Viana do Castelo – Minho Verde Festival of Opera and Arts



Marina at Viana do Castelo; River Lima at Santa Cruz, and Canoeing on the River Lima
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Country and Region Portugal — Viana do Castelo
Type of Festival Opera, Dance
Location of Festival Viana do Castelo, Portugal
Festival Description

In July 2011, Opera Faber will launch a new international festival in Viana do Castelo. The festival will focus on opera (in particular chamber operas) and musical/theatrical events and will develop a lively fringe of street performance and smaller scale events. Each year the festival will work in special partnership with one of Europe’s strategic partners. 2011 will be Brazil, 2012 India… The festival will coincide with the established theatre festival and book festival to create a multidisciplinary artistic carnival which will put Viana do Castelo on the European cultural map.

In order to announce the launch of the festival, Opera Faber will organise a series of events over one week in July 9-17, 2010.

Festival Dates July 9 - 17, 2010

Festival Story:

Opera Faber’s promotional performance on July 16, 2010 is to announce the ambitious festival being planned for July 2011. The venue is a charming 19th century theatre in the port at the mouth of the River Lima on Portugal’s Atlantic coast. Viana do Castelo, is the the town where many of the Portuguese voyages of discovery began and some of the riches brought back from the New World, particularly Brazil were used to build splendid town houses and palaces in the town. The most recent buildings also, such as the new library on the waterfront, demonstrate the quality of modern Portuguese architecture. The town, the river, the Atlantic coast and the countryside around make it a wonderful holiday destination.

The double bill is organized as two one act operas written for a baroque orchestra, one in the eighteenth century, La Serva Padrona, the other To Hell and Back written in 2006 by the American composer Jake Heggie. The orchestra is the renowned, Divino Sospiro conducted by Premil Petrovic and the small international cast includes the celebrated American mezzo soprano Lucy Schaufer. The river images are where the theatre is located and whose waterways played a great part in the development of the town.

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Festival Events:

Launch announcement programming 2010:
  • The musical and operatic programme for 2011 will include —
    • A double bill baroque and modern opera with baroque orchestra.
    • The Marathon Family – Isidora Zebeljan’s comic opera in the production from Bregenz Festival with the Independent Ensemble conducted by Premil Petrovic.
    • Il Mondo della Luna by Avondano. The first full staging of Avondano’s beautiful work in over 200 years. This will be the first in a series of Portuguese baroque operas to be resurrected in the festival. Directed by Laurence Dale with Divino Sospiro conducted by Philip Walsh. Bach Offertorium – collaboration between Het Collectief and the Sao Paolo Dance Company
    • Various performances from Brazil – TBC collaboration between Independent Ensemble and Portuguese composer Antonio Pinho Vargas and Brazilian composer Ronaldo Miranda
Performance of two one act operas for baroque orchestra 2010:
  • La Serva Padrona, opera buffa by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710 – 1736) to a libretto by Gennaro Antonio Federico
  • To Hell and Back, a modern depiction of the Persephone myth by Jake Heggie to a libretto by Gene Scheer (2006)
  • Performances
    • Take place at 10:00pm, July 16, 2010, at Teatro Sá de Miranda, Viana do Castelo
  • Featuring
    • William Oldroyd, Director
      http://www.williamoldroyd.com
    • Divino Sospiro, Orchestra
      http://www.divinosospiro.com
    • Premil Petrovic, Conductor
      http://www.jugokoncert.rs
    • Signe Beckmann, Designer
      http://www.signebeckmann.com
    • Sadhbh Dennedy, Soprano
    • Lucy Schaufer, Mezzo-soprano
      http://www.lucyschaufer.com
    • Ivan Ludlow, Baritone/Bass
      http://www.ivanludlow.com
Tickets 2010:
  • The performance is a reasonable price of €20
  • Tickets can be booked at:
    Teatro Municipal Sá de Miranda
    Rua Sá de Miranda
    4900 Viana do Castelo
    Phone: (351) 258 809 382, (351)258 809 382, (351)258 822 805, (351)258 822 805
    Fax: (351) 258 821 358
    Email: tmsm@cm-viana-castelo.pt

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Practical Info:

Note:
  • Festival launch announcement/performances take place in July 2010.
  • The festival will take place in July 2011.

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