Doclisboa 2016

Doclisboa is back for its 14th edition, "In October the whole world fits in Lisbon".

This year Doclisboa - International Film Festival will feature a full retrospective of the work of Peter Watkins (“War Game”) and also the retrospective “For an Impossible cinema: Documentary and Avant-Garde in Cuba”, offering an insight into the cinema produced in Cuba between 1959 and 1972.

Doclisboa was elected by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to pre-nominate candidates to the OSCARS®, becoming the first Portuguese festival qualified by the Academy and like in every edition the festival wants to question the present of motion pictures, bringing along its history and assuming cinema as a mode of freedom.

By refusing the categorization of film practice, it searches for the new problematics that cinematic image implies, in its multiple ways of engagement with the contemporary.

Doclisboa's program counts with 259 films, from 41 different countries but the major focus will be the Portuguese and International Competitions, bringing back sessions such as “Cinema of Urgency”, with a selection of related films, and Arché, Laboratory of Creative Development.

Find out more about Doclisboa 2016.

Piano Recital

The Hotel Avenida Palace invites you to a piano recital by João Romeiras, at the Palace Lounge at 7 p.m., subject to confirmation.

Program: 

J.S. Bach
Invention in F major

W. A. Mozart
Sonata 545 1st and 2nd Movements

L. V. Beethoven
Sonata, Op.10 No.1 – 1st Movement
Bagatela, Op.33, No.2

E. Grieg
Selected pieces

F. Chopin
Waltzes: Op.69, No.1
              Op.70, No.2
              Op.34, No.2

C. Debussy
“Suite Bergamasque” - Prélude
“Children`s Corner”

At the Palace Lounge, 7 p.m., subject to confirmation 

Free entrance 

A tale of two cities - Lisbon and Edinburgh

Learn new perceptions from the past and present of Lisbon and Edinburgh, and rediscover our own city’s past and present when we compare it with another city, allowing outsider perspectives on our own city values and stories. 

Organized by the Museum of Lisbon in association with Nomad Exhibitions and Historic Environment Scotland, the exhibition offers similar perspectives on both cities’ past and present,

from their early times up to the present day. The capitals of Portugal and Scotland, besides the common similarities between two western, European cities in terms of their urban and social development, also reveal rather fascinating relationships to be unveiled in the course of this exhibition.

By using artworks, artefacts and archival material, as well as film and digital content, the exhibition reveals how the cities have changed over the centuries in response to their geography, to natural disasters, and to the needs of their citizens for inspiring and effective places to live, work, worship and learn.

The capital cities of Edinburgh and Lisbon, besides their long and rich histories, have shared key periods of ambitious expansion and change, and are impressive examples of both urban innovation and historical preservation. The remarkable architectural development of each city was inspired by, and represents, the lives, cultures and industries of their inhabitants and their leaders.

The exhibition takes place at the Museum of Lisbon at the Torreão Poente of Terreiro do Paço until December 22nd.

Beethoven at the Comércio Square

The Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra will fill one of Lisbon’s most symbolic squares with music.

From September 28th through October 1st, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra will present Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies on four consecutive days, in a breath taking exercise that invites musicians and audience to engage in a vast artistic universe.

Beethoven’s nine symphonies are very different and each one by itself, is a masterpiece. However, considering the whole, we are faced with a monumental scale project whose accomplishment does not seem possible by just one man.

Despite all the singularities, they reflect the same artistic design, an excessive ambition and all the commitment that accompanied the composer throughout his live, leaving deep marks in the historical course of orchestral music.

The idea of Symphony transformed and expanded itself in an expressive range and called to him the highest status among all musical genres, making Beethoven a true revolutionary.

Conducted by Maestro Pedro Amaral, the concerts start every day at 21.30 and here’s the complete program:

• September 28th:

Symphony Nº 1, Op. 21
Symphony Nº2,  Op. 36
Symphony Nº 3, Eroica

• September 29th:

Symphony Nº 4, Op. 60
Symphony Nº5, Op. 67

• September 30th: 

Symphony Nº6, Op. 68, Pastoral
Symphony Nº7, Op. 92

• October 1st:

Symphony Nº 8, Op. 93
Symphony Nº9, Op. 125, Coral

This weekend in Lisbon

If you’re planning to visit Lisbon this is the weekend to do it, the already lively city will be even more vibrant.

From September 8th to the 11th Lisbon will host two festivals, the “LISB-ON #jardimSonoro” and “Festival Todos”, both taking place outdoors so you can enjoy the good weather.

We start with “LISB-ON #JardimSonoro” which is returning to the most iconic garden in the city, Parque Eduardo VII. After a successful 2nd edition, this year, this Lisbon sound garden is opened from 2pm to midnight, from daytime to nightfall, for 3 full days presenting a lineup that is a feast for the senses.

