Abril” was released in 2007, the year that marked the 20th anniversary of the singer’s death, and now returns to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution. This performance seeks to bring a “feminine perspective” to the work of José Afonso with the interpretation of Cristina Branco and musical arrangements and direction by pianist Ricardo Dias. It’s an immersive show where you can listen to timeless classics like ‘Menino d’Oiro,’ ‘Redondo Vocábulo,’ and ‘Índios da Meia Praia.’
Since ‘Post Scriptum’ (2000), the second album by Cristina Branco, João Paulo Esteves da Silva and the singer have been sharing unique live experiences, seen and heard by distant audiences but never recorded. This gave rise to the genesis of ‘Amoras numa Tarde de Outono’ (Blackberries on an Autumn Afternoon), a new album released in 2022 that aims to capture, like a photographic document, the work the duo has been weaving on stage for the past 20 years. The new work is now finally being presented live in its original formation – the piano and voice recital – thus seeking to recreate its simultaneously intimate and kaleidoscopic atmosphere, somewhere between fado and traditional music.
‘Mais que Fado’ – which means ‘more than fado’ – is a unique show that brings together the interpretative elegance of Cristina Branco’s voice, the inspiration and skill of the pianist Mário Laginha and the greatness of the Espinho Jazz Orchestra, here directed by Daniel Dias and Paulo Perfeito.
The show has already had several presentations, from which we highlight the two dates at Auditório de Espinho, in December 2021, and the concert at Casa da Cultura de Ílhavo, in February 2022.
In a celebration of music as a form of communication, CISMO (Cister Music Orchestra) proposes an unprecedented musical journey.
In an era of multiple sound identities often in overlapping, CISMO proposes an exercise of creative freedom in musical juxtaposition. Four composers are challenged to reimagine Cristina Branco’s repertoire, without making it lose its musical language and identity and without being mere re-arrangements. The new compositions should aim to renew our senses.
The show was first presented in June 2022, at the iconic and historic Mosteiro de Alcobaça.
During her career, Cristina Branco has created a path of her own. Fado is one of the starting points that has led her to partnerships with poets, authors and composers. The international expansion of her talent resulted in an assiduity between airports, train stations, endless car trips, constant temperature differences, dressing rooms, hotels and waiting hours.
The most obvious effect of these adventures on the road happened with her instrument: the voice. Upon her return to Portugal she had a medical check-up that changed her life: “Mineral water is mostly acidic, (…) and contributes to that burning sensation in the throat!”. That was the changing point. After researching, she started a very unassuming alkaline regimen, improving her diet and that of her family.
From there it was a small step to take these new habits to the road with her usual partners (musicians and technicians). That’s when the idea of ‘RoadCook’ came up. A set of practical, quick and healthy recipes to be prepared anywhere, wherever the road takes us. A special and unexpected sharing from Cristina Branco.
