Take the journey through Porto's unique tradition with the In Spiritum Festival
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The festival that celebrates music and heritage is back in Porto under the motto of water and the Age of Portuguese Discoveries. The In Spiritum Festival kicks off on 16 May at Palácio da Bolsa with singer Iman Kandoussi, an "expert in the Arabic Andalus and Eastern chant", featuring the "nubas" and other melodies and tunes from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
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.
On 18 May, at 6pm, the Romantic Museum of Quinta da Macieirinha will be the perfect venue to host pianist David Santos and the baritone André Baleiro. This performance will revive "the ambiance of a "music ballroom of the seventeen century".
In addition, 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 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 are an 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.
This event connects Porto's Historic Centre, declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, with early music to champion "the unique ambience of each space", with "a varied musical programme, both in style and time period", according to the venue that hosts each concert at the Invicta.
Tickets are available online.
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This festival is jointly produced by Porto City Hall and by the Cultural Association In Spiritum.