Criticultura em Portugal

I recently saw, in the lovely port city of Setúbal Portugal, one of  the first performances of a new opera Eu So Alma (I am Alma), with music by João Malha, libretto by Diogo Faro, and staging/sets/lighting by Maria Madalena and Iolanda Rodrigues. I have a bit of a conflict of interest here, as Mr. Malha is also the conductor of the medical orchestra in which I play in Lisbon.  The opera was an uncompromising, passionate indictment of the Israeli occupation and violence in Gaza, proclaiming its anti-war stance openly. For example, the words "murder" and "genocide" came up often; this would be difficult to perform in the US or some other western countries, where censorship has become more common than in Portugal. Performed in Portuguese, this one-act opera was a powerful, raw experience with an excellent musical score.  The opera is the telling of how a Palestinian family is destroyed by Israeli bombing in Gaza. There is a brief opening scene showing domestic life. I...

It’s been months since I wrote a review, which makes sense since it’s been a while since I attended a concert meriting a review. But I am back! I recently gorged on pianists, or at least piano performances, seeing four within 3 weeks. Since piano was my first instrument, I always feel a bit thrilled, a bit nostalgic, and a bit anxious when I attend these, since they evoke nerve-wracking moments when I was 11, waiting in my teacher’s bedroom to go out into her living room to play for the discerning audience of parents. There was one standout among these four performances, that of the 80 year-old Georgian-Russian pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja. I have not heard a better recital in decades.  She was unknown to me, but should not be. Her recital was a gripping, old-school demonstration of classic Russian piano technique and musicianship, and was the best concert I have been to for several years. I loved her programming. In the first half she alternated bracing, dance-like Mozart with ...