CASA DA MUSICA - Portugal

Designed to mark the festive year of 2001, in which the city of Porto was the European Capital of Culture, the Casa da Música is the first building in Portugal exclusively dedicated to music, both in the area of public presentation and performance, and in that of artistic training and creation.
The project for the Casa da Música was defined in 1999, following an international architectural competition which chose the solution presented by Rem Koolhaas - Office for Metropolitan Architecture. The Casa da Música was inaugurated in the spring of 2005, on 15 April.

A choral remembrance of the artistic ties between Portugal and Italy during the reign of King João V. The Casa da Música Choir performs works by the two famous Scarlattis: the father, Alessandro, a central figure of Italian Baroque especially known for his enormous operatic output; and the son, Domenico, celebrated for his extensive keyboard compositions. But here, we are shown different facets of both. 

Alessandro Scarlatti composed sacred music such as the Missa Clementina, dedicated to Pope Clement XI and intended for the Sistine Chapel. The work is striking for its reference to Renaissance polyphony, evoking the conservative style of Palestrina, which was already far removed from the year 1705.

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Laetatus sum is a psalm set to music by Domenico Scarlatti, embracing the colors of the stile concertato, placing two sopranos in dialogue with the choir. It is a testament to the composer’s presence in Portugal for nine years, having been written for the Lisbon Patriarchal Church around 1720. 

During that same period, João Rodrigues Esteves was one of the musicians sent by the king to study in Rome. Upon his return, he contributed a vast body of work on par with the best produced in Portugal at the time, particularly excelling in polychoral pieces such as this Miserere mei, Deus.