Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci

Pietro Mascagni & Ruggero Leoncavallo

Great Classics

22nd, 24th, 26th August

Palácio Marquês de Pombal Gardens - Oeiras Know More

Opera in 1 Act

Sung in Italian
Subtitled in Portuguese and English

Length: 2h20 with intermission

Operafest kicks off with not one but two great classics, in the shape of "Cavalleria Rusticana" (1890) by Pietro Mascagni and "Pagliacci" (1892) by Ruggero Leoncavallo, which will be performed in the gardens of the Marquês de Pombal Palace, part of the new programme partnership in Oeiras. The 18th-century heritage site boasts extensive and arresting gardens that offer a dreamlike setting, right on the edge of Lisbon. Once the former residence of the man who invented modern, post-earthquake Lisbon (the Marquis of Pombal), the gardens offer various pedestrian and leisure areas, allowing for a unique operatic experience.

These one-act masterpieces and paradigms of the Italian verismo movement praise the authenticity of feeling and singing. This can be raw and aggressive, while direct, with real emotions, where tragedy, honour killings, domestic spats, human conflicts move into the popular sphere, with no mediation or pretty words.

Now it's the inhabitants of a Sicilian village - poor people that work in the fields, who run a tavern, or clowns from a travelling circus - who are the heroes of the tragedy, usually resolved with knives in the public square, for all to see.

Stories of impossible loves, compulsive jealousy, abandonment, betrayal and codes of honour, moved by Basic (fatal) Instincts, with the most exciting and inspired music that develops like a film soundtrack, with arias for tenor that reached stratospheric levels of popularity. These are veritable pop songs, sung by ordinary mortals in the street at the beginning of the 20th century, such as the aria Viva o vinho espumejante in Portuguese versions. This is the aria that Turiddu sings cheerfully before being struck down in a duel. And then there’s the iconic aria of the clown whose sad fate is to make others laugh while he dies inside. Two operatic verismo pearls no to be missed!

After her acclaimed production of The Magic Flute at last year’s Operafest, actress and director Mónica Garnel oversees this double bill, ably assisted by musical director Osvaldo Ferreira. The cast is led by Spanish tenor Andeka Gorrotxategi and soprano Catarina Molder supported by great Portuguese talent, accompanied by the Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa (Portuguese Philharmonic Orchestra) and the Coro do Operafest (Operafest Choir).

For the very first time, Palácio Marquês de Pombal Gardens will stage opera, dressed in the garb of an authentic Sicilian village to welcome Operafest with two operatic peals not to be missed!

Musical Director: Osvaldo Ferreira
Stage director: Mónica Garnel
Set design and costums: Patrícia Costa
Lighting design: Sérgio Moreira
Stage director assistance: Anna Lepännen

Turiddu: Andeka Gorrotxategi
Santuzza: Catarina Molder
Alfio: Christian Luján
Mamma Lucia: Carolina Figueiredo
Lola: Leila Moreso

Canio: Andeka Gorrotxategi
Nedda: Catarina Molder
Tonio: Jorge Martins
Silvio: Rui Baeta
Beppe: Bruno Almeida

Operafest Lisboa Chorus
Conductor: Filipa Palhares

Portuguese Philharmonic Orchestra

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