The number of concerts increases, for the first time, to ten, with the incorporation of new municipalities, such as Barrancos or Elvas, or the return to others, such as Mértola and Vidigueira. This year, the invited country is Hungary, while the Festival leaves, also for the first time, from Baixo Alentejo.
These are, in short, the main news of the 2018 edition of the Lands without Shadow Festival, which runs from February 17th to July 7th.
In addition to concerts, scheduled for Saturday nights, in churches in the chosen locations, the program of each weekend always includes, on Saturday afternoon, a guided tour of the built heritage of these lands, often a heritage hidden from the general public. , and also an action for the natural heritage and biodiversity, on Sunday morning.
The 14 Shadowless Lands, which is also the first in which the organization is assumed only by Pedra Angular-Association of Friends of Heritage of the Diocese of Beja, has as its theme «Approaching the Distant: Tradition and Vanguard in European Music (XNUMXth-XNUMXst Centuries)».
To materialize this approach, the Festival's guest country is Hungary, one of the “homelands of music”, and also counts on important collaborations from the United States of America and Spain, as well as an unprecedented presence of Polifunia de Corsica, a “close relative ” from Cante Alentejo.
«We want to make the Alentejo a reference for music lovers all over the world, increasingly associating the monuments, biodiversity and products of the region to excellent music – exceptional heritages, but still little known at a global level», stresses José António Falcão , general director of the Festival.
“Culture rhymes very well with development; Terras sem Sombra is a lever for low-density territories, especially because of the audiences it attracts and the visibility it generates. We are affirming an Alentejo that is different, current, innovative, but authentic and full of seduction», he adds.
And it was to affirm this Alentejo and start to shorten distances that, last week, the festival headed to Budapest, the capital of Hungary, where it was also officially presented. took in the luggage, in addition to their leaders, local councilors and entrepreneurs from Alentejo, six cork oak shoots to offer to the Botanical Garden of Budapest, as well as the 23 men who make up the group of Cantadores do Desassossego and who offered their Alentejo songs to the Hungarian capital.
Alentejo to Heritage at the Portuguese Embassy in Hungary. #Alentejo Visit Portugal
Posted by Shadowless Lands on Thursday, January 25, 2018
In the presentation of Terras sem Sombra in Portuguese lands, which had already taken place before at the Hungarian Embassy in Lisbon, José António Falcão underlined "the giant step" that represents the "participation of the Academy of Liszt, in Budapest, in this festival, which I reputed as one of the most important in the world».
As for the trip to Magyar lands, José António Falcão would come to consider it «a very successful journey and one that marks a very important step in the internationalization of Alentejo and the Festival Terras Sem Sombra».
«It shows the enormous potential of Alentejo and the great possibility of a festival, such as Terras Sem Sombra, of attracting different audiences and presenting a highly qualified artistic program, in a territory that is clearly a place of excellence from an artistic and natural point of view », he stressed, at the end of the visit.
But what will it be then, this 14th edition of Terras sem Sombra? The festival opens at the Igreja Matriz de S. Cucufate, in village of friars, in the municipality of Vidigueira, on February 17th (21:30 pm).
The inaugural concert, of sacred music, is performed by the Hungarian chamber choir Vaszy Viktor, directed by the conductor Sándor Gyüdi, who will interpret pieces by composers from the XNUMXth century to the present, including, among others, works by contemporary Magyar composers such as Péter Tóth, Máté Bela, and Péter Zombola.
On the afternoon of Saturday, 17, at 15:00 pm, the visit “A pantheon for D. Vasco da Gama: the Convent of Nossa Senhora das Relíquias” will take place.
On Sunday, 18, at 10:00 am, and because the symbol product chosen this year by Terras sem Sombra is the wine made from grapes from centenary vines, produced by Adega Cooperativa de Vidigueira, Cuba and Alvito, the theme of biodiversity action will be «From the Roman Period to the XNUMXst Century: Wine-growing Traditions in the Terroir Vidigueirense».
It follows, on the 3rd of March, in the Musibéria space, in Serpa, the world premiere of the Hungarian Songs by Fernando Lopes-Graça, which is one of the highlights of the festival. The interpreters will be opera singer Cátia Moreso and Magyar singers Hanga Kacksó and Áron Vára, accompanied by pianist Nuno Vieira de Almeida, and by Béla Szerényi, on accordion, flute and “tarogató” (Hungarian folk wind instrument). In addition to the Hungarian folk songs, harmonized by Fernando Lopes-Graça, in an absolute debut, they will also perform popular songs from the Magyar tradition.
On the afternoon of that Saturday, the cultural visit has as its theme "Views on the Manueline Art of Alentejo: the Convento de Santo António". On Sunday morning, those interested head to Herdade da Zanga to discover «Oliveiras Multiseculares de Serpa».
