Lied Fest Lisboa 2025

Review by António Lourenço in Classical. 7/02/2025

LIEDFEST: Reviving the Art of Song

The Lied holds a place of great importance within Classical Music, and LIEDFEST represented yet another valuable contribution by soprano Catarina Molder to the promotion and reaffirmation of this essential genre. Despite its historical and artistic significance, the art of song has, in recent years, been increasingly neglected—often removed from the main auditoriums and concert halls, both in Portugal and internationally.

Recitals for voice and piano, whether in the German Lied tradition or the French mélodie, have become increasingly rare. Yet through the poetry of great writers, composers have created extraordinary musical miniatures capable of expressing the full spectrum of human emotion—from joy and intimacy to longing and sorrow. It is worth recalling that Franz Schubert alone composed around 600 Lieder, a testament to the centrality of this genre in the Romantic repertoire.

LIEDFEST took place at the newly renovated Teatro Variedades, in Lisbon’s Parque Mayer, offering a fresh and imaginative approach to the recital format. Several concerts incorporated choreographed movement and lighting design, elements rarely associated with traditional song recitals, adding a new expressive dimension for both singer and pianist.

One highlight was a recital dedicated to Portuguese song, with poetry by Luís de Camões, performed by mezzo-soprano Cátia Moreso, who also led a masterclass, contributing significantly to the festival’s pedagogical dimension.

The festival also included an illuminating conference on German Lied poetry, presented by writer and translator João Barrento and philosopher Maria Filomena Molder, offering valuable insight into the literary and philosophical foundations of the genre.

Particularly striking was the recital devoted to Chausson’s mélodies, alongside Russian excerpts from Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District and Katerina Ismailova, under the theme Five Forms of Love. This concert featured an original staging, with Catarina Molder joined on stage by a quartet of musicians, who actively participated in the dramatic unfolding of the performance.

Further recitals—always enhanced by carefully designed lighting—explored nocturnal themes, notably In the Mysteries of the Night, culminating in a grand finale that included Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben, Poulenc’s Fiançailles pour rire, and Granados’ Canciones Amatorias.

LIEDFEST thus reaffirmed the enduring relevance of the art song, proving that Lied remains not only a historical treasure, but a living and adaptable form, capable of resonating deeply with contemporary audiences.

A Ópera do Castelo Production

António Lourenço

António Lourenço is an opera and cinema enthusiast whose life has been deeply intertwined with the performing arts, both as a musician and as a devoted observer of the world’s great cultural stages.

He received his lyrical training as a singer at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, where he performed as a tenor with the São Carlos Choir. For more than two decades, he also sang with the Lisboa Cantat Symphonic Choir, dedicating himself especially to the great masterpieces of sacred choral music. Alongside his choral work, he performed solo recitals of Italian opera arias and pursued studies in sight-singing and piano.

He refined his vocal and musical skills in masterclasses in Italy and Spain with distinguished artists, including the legendary soprano Montserrat Caballé and the renowned baritone Renato Bruson, as well as other prominent singers, pianists, and instrumental virtuosos. His repertoire has spanned a wide range of composers, from Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner to Fauré, Poulenc, and Gershwin, embracing opera, symphonic-choral works, and sacred music. He has taken part in numerous large-scale works, including more than thirty performances of Carmina Burana, and has sung in eight languages.

Beyond performing, António has spent decades attending opera and concerts in many of the world’s leading venues. Since 1959, he has followed the seasons at São Carlos and has attended performances at houses such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House in London, the Palais Garnier and Opéra Bastille in Paris, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Wiener Staatsoper, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, and the Bayreuth Festival. He has also attended concerts in major European halls and at the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, hearing many of the 20th century’s most celebrated conductors, singers, and instrumentalists during what he considers a golden era of performance.

His passion for the arts extends equally to cinema. A dedicated film lover, he has watched thousands of films at the Cinemateca in Lisbon and in Spain, attended masterclasses with filmmakers, interviewed director Costa-Gavras, and taken part in some film productions. His interest in live performance also includes theatre, with memorable experiences attending productions in London featuring actors such as Laurence Olivier, Paul Scofield, and Maggie Smith.

As a critic and commentator, António Lourenço approaches both opera and film with a sensitivity to detail, artistic intention, and cultural context. He listens and watches with the ear of a musician and the eye of a storyteller, always attentive to the dialogue between tradition and innovation, and eager to share that lifelong passion with others.

Thanks to: Catarina Molder