Iberian Songs

Stories of theater, music and resistance I Concerto for piano and voice

From Federico Garcia Lorca, José Afonso and traditional Iberian I By André Louro and Catarina Santana

Available for tour

The repertoire is from two composers from the Iberian Peninsula, two men of theater and music: José and Federico revisited the traditional music of their countries and with it the cultural identity of it’s people, in the light of their sensibilities and in dialogue with their political and social contexts: for one a civil war that led to execution and for the other the exile that ended with a people’s revolution. André and Catarina follow their melodies and poems, arrange them, reinterpret them and merge their own history with these echoes of recent history: when these both actors met and started their artistic partnership more than 20 years ago in the rehearsals of the theater show “Fernão , mentes? ” with songs by José Afonso and Fausto; when they shared this heritage with the rest of Europe with the Portuguese-Belgian project, “Ursoluso, ceci n'est pas du fado”; when they created Companhia da Chanca with the same concern as Lorca when he starts the La Barraca project, taking art and culture to the most forgotten rural areas.

“This was André Louro and Catarina Santana performing brilliantly. I had seen André before and like his work but was so impressed with Catarina's performance. Apart from having the wonderful voice, she acted the songs with her whole body.”

Martin Fairley, Penela Friends