The festivals mix the legacy of the past with nowadays music, cultural tourism, leisure and pleasure in a unique setting.

Going for its 8th edition “Festival Todos” promises four days of theatre dance, music, circus acts and unusual food with the objective of creating connections between different neighborhoods, each one with their own complex quirks.

Involving district residents and in particular communities with diverse ethnic origins is what make the “Festival Todos” unique.

As you can see this will be an active weekend. Discover here the program of “LISB-ON  #jardimsonoro” and “Festival Todos”.

Tejo Sunny Market

This weekend we recommend a visit to the Tejo Sunny Market.

The Tejo Sunny Market is a market that takes place in Belém, on the riverfront, and gathers more than 30 local brands and handcrafters showing off the best of Portuguese creativity.

Organized by the City Hall in order to animate the area between thePadrão dos Descobrimentos and the Torre de Belém this is an event that aims to show to local and foreign audiences some of the works made by Portuguese brands and handcrafters.

With a successful 1st edition that took place in August, the market will have a 2nd edition this weekend and a 3rdone from September 30th to October 2nd.

This is the perfect way to spend your weekend, a combination of sun, heat, strolls along the riverfront, ice cream and Portuguese handicrafts

Mercado do Fado

Going for its second event, “Mercado do Fado”, will animate Belém on the last Sundays of August and September.

The Tropical Botanical Garden will host on August 28th this new event that celebrates the art of fado, offering amateur fado singing, conferences and conversations on the theme. It will also include a true Portuguese market, where one can find on sale all kinds of local handicrafts, antiques, tiles, books, records and, of course, the famous Portuguese cuisine.

Organized by Green Sapiens, “Mercado do Fado”, takes place in one of the most beautiful gardens of Lisbon. The Tropical Botanical Garden is a Tropical Research Institute center that combines the preservation of living plants collections, a wood collection, a herbarium and zoological research projects carried out with the Department of Natural Sciences.

Mercado do Fado will have its last event on September 25th, make sure not to miss this unique combination of nature and fado.

CCB SUN SET

Until the end of August, the Centro Cultural de Belém (Belém Cultural Center) is offering the best sunset in town.

One cannot find a better combination, Lisbon, sun and music. In an initiative that started in July, the CCB organized a series of concerts that take place in the Jardim das Oliveiras, making this the perfect place to relax with friends and to listening to some music as the day draws to a close.

Sun Set is probably the best way to spend your summer evenings, a small stage, a view of the river and an audience seating or reclining on the grass, or leaning against an olive tree, it can’t get any better than this.

These are the next shows:

20 – Pianordeão
21 – João Barradas Trio
27 – Opus 22
28 – César Cardoso Quarteto

Videomapping in Lisbon

Terreiro do Paço is the stage of the video animation “As Caras de Lisboa”. 

Until August 14th, the Terreiro do Paco is hosting another multimedia show - "As Caras de Lisboa", where stories, characters and memorable moments of the city are presented.

The aim is to show faces of the city through historical characters such as the “varina” (fishwife), the paver master or the grinder, by telling the stories of past and contemporary events, its evolution and transformation.

Some of Lisbon’s features, as the tram rails and the Ponte 25 de Abril, will also be the central characters and, of course, the Fado music and the Portuguese guitar will not be forgotten.

The show lasts 15 minutes and it will be screened three times a day, at 21.45, 22.30 and 23.15 and the entrance is free.

Jazz em Agosto 2016

Lisbon’s continues its musical summer and this time the proposal comes from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. 

Still celebrating its 60th anniversary, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation organized the 33rd edition of the festival Jazz em Agosto, presenting twenty events from August 4th to 14th: eleven concerts at the Open Air Amphitheatre, three solo concerts, three documentaries and two conversations about music and a book presentation in the Polivalente Room.

North American and European formations of various trends continue to cohabit in the festival, this year with a special a focus on the current French jazz, with three significant representations.
The American jazz presents on this edition of Jazz em Agosto five representatives and in Portugal stands out a unique association to be released, Tuba and Drums Double Duo and the Italian-Portuguese Quartet Tetterepadequ.

Evan Parker and David Toop will offer two sessions of Sharpen Your Needles project chatting informally. Also, don’t miss the three documentary films from the RogueArt catalog disks produced by Michel Dorbon and finally the Italian journalist Luca Vitali will present his recent book on jazz “Norway, The Sound of The North”.

As you can see there’s a lot to see and listen in Jazz em Agosto.

Break Down the Walls! Viva Design and the Arts

In exhibition until September 25th, Break Down the Walls! Viva Design and the Arts, approaches the MACE and MUDE collections comparatively.

The exhibition, presented at the Sala Risco in Pateo da Galé, sparks a dialogue between two distinct focal points of the collections of MUDE – Museum of Design and Fashion and MACE – Museum of Contemporary Art of Elvas, highlighting the resemblances between fine and decorative arts but
escaping from a historical speech or a temporal dimension to develop a more transversal, inquiring and open reading.

