Opera in Portugal in the Last Quarter of the Twentieth Century: A Reflection on the Theatrical and Musical Issues in Creating Music Theatre

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article proposes a critical perspective on operatic production carried out in Portugal in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Through concrete examples, I examine the issues that arise in the process of creating the newly composed opera and music theatre. The aesthetic differences existing between these two genres partly depend on the relationships that composers have with theatre and/or stage directors. Therefore, I scrutinise the circumstances that led Portuguese composers to write new operas after the Carnation Revolution (1974), focusing on their creative processes as an attempt to answer the following critical questions: How did composers choose their librettos? What technical assistance did they have and at what stage of the creative process? Were some of these methods of writing opera applicable to music theatre? I propose to debate these issues through the critical eye of a person who actively participated in these productions, whether as a correpetiteur pianist working with singers, chorus master, or conductor. Ultimately, I intend to illustrate how the Carnation Revolution affected these operatic productions.