The 33rd edition of Cistermúsica - Alcobaça Music Festival kicks off

First concerts at Alcobaça Monastery feature Puccini, Bach, Ravel, orchestras and Cistercian music at the Festival that is ‘A Classic for Everyone’

This Friday marks the start of the 33rd edition of the Alcobaça Music Festival, which runs until 2 August, with multiple offerings that explore classical music from all eras and its Variations, Impressions and Illusions. The first five concerts in the Main Programme confirm the diversity and breadth of this festival, which is ‘A Classic for Everyone’.

The Opening Concert will take place on 27 June at 9.30 pm in the monumental Central Nave of the Alcobaça Monastery, with a unique moment in store: the performance of Giacomo Puccini's magnificent Messa di Gloria, a work of great beauty and expressiveness. With free admission, this concert will feature the Ricercare Choir, soloists João Rodrigues (tenor) and Armando Possante (bass), and the Lisbon Sinfonietta Orchestra, conducted by Vasco Pearce de Azevedo.

This is followed by an unmissable recital by Pedro Burmester in the D. Dinis Cloister of the Alcobaça Monastery on Saturday, 28th, at 9:30 pm. The pianist brings us one of the most sublime works in the keyboard repertoire, J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations. This weighty work, composed of 30 variations that provide moments of contemplation, ecstasy and also introspection, is now revisited by the pianist, thirty-two years after his first recording. In the words of writer Valter Hugo Mãe: ‘Pedro Burmester's brilliant return to the Goldberg Variations is like that of a sage prepared to return home’.

Cistercian music echoes once again in the unique atmosphere of the Monastery's Chapter House with the Divinum Misterium programme by Ars Choralis Coeln. The Cologne-based group returns to the festival with a programme dedicated to the fascinating world of the Cistercian nuns and their music, to be heard on 3 July at 9.30 pm.

Also noteworthy is the Junior and Family programme, which in this first week includes the Alcobaça Dance Academy's End-of-Year Shows, Cartas de um Corpo Errante (Letters from a Wandering Body) on 28 June at 6 pm and A Caixa de Lápis de Cor (The Box of Coloured Pencils) on 29 June at 4 pm, both at the Alcobaça Cinema-Theatre - João d'Oliva Monteiro (CTA). Also on the 29th, students from the Alcobaça Music Academy will perform their End-of-Year Show in Praça D. Afonso Henriques at 6 pm. Finally, the winners of the ‘Pequenos Grandes Talentos’ competition will take to the stage at the CTA on 2 July at 9.30 pm.

The full programme is available at www.cistermusica.com and tickets are on sale at the Blueticket box office and at the Alcobaça Music Academy.

Organised by ABA – Banda de Alcobaça Associação de Artes, the festival is supported by the ‘La Caixa’ Foundation, in collaboration with BPI, and the Portuguese Republic – Culture / Directorate-General for the Arts. It is held in partnership with the Municipality of Alcobaça and Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, EPE /Mosteiro de Alcobaça, with Volkswagen as the official sponsor.