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The 5th edition of OPERAFEST in Lisbon and Oeiras was a fantastic opera celebration and a gateway for new opera lovers, with high audience adhision and broad international recognition!

OPERAFEST, the independent opera festival and the largest opera event in Portugal – celebrated its 5th edition under the theme of "Fatal Instinct" and the 500th anniversary of Luís Vaz de Camões’ birth. With sold-out performances, blending tradition and avant-garde, this edition featured new venues and programming partners.

The "out-of-the-box" Operafest, this edition brought the thrill of opera to approximately 9,000 people over nearly a month, with around a quarter being international attendees, including a large number of children and young people, and a diversified audience that the festival has steadily captivated over the years, eagerly embracing its innovative approach to make opera more accessible and relevant to today’s audiences and world.

Directed by soprano Catarina Molder and produced by Ópera do Castelo, the 5th edition of Operafest launched in partnership with Oeiras, at the magnificent Gardens of Marquês de Pombal Palace, which hosted opera for the first time with two great classics, the iconic Italian double-bill: Mascagni’s "Cavalleria Rusticana" and Leoncavallo’s "Pagliacci".

The cast was led by Basque tenor Andeka Gorrotxategi, making his Portuguese debut and stunning the audience with the power and beauty of his voice, conducted by maestro Osvaldo Ferreira, accompanied by the Portuguese Philharmonic Orchestra, staged with dramatic intensity and humor by actress and stage director Mónica Garnel, in which the vibrating Operafest Chorus, mainly composed of young singers, sparkled.

At the same venue, Operafest introduced younger audiences to opera with the Portuguese premiere of "O Polegarzinho" ("Le petit Poucet") by French composer Isabelle Aboulker, in the Portuguese version by Luís Rodrigues. Staged with cinematic magic by actress and stage director Sandra Faleiro, the production featured a talented young cast of seven children accompanied by pianist Francisco Sassetti.

5 premiere productions

★

15 opera performances

★

1 national opera premiere

★

40 singing lessons for curious amateurs

★

1 world premiere performance/cantata

★

Cine-Opera: 5 films

★

1 operatic rave

In a new partner and epicenter in Lisbon, the Open-Air Amphitheater of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Operafest offered four memorable performances of Mozart’s "Don Giovanni", staged by João Pedro Mamede in his successful operatic debut, and conducted by maestro Pedro Carneiro, with a brilliant all-Portuguese cast led by the Luso-Colombian baritone Christian Luján.

At the emblematic Sinel de Cordes Palace, Lisbon Triennale, composer Nuno da Rocha and actor-performer Gustavo Sumpta celebrated Camões with the world premiere of the performance/cantata "Tormento", performed by the Nova Era Vocal Ensemble and based on the Canto V of the epic poem "The Lusiads".

Operafest´s programming continues to highlight and showcase Portuguese talent across generations, encouraging emerging artists’ debut – stage directors, singers, conductors, musicians, and producers – to foster Portugal’s opera sector profissionalization and to dignify young talent. Operafest condemns the use of unpaid labor disguised as volunteer work and stands as a green and inclusive event, recycling sets and costumes, avoiding waste, plastics, and other pollutants.

International Critical Acclaim

Les festivals de l’été – Le vérisme triomphe par deux fois sous les cieux lusitaniens

Les festivals de l’été – Lisbonne : DON JUAN s’éclate aux Enfers…

Instantanés de l’OperaFest Lisboa : O POLEGARZHINO et TORMENTO

LISBOA / Un ‘Don Giovanni’ coronado de éxito en el Lisboa OperaFest [Crítica]

Ecos de imprensa

Operafest also offered singing lessons for amateurs, two lectures on this year’s operatic classics, five films in the Cine-Opera series in partnership with the Cinemateca Portuguesa crossing opera and cinema, and the ever-popular Operatic Rave at Titanic Sur Mer, with plenty of swing and opera power!