fertility rites.

The religious events held during this period include, notably, the St. Anthony's Day Weddings, an initiative whose purpose is to encourage the mass wedding of financially disadvantaged couples and, on the 13th, a procession starting near the Lisbon Cathedral, in the church of St Anthony, built on the site where it is said the Saint was born.

However, one of the highlights of the festivities take place on the evening of 12 June and consists of the "Popular Marches", a tradition that dates back to the 18th century and which has been celebrated in its current form since 1932. Residents of the districts of Lisbon descend to Avenida da Liberdade (Liberty Avenue) to compete with each other; marching, dancing and singing songs composed for the occasion, on a Lisbon-related theme announced in advance by the organizers. The varied costumes and choreography imbue the parade with the rare sense of color and exhilaration which make it a unique spectacle.

88th Lisbon Book Fair

The 88th Lisbon Book Fair opened last Friday presenting more stands and more activities.

Until June 13th, Parque Eduardo VII hosts once more the Lisbon Book Fair. Every day until 10 pm almost 300 stands will present new releases, special offers, and book signing events.

The fair grew about 3000 square meters, allowing more stands but, especially, new events such as the exhibition “88 years images with history”, a visit to the history of the event that started on the thirties.

The show cooking area is bigger and following new trends a “selfie spot” was created, so you can take your picture with the panoramic view of the city as background and share it on social media.

Discover here the daily program.

The European Museum Night

The European Museum Night was created by the French Minister for Culture and Communication and it takes place on May 19th.

This is an opportunity to visit and revisit some of the city’s museums that will organize a number of nocturnal activities, including dance performances, concerts and guided tours, all of which will offer visitors a different and enriching experience.

Find here the complete program.

Exhibitions in Lisbon

May is just starting and although the good weather invites to outdoor activities, Lisbon’s cultural program can’t be left behind and so, we are happy to suggest 3 exhibitions not to be missed on your visit to Lisbon.

The Marvelous Variety of the World

Until June 3^rd the Padrão dos Descobrimentos hosts extraordinary beings and wonderful creatures, imaginary or real, of today and from the past.

The natural and social world is a permanent source of wonder, whether through the regularity of its order or through the irruption of the unusual. These two sides go hand in hand: the extra-ordinary breaks the usual landscape of the world, whilst simultaneously confirming it.

“The amazing variety of the world” is an exhibition that promotes a reflection on the unusual, associated with the unknown, the difference and the rarity, through objects, fantasy drawings and representations from the real.

For more information on www.padraodosdescobrimentos.pt

A Museum from Another World

José de Guimarães conceived an unprecedented and specific intervention for the Museu do Oriente, whose starting point is the Museum's wide and diverse collection, in articulation and dialogue with the artist's pieces, his collection of Chinese art, as well as other objects and images that constitute the universe of references of the author.

In many cultures, the "other world" is where the dead live life beyond death. In turn, the work of José de Guimarães is deeply marked by the rituals of ancient cultures, tracing an arc of influences that goes from America to the Far East.

“A Museum from Another World” promises visitors a contact with ancient Chinese artworks and José de Guimarães’s reliquary boxes, as well as with the objects and images that the painter has collected. This exhibition seeks to open the door to a reflection on the museum as a form of otherness while inviting people to step into this “other world”.

More information on www.museudooriente.pt

Post-Pop. Beyond the commonplace
Pop detours in Portugal and England, 1965-1975

This exhibition presents, in its entirety, works produced almost exclusively between 1965 and 1975, in Portugal and England. Some of them are united by a witty divergence from the commonplace put forward by Pop Art.

And, in the case of the Portuguese artists, true defectors from the mediocrity which characterised Portugal, we find a common link in seeking inspiration and motivation from abroad, in Paris and in London in particular, which was a true Mecca in the 1960s.

More information on www.gulbenkian.pt

Gulbenkian Music in December

The Gulbenkian Music Season 17/18 reaches December with a vast and eclectic program. As Gulbenkian well states “music can arouse different emotions in different listeners”.

And this is why the season 17/18 is so diverse because “while one listener is alert to the technical capabilities of the musicians, another may be interested in broader relationships between music and philosophy or between music and the world around us.”