A more formalistic perspective was chosen, offering themes and references common to the different arts and design, seeking to stimulate further readings to the visitors.

In a way the exhibition underlines some of the overlapping similarities or connections between the arts and design. In Lisbon, more than 125 works of almost 100 artists from different generations and careers are on display, Portuguese and from abroad.

Lines of Time - The Gulbenkian Collections - Contemporary paths

As part of the Summer Garden program the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation presents “The Gulbenkian Collections. Contemporary paths”.

Curated by Penelope Curtis, João Carvalho Dias and Patrícia Rosas Prior, this exhibition takes, as its point of departure, the year 1956.

But, in fact, the journey starts in 1896, 60 years before the Foundation was established and guides us up to the present day, providing a space for dialogues and links between two collections: the collection acquired by Calouste S. Gulbenkian up to 1955 and the Modern Collection, comprised of works ranging from the 20th century to the current day.

In a playful and at times unconventional manner, this celebration of the 60 years of the Foundation brings about an unexpected approximation between the two collections and the unlikely coincidences that result from it.

Quintas às 7 at CCB

This Thursday on Centro Cultural de Belém make a journey through Russian music with the cellist Maria José Falcão and the pianist Anne Kaasa. 

The two artists get together in this concert to play a program from the large repertoire of the Russian music of the twentieth century.

Rachmaninov, "the last of the romantics", composed the Preludes for piano, (inspired by Chopin's Preludes) in the period 1901-1910, in a distinctive pianistic language, dense and colorful.

From a neo-classical, lyrical, elegant and humorous trend, Sonata for cello and piano by Prokofiev (1949) is a work that leads to the enchanted world of fairy tales while Shostakovitch Sonata (1934) opens a more dramatic and dark universe . It's a brilliant and virtuous work in contrasting primitivism folkloric, biting sarcasm and deep melancholy.

Check here the complete program.

La Traviata

Last call for one of the most famous operas of all times. There are few tickets left for this event that will take place on Thursday, in Campo Pequeno.

Based on Alexandre Dumas, fils, literary masterpiece, The Lady of the Camellias (1848), La Traviata is an opera in three acts composed by Giuseppe Verdi with libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. The opera debuted in 1853, in the La Fenice Theatre, in Venice and today it is a Romantic work of reference and one of the most performed operas to date. 

Performed by the choir of the Opera del Mediterraneo, the Filarmónica del Mediterraneo, it will be conducted by maestro Fernando Alvarez.

The opera tells the story of Alfredo Germont’s passion for the worldly Violetta Valery, a passion that will shock the puritan 19th century Parisian society, resulting in the lovers’ separation and her tragic death for love.

Find out more about La Travita.

Music at the Palace Lounge

The sun maybe shining outside but animation is indoors. The Avenida Palace offers to its Dear Guests a week full of music.

Here’s the complete program:

• 18th - Piano recital by João Romeiras
• 19th - Soprano voice and piano recital with Alexandra Bernardo and Bernardo Marques
• 20th - Piano recital by João Romeiras
• 21st - Jazz piano by Vicente Valentim
• 22nd - Fado music played on the piano by Maria Cecília Bettencourt

Join us at the Palace Lounge every day at 7p.m.

May at the Museu Nacional dos Coches

The National Coach Museum is one of Lisbon’s most highly considered and popular museums and today we bring you the program for May.

May will be a month full of activity at the National Coach Museum featuring initiatives such as, the International Museum Day, the Night at the Museum and the Museums and Cultural Landscapes. The best part is that admissions are free.

We start on May 14th with the opening of the Museum’s Festivities with a show of traditional dancing and singing from Goa, starting at 4p.m., at the Museum’s Auditorium.

On the 18th, the temporary exhibition “Há Fogo! Há Fogo! Acudam! Acudam!” (Fire! Fire! Help! Help!) opens to the public featuring a presentation of 19 fire cars from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries, celebrating the 621 years of Lisbon’s Fire Brigade. The exhibition will take place at the Royal Riding School.

The young ones are not forgotten as on the 18th the museum presents the show “A Princesa Beringela”  - Chinese shadow theater - a tale of princes, wizards and dragons.

Still on the 18th, the Passeio Real (Royal tour) will take place. This circuit made through Belém’s historical district made in Charabanc or Carriage will depart from the National Coach Museum (new building).

Finally on the 21st – the Night of Museums - "Ver as Exposições com outra luz”, from 6 p.m to 11:30 p.m, at the new building and at the Royal Riding School.

Gala Ballet - Russian Classical Ballet in Lisbon

As part of the International Dance Day celebrations, “Classic Stage” presents on April 26th the 
Russian Classical Ballet under the artistic direction of Evgeniya Bespalova.

