Artists gave voice to the lyrics of Antonio Variações in a homage concert
With only two albums – Anjo da Guarda (1983) and Dar & Receber (1984) – Antonio Variações became one of the greatest figures of Portuguese pop music, leaving for posterity a remarkable set of songs transformed into timeless classics, voice and others – for example, in the discs Estou Além, by Lena d’Água (1989) and the project Humans (2004), both made from the many home recordings and models that left unfinished.
Variações was a pioneer in the way he merged Portuguese folklore and fado with the best references of international pop-rock, his music proved to be a perfect symbiosis between tradition and modernity like never before been heard here.
On June 29, the festivities of Lisbon were closed with a tribute to Variações, where Ana Bacalhau, Conan Osiris, Lena d’Água, Manuela Azevedo, Paulo Bragança and Selma Uamusse were the singers invited to give voice to the artist’s words in an unprecedented spectacle with symphonic arrangements by Filipe Melo, Filipe Raposo and Pedro Moreira, performed by the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra conducted by Maestro Cesário Costa and accompanied by the Gospel Collective Choir and João Gentil on the accordion.
This concert promotes the meeting between the genial simplicity of the music of Variations and the instrumental diversity and timbre richness of a symphony orchestra. There are no synthesizers, drums or electric guitars, but the lush aesthetic of Variations music remains.
The movie “Variações” opens in August with the title “Variações”, where we will be able to see the story of the artist on the large screens. The character of Variações is played by Sérgio Praia, and the filmmaker João Maia is the director and screenwriter of the project.
If his passage through the world had not been fleeting like an incandescent star, this year Antonio Variações would be 75 years old. Their songs are timeless and have influenced several generations of artists, who often return to them in search of inspiration and references to their work.
Check out the photo gallery of the concert
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