So the conclusion is obvious, “there is no right way to enjoy music”.

This is the complete program for December:

1st - Vicente Amigo
Considered “the next Paco de Lucía”, Vicente Amigo is a flamenco guitarist with obvious value, having shared the stage with Camarón de la Isla, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Milton Nascimento and, of course, Paco de Lucía, among others.

2nd- András Schiff 
Born in Budapest, András Schiff started taking classes at the age of 5 and is one the world’s most famous interpreters of Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann. He believes that some parts of the piano repertoire should wait for the right age and so, Schiff waited until he was 50 to tackle Beethoven’s sonatas.

3rd - Peter and the Wolf - The Carnival of the Animals - Gulbenkian Orchestra
Written in 1936 by Sergei Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf was referred as a “musical tale for children”, offering to young people an attractive musical approach to the instruments of the orchestra with its musical and narrative qualities.

8th and 9th - The Wizard of Oz - Gulbenkian Orchestra
This weekend, the Gulbenkian Orchestra accompanies the screening of the all-time classic, The Wizard of Oz, a film directed by Victor Fleming in 1939 with the enthralling Judy Garland as the protagonist. It is an irresistible fantasy that has become a cinema classic.

12th - Mozart’s Requiem - Cadaqués Orchestra 
Directed by Gianandrea Noseda, the Cadaqués Orchestra was founded in 1988 to explore collaborations with living composers, recover the legacy of long-forgotten Spanish music and boost the careers of emerging artists, composers, and conductors.

13th - Christmas Oratorio - Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir
As we are getting closer to December 24th the program gets into Christmas’ spirit. Composed to celebrate Christmas in 1734, J. S. Bach’s famous Christmas Oratorio re-uses, adapts and expands some of the music he previously wrote, notably in his cantatas.

20th and 21st - Musicals and Christmas around the world - Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir
Just a couple of days before Christmas, Gulbenkian Music presents Sofia Escobar trained at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She is appearing for the first time at Gulbenkian Music, in a program filled with tunes from famous musicals and well-known Christmas carols.

31st - Te Deum at São Roque - Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir
December ends with a classic, Jorge Matta conducts the Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra in an event that is already one of Gulbenkian Music’s traditions, the “Te Deum at São Roque”. This time it presents the first modern performance of the “Te Deum Laudamus”, by Bráz Francisco de Lima (1752-1813).

Há Fado no Cais – Gonçalo Salgueiro

CCB’s Há Fado no Cais presents one of Fado’s new voices, Gonçalo Salgueiro, on November 17th at the Grande Auditório.

Born in 1978 in Montemor-O-Novo, Gonçalo Salgueiro, one of Fado’s new rising stars, started his record career with a tribute to Amália Rodrigues but soon grew in his own style.

Photo: João Portugal

Along the way he received several “blessings” from some of Fado’s great names, such as Maria da Fé or João Braga.

Sombras e Fado (“Shadows and Fado”) is an introduction to Gonçalo Salgueiro as well as the title for his most recent album.

It is a show that revisits some of the themes from his earlier recordings and others that he has recreated and which have made him famous among wider audiences. Joining him will be some of those who have been important to his musical career, and the concert will have several surprises in stored for everyone.

Haru Ishii Tiles – From the Shadows of Kyoto to the Light of Lisbon

Until December 31^st, the Museu Nacional do Azulejo hosts the exhibition “Haru Ishii Tiles – From the Shadows of Kyoto to the Light of Lisbon”.

The exhibition is divided into two rooms. The first one is where the artist claims its Japanese origins and where the environment part is displayed, materializing its roots in shadows - the sea, the rain that feeds the green forests, the fish-based diet, and the culture, such as the ceremony of tea.

In the second space you will find a more vibrant and luminous room, where Ishii recalls the Portuguese-Japanese ties so well portrayed in the namban screens, recovering the voyage of Portuguese ships between continents, sailing seas, surpassing winds and tides, to bring to the West the most exotic and exquisite that Japan has to offer.

Haru Ishii is a Japanese artist who first came across azulejos (tiles) in 1995, when she came to Portugal and spent a month working in a traditional Portuguese workshop, in Palmela.

