In Spiritum journeys back in time inspired by the water and the Age of Discoveries

This is the 5th edition of the In Spiritum Festival, which takes place in Porto, from 16 to 19 May and "invites audiences to discover the city" through music, under the motto of water and the Age of Portuguese Discoveries.

"This edition, the programming is extremely diverse, the aim being the sharing of relevant information on the history and the heritage of the city of Porto. We want each concert to be a memorable and unique moment, connecting both music and the venues in a kind of mystical experience", according to Maestro Cesário Costa, the festival's Artistic Director.

The In Spiritum Festival connects Porto's Historic Centre, declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. As in previous editions, it will focus on the Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassic periods.

The festival will take to venues such as the Salão Árabe of Palácio da Bolsa, the Romantic Museum of Quinta da Macieirinha, The Casa do Infante, the Church of São João Novo and for the first time, to the Cruise Terminal of the Port of Leixões, in Matosinhos.

The festival features the concert by the singer Iman Kandoussi, a kind of "expert in the Arabic Andalus and Eastern chant", featuring the "nubas" and other melodies and tunes from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Three musicians will accompany this performance, playing the lute and the rabel.

Another outstanding concert will be delivered by the Portuguese pianist Raúl da Costa, who will take to the stage at the Theatre Helena Sá e Costa, a concert themed "1928: History of a visit to the Porto Ravel - Luiz da Costa", on 17 May.

The Romantic Museum of Quinta da Macieirinha will be the perfect venue to host pianist David Santos and the baritone André Baleiro, on 18 May, at 6pm. This performance will revive "the ambiance of a "music ballroom of the seventeen century".

Also, the Portuguese musician Ricardo Leitão Pedro "will perform the classics of the chansonnier", which is a manuscript or printed book that contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally "song-books". The musician will play the vihuela, which is a guitar-shaped string instrument from 15th- and 16th-century Spain, Portugal and Italy, usually with five or six doubled strings. This concert takes place at Casa do Infante, at 9.30pm.

Harpist Carolina Coimbra will deliver a concert "by the waters of Matosinhos", offering the audience to "deliver new sonorities, enjoying the essential view to the sea", at the Cruise Terminal in the Port of Leixões, on 19 May, at 12am.

The In Spiritum Festival concludes with the concert at the Church of São João Novo, on 19 May, at 6pm. The church's gilded woodcarvings will make for the extraordinary setting for the performance of Stabat Mater, by the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, the Orquestra Bomtempo, the Soprano Carolina Figueiredo and Patrycja Gabriel, directed by Cesário Costa.

Tickets can be purchased online and cost 12.50 euros.

This festival is jointly produced by Porto City Hall and by the Cultural Association InSpiritum. 

Contacts:

info@festivalinspiritum.pt

+351 222 080 150