A concert not to be missed with a revisitation of Brahms’ and Dvorák’s quartets

19 November [Saturday | 19:00]
Music at the University Noble Hall of the Rectory of the University of Lisbon

20th November [Sunday | 17:00]
Teatro-Cine de Torres Vedras

ENSEMBLE DARCOS
Gaël Rassaert, violin I
Joana Cipriano, viola
Filipe Quaresma, cello
Hélder Marques, piano

One of the most striking features of Brahms’ biography is his platonic love for Clara Schumann. This impossibi- lity would become the catalyst for a series of musical works, in which the composer’s genius is fully revealed. An example of this is Quartet op. 60, composed between 1856 and 1875 and premiered on November 18th of that year, with Brahms at the piano. According to Brahms himself, in a letter to the publisher Fritz Simrock, the cover of the quartet edition was supposed to be that of a young man about to commit suicide, invoking Werther, the character in Goethe’s book that succumbs to his love for his best friend’s wife. Full of dramatic contrasts and sinuous melodic motifs, the latent tension that lasts until the last measure makes Quartet op. 60 one of the composer’s greatest works. It was Fritz Simrock who insistently encouraged Antonín Dvořák to write a piano quartet. On 10 August 1889, Dvořák wrote to his friend Alois Göbl “I have three movements of a new piano quartet completed and the last one will soon be finished. Everything has been happening unexpectedly easy and melodies occur to me in cataduple. Thank God!”. The quartet, finished on August 19th, was premiered on October 17th of the same year, in Frankfurt. The I movement reveals Dvořák’s tendency for long lyrical themes, romantic in nature, although unstable, sometimes dark and tragic, sometimes light and heroic. The 2nd movement, the longest of the four, is a serene song, in contrast to the Scherzo that follows, in the manner of a ländler. The last movement is marked by an emotional exu- berance, in the contrast between a turbulent theme and a lyrical one, with no lack of evocation of the dulcimer, in the manner of a folk dance.

Programme:

J. Brahms (1833 – 1897)
Quarteto para piano e cordas nº3, em Dó menor, op. 60
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Scherzo – Allegro
III. Andante
IV. Allegro comodo

A. Dvorák (1841 – 1904)
Quarteto para piano e cordas nº2, em Mi bemol maior, op. 87
I. Allegro con fuoco
II. Lento
III. Allegro moderato
IV. Allegro ma non troppo

2022 will be a year of premieres in new theaters across the country.

The 15th edition of the Season premieres at the Lisbon Coliseum, with a new and original version of the ballet “The Rite of Spring”, by Stravinsky. Starred by Vortice Dance Company, it is a new approach to Stravinsky’s work, made in the light of a technological era, uniting the languages ​​of dance and music in a unique sensory experience. With choreography by Cláudia Martins and Rafael Carriço and musical direction by conductor Nuno Côrte-Real.

In the North, Temporada Darcos will be at Casa da Música in Porto for the first time with two unique musical moments.
In September, with the concert “Uma Rosa na Escuridão – Mallarmé and Mário de Sá Carneiro”, as part of the Portugal-France Cruzada Season. It presents itself as a musical exchange with one of the most renowned French ensembles of contemporary music, the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, and with its musical director, Bruno Mantovani. The same concert will take place internationally, at the Grand Théâtre de La Comète Saint-Éttienne, in France.

And in October with Shlomo Mintz, one of the greatest violinists of our time, he will visit Portugal accompanied by the Madrid Soloists Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Nuno Côrte-Real.

In partnership with the University of Lisbon, the season will feature a series of chamber and symphonic concerts in various spaces of the University, with emphasis on the Chimico Amphitheater of the National Museum of Natural History and Science, and the Aula Magna of the Rectory. Concerts performed by Ensemble Darcos as “Canticle of Thanksgiving offered to Divinity by a Convalescent”, with one of Beethoven’s last quartets and an adaptation of four preludes from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, and “Great Piano Quartets” with works by J .Brahms and A. Dvořák.

Internationally, namely in Spain, the chamber opera “La Vida Secreta” will be presented, with music by Nuno Côrte-Real, libretto by Martha Asunción Alonso and staging by Carlos Antunes, in a co-production with the Little Opera Festival, by Zamora. A pocket opera about the surrealist world of Spanish painter Salvador Dalí, but seen through the eyes of his companion and muse Gala, performed by Spanish soprano Conchi Moyano.

The critically acclaimed project “Time Stands Still” will continue its tour this year with concerts at the CCB – Centro Cultural de Belém and at the Teatro-Cine de Torres Vedras.

