Rodrigo Leão | Os Portugueses – UGURU release scheduled for November 2024 to February 2025
OS PORTUGUESES (vol.2) 2024/25 follows on from the soundtrack for the documentary ‘Portugal, um retrato social’ (2007), and the CD ‘Os Portugueses’ (2018).
The relationship with the memories of 70s music heard as a teenager is the starting point for original compositions in Portuguese, sometimes polyphonic and using traditional instruments such as the adufe or bombo. The artistic challenge is to integrate into this artist’s creative universe, which is made up of many different musical, literary and visual influences, aspects that are very directly related to the songs mentioned and the journeys he has made around our country. It is these landscapes, conversations, shared feelings of melancholy and happiness, images of our villages and countryside, our cities and their cafés, people’s faces, that have created a strong artistic and emotional desire to continue composing linked to the expression of a feeling of Portugueseness. The majority of the lyrics are written by Ana Carolina Costa and will be accompanied by some folk songs or poems by other Portuguese authors. As usual, part of the CD’s conception is the creation of an object with a strong visual component, in this case based on inspired photographs by Alfredo Cunha. In performative communication, the visual component will also be fundamental. The aforementioned photos will intensify the relationship between the music and the projected images that are like the soul of what is said and sung. The traditional instruments will also be a component, not just sonically, but visually. The sharing, also on stage, of traditional instruments with more classical and contemporary ones reinforces the identity symbol of what it means to be Portuguese, in what our culture represents in terms of dialogue with various worlds, both artistic and in terms of communication between peoples. Fundamental to the sentimental appropriation of what is going to be heard, in this work you can already feel that space of discovery that the images and performance will reinforce, inspiring, from the outset, the method of creation that is developing in a very intuitive way, but on well-defined ground and founded on what has been and continues to be present in Rodrigo Leão’s universe. The historical and musical past does not appear, therefore, as a demonstrative character, but as a starting point for the creation of yet another contribution so that we can confront the fact that we are Portuguese, in an identity that is questioned and that always depends on the gaze of those who see and feel it.
Tour Details
Rodrigo Leão – Tour: The Portuguese – 6 musicians on stage
The Os Portugueses concert presents a selection of Rodrigo’s compositions sung in Portuguese that have become some of his best-loved songs, along with instrumental classics that emphasise the indefinable Portugueseness of his melodic inspiration. From the end of this year, Rodrigo Leão will also incorporate songs from his new album to be released at that time.
On stage, Rodrigo will be accompanied by a guest singer and an ensemble anchored by a string section (violin, cello and viola), as well as a multi-instrumentalist who will allow him to reproduce the multiple sound environments of the original recordings on stage.
Press
“a marvellous ability to construct beautiful pieces from a modest handful of notes”, El pais
“A serious composer and an innovative musician.”, Songlines
“Sublime”, El Mundo