This is the second edition of a grand International Classical Ballet Gala organized by “Classic Stage”, a company that aims to move hearts through the production of great masterpieces of the classical repertoire of Opera and Ballet.

The Russian Classical Ballet Company is, nowadays, one of the most prestigious Ballet companies in Russia and it was founded in the late 1990’s featuring dancers from other famous Ballet companies in Russia, such as Bolshoi Ballet, Ballet Theatres from Ukraine, Moldova and other countries.

The company is based in Moscow, where it has its own workshop making their stunning costumes and beautiful backdrops, plus providing stunning costumes, etc., for other Ballet companies.

The Gala Ballet will feature some international dance stars, main soloists and prima ballerinas, from some of the world’s most prestigious theatre companies.

Reserve your ticket now, for this unique event.

International Day for Monuments and Sites

On the 18th of April, Lisbon celebrates the International Day for Monuments and Sites with several events throughout the city.

The 18th of April was the date officially selected by ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Site) and on this day, a number of special events are taking place to celebrate the occasion, such as free entries and visits to the monuments.

This year’s theme is “The Heritage of Sport” and during all week long, commemorations will happen across the country. We have select the ones closer to the hotel.

- 16th of April

 National Sports Museum
 "Museum, Heritage and Sport - exhibition"
As part of the celebrations of the International Day for Monuments and Sites, the access to the museum will be free. This exhibition aims to draw attention to the heritage of the Portuguese sport through major national athletes.

- 17th of April

Roman galleries of Rua da Prata and Roman Theatre.
"Roman Lisbon"
From the Galleries to the Roman Theatre, it includes visit to the Roman galleries (entries at 15:30 and 15:45) and route and visit to the Roman Theatre (17:00).

- 18th of April

Carmo Archaeological Museum
Carmo Archaeological Museum guided tour.

"The Prehistory in Lisbon - Testimonies collected by Archaeology"
Explanatory course about the evidence discovered due to archaeological excavations in the center of Lisbon, which provided information about "another Lisbon" that existed between 5000 and 3000 years before our era.

São Carlos National Theatre 
"Guided Visit to the São Carlos National Theatre"
Visit to the São Carlos National Theatre, guided by architect Paul Silver Ramos.

Bach 331st birth anniversary recital

Born on March 21st, 1685 Johann S. Bach was a composer, singer, harpsichordist, conductor, organist, teacher, violinist and violist that we honor today.

Born into a family with a long musical tradition, Bach soon proved to have talent. A determined student, he acquired a vast knowledge of European music of his time and of the previous
generations.

He practiced almost all musical genres known in his time, with the exception of the Opera. Bach initially absorbed the large repertoire of German contrapuntal music, which was the foundation of his style, and later received the Italian and French influence, through which his work was enriched and transformed.

Bach’s ability to the organ and the harpsichord became legendary and was widely recognized while he lived.  He was also considered the greatest virtuoso of his generation and an expert in building organs.

Today, at the Palace Lounge, we honor Johann S. Bach in a piano recital by João Romeiras.

Program for Lisbon’s new museum

As we informed, in 2016, Lisbon will have a new museum the MAAT, Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology. The inaugural program was just presented.

Four exhibitions will mark the inaugural program of the MAAT in the renovated rooms of the Central Tejo building.

Designed by the British architect Amanda Levete, the building will have approximately three thousand square meters for exhibitions and events.

These are the exhibitions:

Lightopia 
Exhibition Room: Central Tagus / Gallery 1 - from June 28th to September  11th
Lightopia looks at how the electric light revolutionized our environment like almost no other, with examples of its application and reinvention in the fields of art, design, architecture and many other subjects.

Second Nature
Exhibition Room: Central Tagus / Gallery 2 - from June 28th to October 15th
The EDP Foundation Art Collection constituted, since its beginning, a bet on a cultural investment that reflects the contemporary Portuguese artistic production and follows the actions of EDP Foundation in the arts.
Second Nature is the first of a series of exhibitions that will present views on the Art Collection EDP Foundation.
The exhibition focuses on the artistic representations of the natural world when we become aware that there is no longer nature untouched by human culture.

Siloquies and soliloquies on death, life and other Interludes – Edgar Martins
Exhibition Room: Central Tagus / Cinzeiro 8 – from June 28th to October 15th
A solo exhibition of the Portuguese photographer Edgar Martins, currently, living in London. A unique project of a Portuguese artist’s rising recognition, as is the rule in the renovated room Cinzeiro 8.

Artist´ Film International
Exhibition Room: Central Tagus / Caldeira Room – from June 28th to October 15th
The exhibition "International Artists' Film" will present a set of international artists with works in film, video and animation. The works will be projected into adjacent spaces to the industrial machinery of Central Tejo, inviting to the discovery of art within a museum route dedicated to science and energy production.