Macau International Music Festival | 6 October to 5 November 2006
Macau International Music Festival | This is a Festival that every year brings to Macau some of the finest orchestras, singers, choirs and music players. The programme contemplates both the Western and the Chinese classical and modern music.
On a festive note, the MACAO INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL toasts Macao with its twentieth season. This year’s is a large and diverse programme, offering free admission to many of its concerts. It is a musical marathon centred on the traditional cornerstones of opera and musical theatre. World-class productions return once again to the time-honoured stage of the MIMF beginning this Friday, until 5 November.
This year Macao is graced with the presence of the two former artistic directors of the event that became the emblem of cultural life in Macao some twenty years ago. Pianist Adriano Jordão, currently cultural advisor of Portugal in Brasilia, inaugurated the position in 1987, passing the torch in the 90’s to João Pereira Bastos. They come to relive memories with an extra dose of curiosity about the fate of that seed, planted in the fertile soil here by the Macao Government two decades ago, meant to nourish the cultural exchange between East and West. The result is plain for all to see: packed venues and more shows than ever, many of them free to the public this year.
The MIMF was a success from the start, with the biggest international stars enchanting a public with whom they shared great moments of intimacy, given the hallmark closeness enjoyed in every Festival concert. A closeness only possible in tiny, romantic Macao.
It was in this romantic atmosphere that Christa Ludwig, more than 15 years ago, in the beautiful surroundings of Lou Lim Ieoc Garden, performed before a public eager for outstanding cultural offerings and charmed all who listened with her lyric mezzo-soprano voice, one of the greatest of her era. But from its very first edition, the MIMF programme was home to names like Ileana Cotrubas and Lucia Valentini Terrani, who shared in the applause of the inaugural season.
Such noble Macao venues as the Dom Pedro V Theatre and the Lou Lim Ieoc Garden Pavilion have hosted many unforgettable names in the arts. In 1989, Alfredo Kraus put the region on the bel canto map. Sándor Végh and the Salzburg Camerata gave a memorable performance in Taipa the year before. It was in this time that one of the most charismatic figures in the world of arts brightened Macao with her glamour and charm: Audrey Hepburn (UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador).
More recently, the great Chinese composer Tan Dun provided music of the highest calibre in the Ruins of St. Paul’s, and orchestras like the BBC Symphony, in 2004, and the New York Philharmonic brought to light masterworks of the great composers. These shows kindle fond memories in Warren Mok, Artistic Director of the MIMF since the Macao Handover in 1999, who on many occasions has joined the casts of the Festival’s operas.
The MACAO INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL relies on local talent as well, including performances by the Macao Orchestra and local groups like the Perosi Choir, and creating on-stage encounters between the Macao Chinese Orchestra and Portuguese artists.
With a larger public than ever before applauding its shows, the MIMF returns this year to bring the renovated city an even more eclectic programme, catering to the increasingly diverse audiences that characterise Macao today. Classical, traditional, rock, fado and electronica are among the sounds that will echo throughout the city, from the Cultural Centre to the intimacy of the Dom Pedro V and the open air of the Mount Fortress.
Courtesy | MACAO CULTURAL AFFAIRS BUREAU