From then until now she has dedicated all her creativity to this art, uncovering the most hidden secrets of this traditional Portuguese art to recreate and reinvent it in the Japanese style, taking advantage of her cultural roots.

With public works on display in several Japanese cities, from Tokyo to Kyoto, from Shimane to Hiroshima, from Kochi to Okayama, just to name a few, and in addition to a number of collections, at the Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa, Ishii displays a show that is a synthesis of 474 years of Portuguese-Japanese understanding.

Big Bang LX 2017

On October 20th and 21st, Centro Cultural de Belém, hosts another edition of the Big Bang LX, Adventurous Music Festival for a Young Audience.

On this 8th edition the festival promises an amazing journey of shared discovery for children between the ages of 4 and 12 and for the parents accompanying them.

Once again the Centro Cultural de Belém/Fábrica das Artes offers a space where Portuguese artists can create new artistic approaches to music for children and see their work recognized within the country and across Europe.

In an initiative of Zonzo Compagnie the goal of the festival is to create a platform where composers, musicians and performers can meet and also contribute towards the development and presentation of non-commercial music for children.

From choral to instrumental music, from jazz to classical, from traditional to experimental instruments, all combined to offer full contact with a borderless, constantly expanding musical universe.

Program:

Nocturno | Joana Gama and Victor Hugo Pontes
20th and 21st October, 10:30 am and 1:45 pm

Futurina | Sonoscopia
20th and 21st October, 11:45 am and 3 pm

3ACH - A stairway to heaven | Zonzo Compagnie
20th and 21st October, 10:30 am, 1:30 pm and 4 pm

Quarto da Joana | Joana Guerra
20th and 21st October, 10:45 am, 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm

Extension | Vincent Martial
20th and 21st October, 11:45 am, 2:45 pm and 4:30 pm

Como dormirão meus olhos | Filipe Faria and Pedro Castro
20th and 21st October, 11:45 am, 1:30 pm and 4 pm

Tocá Rufar | Orquestra Tocá Rufar
20th and 21st October, 12:30 pm and 5 pm

Jukebox e Caixa de Ressonância | Ofício das Artes
20th and 21st October, 10:30 am, 1 pm and 2 pm

LISB-ON #Jardim Sonoro

Lisbon doesn’t stop and September starts with a new edition of LISB-ON #Jardim Sonoro.

A sound garden opened from 2 pm to 12 am in a special corner of Parque Eduardo VII, LISB-ON #Jardim Sonoro is an experience to awaken the senses and, probably, the coolest party in Lisbon that stands out for its uniqueness.

Going for its 4th edition LISB-ON #Jardim Sonoro is a combination of heritage and music, tourism and culture, leisure and pleasure in one single concept, a day party in a garden we consider our own.

A three-days party at an almost secret sound garden in the city's most emblematic park "blessed" by Lisbon's incredible light. LISB-ON #Jardim Sonoro is a compulsory event for music lovers who want to enjoy an urban experience in broad daylight with the city as center stage.

These are some of the names present in this edition: AMP Fiddler, Cassy, De Los Miedos, DJ Koze, Etienne Jaumet, Francisco Coelho, João Tenreiro, Kiamos, Lerosa and much more.

A special groove to be watched, heard and felt.

Lisbon Music Fest - Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra

Lisbon Music Fest is an international festival featuring orchestras, choirs, jazz big bands and chamber music ensembles, bringing together young musicians from all over the world.

The Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra (EYJO), England, was formed in 1991 and since then has hosted numerous jazz students from different schools throughout the region.

The repertoire covers different composers and musical genres, from the big band standards to works by modern and contemporary composers.

Young musicians are selected through public auditions, participating in a project that includes a series of rehearsals, concerts, short courses, workshops, and tours.

The event will take place this Friday at 5 p.m. at the Museu Nacional dos Coches and the entrance is free.

Marchas Populares 2017

Monday is the big day! The day that the Avenida da Liberdade will host another St. Anthony’s parade.

The Marchas Populares are a long-standing tradition of the city of Lisboa and a source of the purest neighborly cultural pride.

Each year on the evening of June 12th, the different city neighborhoods descend one of Lisbon’s most iconic avenues, Avenida da Liberdade, in a parade showcasing the dedicated efforts of the different city communities and districts.