The Darcos 2022 Season – 15th Edition will continue its journey of excellence, consolidating the work it has been carrying out and presenting new challenges in the face of the times we are going through through a national and international circulation and an important work of archiving and dissemination of Portuguese musical heritage within and across borders.

A new approach to Stravinsky’s work.

29 January [Saturday] | 21:30
CCC | Caldas da Rainha – Tickets HERE

5 February [Saturday] | 21:30
Torres Vedras Theater-Cine

February 23 [Wednesday] 21:30
Lisbon Coliseum -Tickets HERE

Direção Artística – Cláudia Martins e Rafael Carriço 
Direção Musical – Nuno Côrte-Real

Companhia – Vortice Dance Company 
Orquestra – Orquestra do Atlântico

Vortice Dance Company and Temporada Darcos present “A Sagração da Primavera” with the signature of choreographers Cláudia Martins and Rafael Carriço and musical direction by Nuno Côrte-Real. A new approach to Stravinsky’s work, made in the light of a technological era, in which the languages of dance, videography, videomaping and music merge, in an overwhelming sensory experience. It is a work where fears, desires, desires and bodies are ritualized, in an intense game of light, dance, music and image. The action develops in a direct analogy with the speed of today’s springs, where the Dance of the final Sacrifice is multiplied in time and space. The musical work will be performed live by the Atlantic Orchestra.

Vortice Dance Company and Temporada Darcos are structures supported by the Portuguese Republic / Culture – General Directorate of Arts.

December 11, 2021 | saturday | 9.30 pm / Átrio da Câmara Municipal de Torres Vedras 

Christmas on Broadway!

Lara Martins, soprano

Helder Marques, piano

October 24 | 17:00 – Alcobaça Cine-theatre

Free Entry

Part of Mostra Spain 2021, this pocket opera portrays the surrealist world of Spanish painter Salvador Dalí through the eyes of his companion and muse Gala. Having as its only protagonist the figure of Gala, played by the Spanish soprano Conchi Moyano, it reveals the woman as a multiple and central inspiration in the development of Dalí’s unique surrealism and serves as a starting point for a transposition of the universe of Gala. Gala, the woman who didn’t know the #MeToo movement, but… what if she had participated, would Dalí be? Would the giraffes continue with their exotic long-legged walk?

Nuno Corte-Real

For the music to sound, silence must be made beforehand. Just as no sea can open without the certainty, however remote, that a piece of dry land awaits, hidden in the fold of some map.
There is no spring without winter either. Rootless forest. Paradise without purgatory. Light without darkness. Gold without mud. Lucidity without madness. Light laughter without (us) having weighed the blood in the veins. Ying without yang. Indeed, it is necessary to know the south to be able, perhaps, one day to reach an almost complete understanding of the heart of the north. And vice versa.
The same happens when it comes to getting to know, or at least trying to get to know the secret life of Salvador Dalí. How to talk about the idol without listening to the man? How to talk about the genius without summoning the fairy?
That’s why Gala and the universe meet in this proposal. Well, who better than the artist’s polar star to guide us by ear on the odyssey towards all its centers?
Elena Ivávnova Diakonova thus undergoes a singular psychoanalysis session, bordering on prayer. During it, the audience will also have to close their eyes to start seeing.
Jumping from canvas to canvas, from verse to verse and from memory to memory, like the sailboat that plows faith from island to island, Gradiva will simultaneously place in the spectator’s hands a sharp knife and an endangered flower: the keys- mistresses of the doors without return towards the depths of the unrepeatable Dalinian conscience.
Martha Asunción Alonso

Artistic Sheet
Nuno Côrte-Real, music and musical direction
Martha Asunción Alonso, libretto
Carlos Antunes, staging
Conchi Moyano, soprano
Jesus Ramos, voice over

Darcos ensemble
Emanuel Salvador, violin
Reyes Gallardo, viola
Filipe Quaresma, cello
Rodrigo Lima, Saxophone
Helder Marques, piano

October 26 | 21:00 – Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval

Entry €6

Part of Mostra Spain 2021, this pocket opera portrays the surrealist world of Spanish painter Salvador Dalí through the eyes of his companion and muse Gala. Having as its only protagonist the figure of Gala, played by the Spanish soprano Conchi Moyano, it reveals the woman as a multiple and central inspiration in the development of Dalí’s unique surrealism and serves as a starting point for a transposition of the universe of Gala. Gala, the woman who didn’t know the #MeToo movement, but… what if she had participated, would Dalí be? Would the giraffes continue with their exotic long-legged walk?

