December 3rd, 2022 - 21:30
Igreja de Paço de Arcos
Oeiras
"Taking as a starting point a musical work that contains a large percentage of political action - the cantata Paz da Europa by João Domingos Bomtempo, which demonizes Bonaparte and praises the British allies - we'll travel, in this program, through the musical Europe of late 18th century, early 19th century. This music is not always political, as art points to its own aesthetic worlds freed from the constraints of life in common, but always in defiance of the sensitivity that sometimes finds in them the strength for the necessary changes."
Os Músicos do Tejo
Founded in 2005 and directed by Marcos Magalhães and Marta Araújo, the ensemble Os Músicos do Tejo has established a respected position in the portuguese early music scene. Their work has been guided by two complementary axes: presenting unpublished or inaccessible works of portuguese musical heritage, but also developing innovative and transdisciplinary projects with contemporary artists, so as to creatively reflect on music today.
In their career, they produced five operas in partnership with the CCB (La Spinalba, Il Trionfo d'Amore, Lo Frate 'Nnamorato, Le Carnaval et la Folie, and Paride ed Elena), performed in numerous concerts in Portugal and abroad (Lisbon, Porto, Évora, Mafra, Castelo Branco, Vigo, Brest, Paris, Goa, Sastmala, Madrid and Prague, among others) and recorded six CD's: Sementes do Fado (2008), Árias de Luísa Todi (2010), La Spinalba by Almeida (2011), Il Trionfo d'Amore (2015), both by Almeida , From Baroque to Fado (2017) and Il Mondo della Luna by Avondano(2020).
Since 2011, they have been recording exclusively for the Naxos label. All CD's had excellent reviews nationally (Público, Diário de Notícias, Expresso, JL, among others) and internationally (Diapason, Classica, Opera, Songlines, Ritmo, Scherzo, Forum Opera, Klassik, Musicweb, Merker, among others) . Il Trionfo d'Amore was shorlisted for the prestigious Preis der Deustschen Schallplattenkritik. With Il Mondo della Luna they were nominated for the best classic album at the Play Awards for Portuguese music 2021.
Also at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Os Músicos do Tejo have presented several concerts, including Dido and Aeneas by Purcell, As Filhas do Fogo (in collaboration with director Pedro Costa) and Do Barroco ao Fado, with Ana Quintans and Ricardo Ribeiro. . These last two programs have had several presentations, of which the ones in Madrid - Cineteca de Madrid and Auditorio Nacional de Musica - stand out.
In Portugal, they participated in several events, such as the Póvoa de Varzim International Music Festival, CisterMúsica in Alcobaça, Coimbra Arts Festival, Music in the Cloisters/Eborae Musica, Science in Music - Tejo no Thalia, among others.
In 2017, Os Músicos do Tejo had great success at the Festival de Herne, in a concert with the participation of Joana Seara and João Fernandes that was broadcast live on the German radio WDR3.
In 2018 they revived two important works of the portuguese musical heritage, the opera As Guerras de Alecrim e Mangerona (Cistermúsica and Artemrede) and the oratory La Giuditta by F.A. Almeida.
Also noteworthy are more unconventional concert programs that connect music with theatre, history and literature such as Venice and the Limits of Morality with actress Luísa Cruz and To Play or Not to Play, a program on Shakespeare, with João Fernandes as singer and actor, recorded on DVD.
Recent relevant projects were concerts at the Almagro Festival in Spain, Marvão Festival and As Filhas do Fogo at the Porto/Post/Doc Festival.
dir. Marcos Magalhães e Marta Araújo
Musical direction: Marcos Magalhães
Joana Seara, sopran
Ana Ferro, mezzo sopran
João Pedro Cabral, tenor
Hugo Oliveira, bass