Casino Estoril reopened the Salão Preto e Prata starting a new season of shows with a special concert by Rodrigo Leão to present his album “O Método” and the new EP “Avis 2020”.
[dropcap]In[/dropcap] this special concert, on August 15, Rodrigo Leão looked at the material of the album “O Método”, work with which he rose to number 1 of the national sales tables immediately before quarantine, and also presented his new EP “Avis 2020”, a record that results from reflection during the period of confinement and with which brought us new compositions that deepen the ideas and the sound of this latest album.
The concert was in the Salão Preto e Prata, at Casino Estoril, with a very intimate audience, and was also live-streamed in the LIVEONTHE NET virtual room with a seating capacity limited to 2000 tickets. The concert was produced by Uguru and sponsored by Casino Estoril, Antena 1 and SIC.
The concert started with a video made by Henrique Oliveira and Take It Easy Film, followed by Rodrigo Leão, together with Viviane Tupikova, Angela Silva, João Eleutério and Carlos Toni Gomes, starting the concert. This being Rodrigo Leão’s first streaming concert, he calls for all of us to take care of each other so that we can see more live concerts and that he can also be with us as an audience.
In a beautiful and vulnerable moment, Rodrigo dedicated his song “Cinema” to Gonçalo Vilas Boas, who unfortunately died unexpectedly this week. The concert had also a strong visual component, with animations, drawings, and videos, in which the ideas of transcendence, innocence and purity were explored through evocative images.
To present the theme “A Bailarina“, the choir Nova Era, composed of nine elements, directed by conductor João Barcos, was brought on stage. This song “A Bailarina” is the first theme of the album and originally has the voice of Sofia, one of Rodrigo’s daughters, a lullaby sung in an invented language.
We also heard two older songs “Carpe Diem” with the voice of Angela Silva, and “Ave Mundi“, from the album “Ave Mundi Luminar“.
From his most recent EP “Avis 2020” he played two themes he wrote during the confinement, the artist said that initially, it was not easy to write during the quarantine, but little by little he started to work giving rise to this new EP composed of nine original, small instrumental themes elegiac pieces that both expose tranquillity and the pleasant passage of time, as well as some tension.
The EP, written in Avis, in Alentejo, is co-produced by João Eleutério and Pedro Oliveira, two longtime friends of Rodrigo Leão, and features new compositions that deepen the ideas and sound of his latest album.
The production of the concert was extremely well taken care of, and the online transmission was ensured with realization of multi-cameras and mixing of multi-track sound in real-time so that all the fans can enjoy the music in the best possible conditions. This was a unique experience anchored in a moment that the artist and fans shared in an even more intense and intimate way.
Rodrigo Leão started his career in 1985 when he joined the Madredeus group with Pedro Ayres Magalhães, Francisco Ribeiro, Gabriel Gomes and Teresa Salgueiro.
In 1993, he started his solo career with the album Ave Mundi Luminar, becoming one of the most prestigious Portuguese artists with some albums reaching the 1st place in the sales charts in Portugal, several recordings of his have seen an international edition in such prestigious brands as Deutsche Grammophon and Sony Classical. Rodrigo also wrote soundtracks for films such as the comedy A Gaiola Dourada, the drama nominated for the Oscars The Butler and the documentary about the 1960s No Intenso Agora.
In his songs, he collaborated with artists such as Beth Gibbons from Portishead, Neil Hannon from Divine Comedy, Scott Matthew, Rui Reininho from GNR, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Ludovico Einaudi.
“O Metodo” is the artist’s latest project that was inspired by very different works together with the influences of composers like Nils Frahm, Ólafur Arnalds and Max Richter. It is a very environmental album, with beautiful melodies inspired by childhood memories and that seek a certain idea of innocence.
Rodrigo Leão‘s next confirmed concert for 2020 will be on December 23 at Convento São Francisco, in Coimbra.