Nuno Corte-Real
For the music to sound, silence must be made beforehand. Just as no sea can open without the certainty, however remote, that a piece of dry land awaits, hidden in the fold of some map.
There is no spring without winter either. Rootless forest. Paradise without purgatory. Light without darkness. Gold without mud. Lucidity without madness. Light laughter without (us) having weighed the blood in the veins. Ying without yang. Indeed, it is necessary to know the south to be able, perhaps, one day to reach an almost complete understanding of the heart of the north. And vice versa.
The same happens when it comes to getting to know, or at least trying to get to know the secret life of Salvador Dalí. How to talk about the idol without listening to the man? How to talk about the genius without summoning the fairy?
That’s why Gala and the universe meet in this proposal. Well, who better than the artist’s polar star to guide us by ear on the odyssey towards all its centers?
Elena Ivávnova Diakonova thus undergoes a singular psychoanalysis session, bordering on prayer. During it, the audience will also have to close their eyes to start seeing.
Jumping from canvas to canvas, from verse to verse and from memory to memory, like the sailboat that plows faith from island to island, Gradiva will simultaneously place in the spectator’s hands a sharp knife and an endangered flower: the keys- mistresses of the doors without return towards the depths of the unrepeatable Dalinian conscience.
Martha Asunción Alonso

Artistic Sheet
Nuno Côrte-Real, music and musical direction
Martha Asunción Alonso, libretto
Carlos Antunes, staging
Conchi Moyano, soprano
Jesus Ramos, voice over

Darcos ensemble
Emanuel Salvador, violin
Reyes Gallardo, viola
Filipe Quaresma, cello
Rodrigo Lima, Saxophone
Helder Marques, piano

October 23 | 21:30 – Pombal Cine-theatre

Entry €5

Part of Mostra Spain 2021, this pocket opera portrays the surrealist world of Spanish painter Salvador Dalí through the eyes of his companion and muse Gala. Having as its only protagonist the figure of Gala, played by the Spanish soprano Conchi Moyano, it reveals the woman as a multiple and central inspiration in the development of Dalí’s unique surrealism and serves as a starting point for a transposition of the universe of Gala. Gala, the woman who didn’t know the #MeToo movement, but… what if she had participated, would Dalí be? Would the giraffes continue with their exotic long-legged walk?

Nuno Corte-Real
For the music to sound, silence must be made beforehand. Just as no sea can open without the certainty, however remote, that a piece of dry land awaits, hidden in the fold of some map.
There is no spring without winter either. Rootless forest. Paradise without purgatory. Light without darkness. Gold without mud. Lucidity without madness. Light laughter without (us) having weighed the blood in the veins. Ying without yang. Indeed, it is necessary to know the south to be able, perhaps, one day to reach an almost complete understanding of the heart of the north. And vice versa.
The same happens when it comes to getting to know, or at least trying to get to know the secret life of Salvador Dalí. How to talk about the idol without listening to the man? How to talk about the genius without summoning the fairy?
That’s why Gala and the universe meet in this proposal. Well, who better than the artist’s polar star to guide us by ear on the odyssey towards all its centers?
Elena Ivávnova Diakonova thus undergoes a singular psychoanalysis session, bordering on prayer. During it, the audience will also have to close their eyes to start seeing.
Jumping from canvas to canvas, from verse to verse and from memory to memory, like the sailboat that plows faith from island to island, Gradiva will simultaneously place in the spectator’s hands a sharp knife and an endangered flower: the keys- mistresses of the doors without return towards the depths of the unrepeatable Dalinian conscience.
Martha Asunción Alonso

Artistic Sheet
Nuno Côrte-Real, music and musical direction
Martha Asunción Alonso, libretto
Carlos Antunes, staging
Conchi Moyano, soprano
Jesus Ramos, voice over

Darcos ensemble
Emanuel Salvador, violin
Reyes Gallardo, viola
Filipe Quaresma, cello
Rodrigo Lima, Saxophone
Helder Marques, piano

Largo do Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
12 july, monday — 21h00

Maria João Solist

Nuno Côrte-Real Conductor

Ensemble Darcos

Nuno Côrte-Real and José Luís Peixoto

Ensemble Darcos is joined by writer José Luís Peixoto and singer Maria João for a mesmerising celebration of Portuguese culture. To mark the 10th anniversary of the Darcos Season concert series, composer Nuno Côrte-Real has brought together an exciting mix of artists in this vibrant celebration of Portuguese creativity. Côrte-Real’s new song cycle, Now Everything Changes, heard here in its world-premiere recording, ranges between folk, jazz, and contemporary styles. With Peixoto’s verses of great originality and depth, the vocal and improvisational vigour of Maria João, a true force of nature, and the remarkable interpretation of Ensemble Darcos, this project reveals the strength and depth of Portuguese art and culture. In March 2018, this song cycle won the prize for best work at the Premio Autores 2018 awards, given by the Portuguese Society of Authors.