There are 20 marches competing against each other with songs, lyrics, costumes, choreographies and overall impression judged by a special jury. The first parades took place on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of June at Meo Arena, but it is in the Avenida da Liberdade that the competition is taken to another level.

This night is also the scene to an enormous party, street festival and dance, unmistakable for the smell of grilled sardines and manjericos (basils) permeating the entire city. A party that is uniquely lisboeta and that each year draws thousands of people onto the streets of the city and that only winds down early in the following morning.

Come and join us in this unique celebration that will join roughly 2000 participants.

MONSTRA 2017 – Lisbon Animation Film Festival

Going for its 16th edition, MONSTRA, Lisbon Animated Film Festival will be held between March 16th and 26th.

According to the organization this will be a festival filled with new gazes, due to the international, European and national premieres which will be presented through different competitions, retrospectives and special programs.

Italy is the guest at the 2017 edition, with different programs dedicated to the country’s filmmaking. All in all, about 600 films between competition entries, retrospectives and premieres.

The presentation of ‘Ma vie de Courgette’ (‘My Life as a Courgette’), a Swiss-French production and prize winner at Annecy also nominated for a Golden Globe, is one of the highlights.

One of the newest additions this year is the Animation and Virtual Reality panel, taking place at the Cinema de São Jorge, on the morning of the 18th. Also from the archives, the prize-winning film “Persepolis” by Marjane Sátrapa and Vincent Paronnaud will be among those to be shown.

Click here for more information about MONSTRA 2017.

“The Lisbon that Would Have Been”

From today, the Museu de Lisboa reveals 200 pieces - drawings, models, and photographs - that recall urban and architectural projects that did not come to fruition in the city, in an exhibition to show how Lisbon could have been.

"The Lisbon that Would Have Been" is the title of the exhibition that reveals urbanistic and
architectural projects that were not implemented. There will be about 200 pieces, signed by personalities who "thought the city", such as Francisco de Holanda, Eugénio dos Santos, J. C. Nicolas Forestier, Ventura Terra, Cristino da Silva, Raul Lino, Cottinelli Telmo or Cassiano Branco.

The exhibition makes use of the City Hall and Lisbon Museum’s archives, places that store the numerous projects commissioned for the city that, for different reasons, were not carried out or not in all its components.

Drawings, models, photographs and projects of urbanism and architecture, from the sixteenth century to the present time, with greater incidence on the twentieth century, are the objects that form “The Lisbon that Would Have Been”. Visitors will be able to see a selection of graphic and three-dimensional materials focused on the central axis, from Praça do Comércio to Eduardo VII Park, Martim Moniz, the riverside front, the city gates and the bridges to the 'other side."

The exhibition will be on display until June 25th, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Terreiro do Paço celebrates the New Year

Lisbon welcomes 2017 to the sound of Portuguese music and fireworks by the river.

Three days of celebration and entertainment mark the beginning of the year in Lisbon, in Terreiro do Paço. Rui Veloso and Agir warm up the New Year's Eve, but the party starts on December 30th with Miguel Araújo and Dj's from Rádio Comercial and, on the January 1st, Raquel Tavares comes on stage in the late afternoon.

2017 is at the door and Lisbon has prepared a unique program to welcome the New Year full of animation and with great joy. Terreiro do Paço starts the countdown at 10:00 p.m. with Rui Veloso, and the champagne pops at the rhythm of an unforgettable firework show and the party continues night out with the music of AGIR.

But Lisbon is once again synonym of party and so on Friday, December 30th, the Terreiro do Paço warms up with Miguel Araújo at 9:30 p.m., and Dj's Wilson Honrado / João Vaz from Rádio Comercial, from 11:15 p.m.

Already on January 1st, because the first day of the year should start in a big way, Raquel Tavares and the Orquestra Roemer Pinatel promise to animate the Terreiro do Paço once again from 5:30 p.m.

Christmas in Sintra

In this holiday season, the National Palace of Sintra will become a Christmas factory. From December 16th through the 23rd , the facade of the palace will be the screen of the video mapping show "The Incredible Christmas Factory". 

