OperaFest opens with a new production of Giuseppe Verdi's 'La Traviata'

'L a Traviata' will run until August 10th for three performances at the Cartuxa Convent in Caxias, Oeiras. In addition to Darija Augustan as the lead, the cast includes Ermin Asceric Christian Luján, Luís Caetano, Nuno Fonseca, Luís Mayer-Bento, Alexandra Calado, and Laura Matadinho, along with the Operafest Choir, conducted by Filipa Palhares, and the Portuguese Philharmonic Orchestra, in a co-production between the festival and the orchestra.

Speaking to the Lusa news agency, the artistic director of Operafest, soprano Catarina Molder, stated that the expansion of the event to the municipality of Oeiras, neighboring Lisbon, allowed "not only greater funding, making it possible to present the operas in their original versions for large orchestra and large choir", and respond "to the need for the festival to expand and have a strong partner, financially and from a logistical point of view, by increasing the capacity to reach a larger audience".

The theme of this edition is "Forbidden Loves", to defy all prohibitions with great dramas by Mozart, Verdi and Henry Purcell, until September 16, without forgetting the already customary Operatic Rave, this time taking place on Friday, August 8, with Tó Trips & Fakes Latinos, Bateu Matou and DJ Marfox, for "A night from the other world", at the Convento da Cartuxa.

One of the highlights of this year's edition is the national premiere of the opera "Julie", by Belgian composer Philippe Boesmans (1936-2022), who spent much of his career at the La Monnaie Opera in Brussels.

This opera is inspired by the play "Menina Julia" by August Strindberg, with musical direction by Bruno Borralhinho, staging by Daniela Kerck and performances by Julia Deit-Ferrand, Camila Mandillo and Michal Marhold, accompanied by the ensemble Beira.

"Julie" will be on display at Culturgest, in Lisbon, on September 5th and 6th.

The opera "Dido and Aeneas", by Purcell, will be presented on the 29th and 30th, at the Aula Magna of the University of Lisbon, under the musical direction of Marcos Magalhães, with staging by Rui Horta, and the voices of Margarida Simões and Luís Rendas Pereira, as protagonists, Eduarda Melo, Beatriz Volante, Ana Cloé and Arthur Filemon, accompanied by the festival choir and the period orchestra Os Músicos do Tejo.

Mozart's "The Magic Flute" will be performed at the Olga Cadaval Cultural Center in Sintra on September 12th and 13th, marking the closing of the festival.

This is the Portuguese version by composer Alexandre Delgado, directed by Mónica Garnel, revived from the 2023 edition of Operafest.

The Austrian composer's final opera will be conducted by Pedro Carneiro and will feature the voices of Cecília Rodrigues, Bruno Almeida, André Henriques, Patrícia Modesto and Nuno Dias, accompanied by the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra.

The program also includes the usual film cycle at the Cinemateca Portuguesa in Lisbon, which combines the Seventh Art with opera.

"Bluebeard's Castle", by Michael Powell, "Miss Julie", by Alf Sjöberg, "The Day of Despair", by Manoel de Oliveira, and "La Traviata", by Franco Zefirelli, make up this program, which runs from September 3rd to 9th.

Two conferences at the El Corte Inglés cultural space in Lisbon, by musicologists Paulo Ferreira de Castro and Rui Vieira Nery, extend this 6th edition of Operafest until September 16. On the 15th, Paulo Ferreira de Castro will speak about "Opera and Literature" and, on the 16th, Rui Vieira Nery, about "Opera and Forbidden Loves".

The full program is available on the Operafest website.

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