Events for the next three months

At São Carlos Opera House the 2008/2009 Opera Season started: January 8-18, Faust, from Charles Gounod; February 6-22, La Bohème, from  Giacomo Puccini; March 26-April 29, Salome, Richard Strauss; April 17-30, Agrippina, from George Frideric Handel; and the last one will be Don Giovanni, from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, May 30-June 12.

Aida, in a grand performance by the Opera of Kazan, will be at Lisbon Coliseum, April 2-4, 2009.

And Mozart Cycle Concerts continue. The French violinist Augustin Dumay conducts the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa (Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra) featuring two concerts for violin and orchestra by Mozart. The programme ends with the Symphony no. 5 by Schubert. November 23, at 5 pm, CCB.

CCB celebrates Olivier Messiaen's Birth Centenary (1908-1992). Opening the celebrations of Olivier Messiaen’s birth centenary, the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa (Portuguese Symphonic Orchestra), directed by Julia Jones, will feature one of the 20th century masterpieces - Turangalîla-Symphonie. November 16 at 5 pm. December 8, OML features a programme settled in the strong relationship the French composer developed with Mozart’s music, called Messiaen and Mozart, a Musical Relationship.

The Divino Sospiro lined-up a sublime programme for the CCB Christmas concert, November 14. The Concert op. VI Nr. 4 by Arcangelo Corelli, performed “con molti instrumenti", including trumpets, oboes and bassoon, will be a brilliant overture to one of the most paradigmatic pieces of the Baroque period, Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi. Following, it will be featured one of Bach’s most significant cantatas, the Cantata BWV 63, one of the works that helped Bach to develop the model he improved afterwards in the unrivalled Passions.
In this concert, in addition to the presence of the Italian alto Romina Basso, which has developed a brilliant career with almost all the major European ensembles, this performance will also count with the promising voices of the Portuguese young soloists Raquel Alão, João Rodrigues and Hugo Oliveira.

Opening the musical marathon that evokes the 200 years of Beethoven’s Vienna Concert, the São Carlos National Theatre brings to the Main Auditorium Fidelio, the sole opera by the German composer. December 20, at 9 pm.

The CCB New Year's Concert, January 1, also promises a wonderful musical beginning for 2009: Louis Varney: Overture from Les Mousquetaires au couvent; Jacques Offenbach: Arieta from Le Voyage dans la lune; Jacques Offenbach: Valse-tyrolienne from Un Mari à la porte; Léo Delibes: Prelude and Mazukka, Valsa lenta, Cena and Mazurka, from Coppélia; Jacques Offenbach: Aria for tenor from La Belle Hélène; Gaetano Donizetti: Duet from La Fille du régiment; Jacques Offenbach: Abertura de La Vie parisienne; Léo Delibes: Aria for tenor from Lakmé; Jacques Offenbach: Aria for soprano from Les Contes d’Hoffmann; Camille Saint-Saëns: Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila; Léo Delibes: Duet from Lakmé.Soloists to be announced and direction by Jérémie Rhorer. 

Jazz/Pop/Rock/Brazil

A Tribute to Keith Jarrett. The Belgian Ivo de Greef invited the composers and pianists Sérgio Azevedo, Gustavo Beytelmann, Robert Mitchell and Jonathan Powell to join him in a tribute to the renowned Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett. December 4, CCB.

And the Glenn Miller Orchestra doesn’t let the memory and the musical heritage of the great American trombonist die. An evening of swing at the CCB! December 4.

New Museum in Lisbon: Museu do Oriente
The new Museu do Oriente is a permanent museological facility open to the public and run under the auspices of the Fundação Oriente. Its mission is the promotion of evidence whether of the Portuguese presence in Asia or the respective and distinct Asian cultures. The Museum is territorially international in scope and trans-disciplinary in approach seeking to, through the interchange of points of view deriving from the fields of History, Art and Anthropology, provide its visitors with a living and insightful memory of Asian cultures and the centuries old relationships established between the East and the West, particularly as regards Portugal. These thematic fields correspond to a diversified cultural heritage of historical, artistic, documental, ethnographic and anthropologic interest dealing not only with popular culture and Oriental religions but also the most varied aspects of the Portuguese presence in Asia throughout over five centuries.

The Berardo Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art opened June 25 in Lisbon
Lisbon got a collection that reads like a Who's Who of modern art. The major new museum of modern art opened June 25 at the CCB, after the Portuguese government signed a deal with a billionaire business tycoon and art collector, José Berardo. The museum includes works by Picasso, Dali, Mondrian, Modigliani, Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon, Jackson Pollock, Henry Moore, Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Hockney, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Man Ray and many more.

The 1st Museu do Oriente Book Festival aims to provide the public with the opportunity to acquire works published by the Fundação Oriente, a catalogue featuring two decades of specialist publication, at reduced cost. This range focuses on the presence of the Portuguese language, culture and history in Asia, academic analysis of historical sources or translations into Chinese of leading Portuguese literary and historical texts. November 14-30, from 10 am to 6 pm.

Anyone with a sweet tooth shouldn’t miss the chance to take part in the International Chocolate Festival in Óbidos. During several days the medieval town’s narrow streets will be transformed into genuine showcases of cakes and sweets that everyone can sample and purchase. For younger visitors, the “Kids’ Chocolate House” offers recreational and pedagogical activities and a kitchen where they can prepare several recipes. Adults can attend culinary classes where chocolate is always the base ingredient and also watch competitions involving professional pastry-makers, such as the “Chocolatier of the Year” and the “International Competition of Chocolate Recipes”, and also marvel at an array of chocolate sculptures – genuine works of art. February 8-18, 2009.

Recommended Tour

Sintra, Estoril, Cascais & Cabo da Roca, including helicopter tour

Discover the history and mysteries of magical Sintra, described by Lord Byron as Glorious Eden, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most picturesque regions in Portugal. Visit the romantic Palácio da Pena, by horse-driven carriage, and include a stop at Periquita for the famous queijadas but leave some time for traditional handcraft shopping. Take a breathtaking helicopter tour of Cabo da Roca, continental Europe´s westernmost point and Guincho beach, one of Europe´s best spots for surfing with a visit to the lighthouse, at 140m above sea level. Drive back through the fishing village of Cascais or spend an afternoon shopping at some of the most fashionable boutiques of the Costa de Estoril.