The toys, and how they are made, are the lead stars of the show, and the facade of National Palace of Sintra is the stage, in a project created by the OCUBO studio - the authors of the "Circo de Luz" and "Fabuloso Desejo de Natal", shows that took place in Terreiro do Paço, in Lisbon, in other holiday seasons.

According to the organization, the oldest Portuguese royal palace wants to become the background of a Christmas factory, in Lapland, where "virtual characters interact with the facade of the Palace" and "traditional toys are in the spotlight".

Wooden trains, dancers, robots and dolls are the focal point in a 15-minute show that takes place every hour from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

This weekend at CCB

This weekend the Centro Cultural de Belém, in collaboration with Companhia Maior, presents Shakespeare’s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

A Midsummer Night's Dream was written between 1594 and 1596, and it is where Shakespeare, inspired on classical mythology, crosses several stories, introduces characters in conflict and installs confusion, in a successive game of loving encounters and miss encounters.

This comedy oscillates between reality and fantasy; between the political and social power with its order and a chaotic world represented by the forest where fairies and elves live.

Before the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta, a couple in loved and eager to escape the laws of the city, go to the forest and after a while two others follow them to a place where there is already a troupe of amateur actors rehearsing a play to be presented on the day of the wedding.  In the forest are also Oberon and Titania who have become estranged from one another. That's when Puck appears and the chaos of love is released ... and everything becomes a huge dream.

Mexefest 2016

Mexefest returns to Lisbon’s city center, turning the Avenida da Liberdade into the capital of music on November 25th and 26th.

This riotous showcase of music and its lovers will occupy the entire length of the Avenue, filling many of its spaces with some of the best artists of all types of alternative music.

Discovering new music, the city and its most charismatic spaces, and movement, a lot of movement, are some of the features that make Vodafone Mexefest an absolutely unique musical experience.

As mentioned, showing Lisbon’s most charming venues is one of Mexefest most exciting characteristics and this year the festival will present two new places, the Cine-Teatro Capitólio in Parque Mayer and the Sotão of the Teatro Tivoli BBVA.

Opened in 1931, the Cine-Teatro Capitólio is one of Lisbon’s historic showrooms, it was restored and reopened for Vodafone Mexefest to host some of the concerts of this year's edition in three venues - Cine-Teatro, Bastidores and the Terraço.

The Sotão of the Teatro Tivoli BBVA was also recently restored, it is located behind the projection area, keeping for this reason the original equipment, functioning as a museum area. It is an ample and versatile space, with natural light, prepared to serve as stage for memorable performances.

These are a few of the artists who will perform at the festival: Baio, Céu, His Extraordinaires, Diamond D & Large Professor, Kevin Morby, Mallu Magalhães, Sunflower Bean, Talib Kweli, Elza Soares, Gallant, NAO, Bruno Pernadas, Digable Planets, Howe Gelb, La Dame Blanche, Mike el Nite & Nerve, Sunflower Bean, Taxiwars and The Invisible.

And because unusual moments are also part of the Vodafone Mexefest’s DNA, this year there will be Surprise Concerts, reading sessions with Vodafone Voices of Writing and Vodafone Cuckoo to make the experience even more amazing and unforgettable.

Confirm here the complete list of artists and venues for 2106 Mexefest.

Source Music Fest

John Pizzarelli on CCB

This Friday, the Centro Cultural de Belém hosts a concert by John Pizzarelli, who is presenting his latest album “Dear Mr. Sinatra”.

John Pizzarelli, is a world-renowned guitarist and singer, hailed by the Boston Globe for “reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz.”

Established as one of the prime contemporary interpreters of the Great American Songbook, Pizzarelli has expanded that repertoire by including the music of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Antônio Carlos Jobim and Lennon-McCartney. His themed shows, often performed with his wife Jessica Molaskey, suggest there is no limit to Pizzarelli’s imagination or talent.

Now, John Pizzarelli is taking his album “Dear Mr. Sinatra” on the road. “The Music of Sinatra Tour” is the name chosen by the artist in homage to “The Voice”. On this album, Pizzarelli plunges into Sinatra’s repertoire of songs that, nowadays, are considered to be true jazz classics, such as “You Make Me Feel So Young”, “Witchcraft”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” or “Nice’n’Easy”.