Also in March, on the 17th, in Odemira, in the Misericórdia church, the Viena Piano Trio presents a recital composed of pieces by Eurico Carrapatoso (“The Eternal Feminine in Peer Gynt”), as well as by Jenö Hubay (“Scènes de la Csárda, no. 5”) and by Fryderyk Chopin (“Trio with Piano, opus 8”).
Before the concert, in the afternoon, there will be a visit to the heritage «In tune with nature: the windmill of Moinhos Juntos». On Sunday, nature will be in focus in the action «Falésias Promontory: the Bio-Geodiversity of Cabo Sardão».
In April, on the 14th, it will be Mértola to receive the festival again. The concert, scheduled for the Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora Entre as Vinhas, is performed by Hungarian musicians and singers and is filled with a program of composers from that country, from the XNUMXth century to the present, some of them contemporary, such as Jaromír Dadák.
On Saturday afternoon, before the music night, participants in the heritage tour will «Rewrite the past: New Perspectives on the History of myrtilis». On Sunday morning, the action for biodiversity will be carried out «Under the aegis of Diana: Hunting Management and Safeguarding Biodiversity».
On April 28, at the Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Assunção, in Ferreira do Alentejo, the American pianist Pauline Yang performs a concert entitled “Rotary of Feelings: Between Bach and Bolcom”.
«In the heart of the plain: Quinta de São Vicente» is the theme of the heritage visit on Saturday afternoon, while on Sunday morning everyone will be «in search of a plant that only exists in Baixo Alentejo: linaria ricardoi».
On May 5th, the festival leaves Hungary to head to Corsica, with the concert “O Canto na Ilha da Liberdade”, by Vozes Corsas-Barbara Furtuna, in the church of Santa Maria, in Beja.
And because you are in Beja, the theme of the visit to the heritage, on Saturday afternoon is: «Memories of Mariana: Beja in the time of the Alcoforados». On Sunday, May 6th, nature will be the focus, with the visit «Sanctuary on the Plain: the dam of Herdade dos Grous and the observation of wild birds».
The second concert of the month of May marks the debut of Terras sem Sombra in Alto Alentejo, with the presentation in Elvas. On the 19th, the Nossa Senhora da Assunção Church will host another concert that, perhaps because of its proximity to the lane and the close relations that the festival maintains with Spain, also distances itself from Magyar music. The Spanish trio Clarines de Batalla will perform a concert called “War and Peace: the Clarim in European Baroque Music”, featuring pieces collected in the work “Flores de Música” (1706).
«Impeachable Citadel: the Fort of Nossa Senhora da Graça» motivates the patrimonial visit before the concert, on Saturday. «Through the fields: Agriculture and Conservation in the Municipality of Elvas» is the motto of the action for biodiversity on Sunday, 20 May.
On June 2, it will be the Mother Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, in ravines, to host the program “All'Ongarese: from the Hungarian Steppes to the Baroque Salons”, by the Ludovice Ensemble.
For the visit to the heritage, on Saturday afternoon, those interested will walk «between Ardila and Múrtega: the Old Town of Noudar». And «Herdade da Coitadinha and the Natural Park of Noudar» will be the place and reason for the action on Sunday morning.
The Arts Center of Sines hosts the festival on June 16, for a concert by Portuguese pianist Artur Pizarro, who will perform works by Bach, Schumann and Hungarian Ferenc Liszt. «Face to Paradise: A Genealogy of Pianism in the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries» is the theme of this presentation.
Arriving in Sines, the festival re-encounters Vasco da Gama and therefore the cultural visit has the theme “On the Route of the Gama: testimonies of the Admiral in Sines”. On the penultimate Sunday of the festival, the tour will be the «Biodiversity in the area of influence of the Port of Sines».
Finally, the closing concert this year is scheduled for June 30, at the Church of Santiago Maior, in Santiago do Cacém. Entitled «Vital Fragments: Kurtág and his circumstance», in this concert, soprano Andrea Brassós Jörös performs “Kafka Fragment”, by György Kurtág, as well as pieces by Máté, Bartók, Eötuös, Fakete, and Csemiczky, accompanied by Máté Soós, on violin, Péter Kiss, on piano, and Péter Szücks, on clarinet.
Even as the festival closes, the last visit to the heritage takes participants to Quinta de São João, in Santiago do Cacém. On Sunday morning, the participants head to «a cork oak forest planted 600 years ago: the Cork Oak Forest of the Convent of Nossa Senhora do Loreto», near that town on the Alentejo coast.
To close this 2018 edition, on July 7 (18:30 pm), the Sines Arts Center receives the award of the International Lands without Shadow Award, designed to honor a personality or institution that has stood out, globally, in the three pillars of the festival. Every year the award is given to national and international entities.
All concerts take place on Saturday night, at 21 pm, with free entry, while visits to the built heritage are scheduled for 30 pm on that same day. On Sunday morning, starting at 15:10 am, actions for biodiversity take place. Closer to the date of each concert, more details will be disclosed, namely about the meeting places for these actions parallel to the concerts, as well as the respective guides.
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