It is the heart of Alentejo, a soul full of plains, a close look at the mountains and already anticipating the wandering curves of the Guadiana. All of this is the municipality of Vidigueira, in a context that is also made up of human heritage, ancient wines, blessed bread, fruit touched by the southern sun. Traces of local identity that have occupied the presence of the Terras sem Sombra Festival in this unique territory in the district of Beja in recent years.
A presence that, this 2023, is reiterated, occupying a prominent place in the programming of the 19th season of Terras sem Sombra. On the 28th and 29th of October, Music, Heritage and Safeguarding Biodiversity will head to the municipality on the border between Baixo and Alto Alentejo.
The Terras sem Sombra weekend in Vidigueira is in partnership with the local municipality, the Austrian Embassy, arts patron Elena Probst and the Alentejo Regional Directorate of Culture.
A program that reserves the night of October 28th (09:30 am) for the concert, in the parish church of Santa Catarina, led by an ensemble founded in 2004 in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.
Currently, Trio Amatis is based in Salzburg, Austria, a city of great artistic scrolls, and is composed of German violinist Lea Hausmann, British cellist Samuel Shepherd and Chinese-Dutch pianist Mengjie Han.
Energy, intuition, creativity, expressiveness and passion are some of the characteristics that critics recognize in them and that the public enthusiastically applauds, seeing in them great figures in today's music scene.
With a CV of performances in 43 countries and the achievement of prestigious international competitions and awards, the ensemble was considered New Generation Artists on BBC Radio 3.
In addition to performances at many of the world's leading festivals – including the BBC Proms, the Verbier Festival, Switzerland and the Edinburgh International Festival – the Trio is regularly invited to perform with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Wales and the Frankfurt Museums Orchestra. .
The debut CD, with music by Enescu, Ravel and Britten, received widespread praise from critics and earned him inclusion on Gramophone magazine's “Artists to Watch” list.
Since 2015, the Trio has worked intensively with Wolfgang Redik (Vienna Piano Trio) and Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet).
In Vidigueira, Trio Amatis presents itself with a concert that covers three centuries of European music through fundamental pieces by Joseph Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn, as well as a brilliant foray into contemporary times, thanks to an interesting approach to the work of Swedish artist Andrea Tarrodi, composer born in 1981 and whose work – revealing a fine sensitivity for today's world – has inspired new generations of authors and performers.
“Making the Invisible Visible: The Steps of Holy Week in Selmes”
Because Terras sem Sombra's programming is also about identity and history, the afternoon of October 28th (15pm) features an unmissable visit to Heritage, in this case the village of Selmes, an ancient village in the parish with the same name, integrated in the municipality of Vidigueira in 00.
Under the guidance of art historian José António Falcão and historian Rosa Trole, in-depth knowledge of the place, participants in the activity have the theme “Making the Invisible Visible: The Steps of Holy Week in Selmes”.
In the silences that the houses welcome, a set of niches in an excellent state of conservation recreates the sequence of Steps used in the Holy Week Processions, an invitation to the population to practice devotion.
The exercise of the Way of the Cross deserved from Baroque art an expression of attachment to theatricality and decorative pomp. This is evident in Selmes, in a set of six niches that transform these elements of simple function into buildings with a strong character in the urban fabric.
Saturday's activity provides the opportunity to listen, in the voices of the women of Selmes, to an aspect of the local intangible heritage, the Martyrs of the Lord, pieces from the popular religious songbook that are currently the target of an intense recovery effort. All these marks of local devotion currently deserve the preparation of a candidacy for Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
“Everything by Hand, as Tradition Requires: The Artisanal Olive Harvest”
In a municipality with a rural feel, at the intersection of the plain, the mountains and the river, with cork oak forest, pasture for the Alentejo pig; of wild flora, 'cradle' for magnificent honeys; of orange groves, crops and vineyards, the action dedicated to Safeguarding Biodiversity, looks at the olive grove in its most traditional expression.
In this way, the activity on the morning of October 29th (09:30 am) points to the lushness of the autumn fields and invites participants to come into close contact with knowledge and practices related to olives and olive oil.
“Everything by Hand, as Tradition Orders: The Artisanal Olive Harvest”, with a meeting point at the Municipal Museum, goes through an emblematic place in the parish of Selmes: Quinta de Nossa Senhora das Neves (Monte Sequeira) and hermitage of the same name, the its traditional olive groves and its more modern wine press.
Motto for an activity guided by José Fernando Palhete (agronomic engineer), Cláudia Raminhos (agronomic engineer) and Joaquim José Galante de Carvalho (farmer), with participants involved in a collective act materialized in ancient practices linked to the Mediterranean world: olive retail , to its harvest, from the visit to the olive press, to the techniques for obtaining “liquid gold”, with the possibility for everyone who joins the activity to harvest their olives and take them home.
The program for the 19th season of the Terras sem Sombra Festival includes a new weekend of activities in Arraiolos (11th and 12th November), Montemor-o-Novo (2nd and 3rd December), Sines (16th December December) and Évora (date to be confirmed).
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