Ópera do Castelo is an independent opera production structure based in Lisbon, which has been active since 2001 and was formalized in 2012, directed by soprano, artistic director and producer Catarina Molder. Assuming as its purpose the dissemination of opera to new and diverse audiences, as well as proposing new paths and formats for this genre. It presented traditional repertoire in Portuguese versions specially commissioned for (A Flauta Mágica, La Boheme and Clowns) a closer approach the audience. It launched several innovative projects that reconcile tradition and contemporary works, exploring the interdisciplinary condition of the genre, without forgetting the audiovisual dimension.
The shows presented approach the traditional repertoire from new perspectives, but also with unusual crossovers and including shows and other edited content to sensitize younger audiences to classical music, traditional and contemporary opera in recitals and staged concerts (book/CD Lets’ sing the classics, Leya 2008, art songs iconic repertoire in Portuguese versions and the opera tale CD Little Thumb and the true story of Babar, in Portuguese version, Ópera do Castelo Editions, 2011) held in reference spaces (but also in unexpected places and site-specific, such as the Street Opera cycles, in the heart of the Mouraria neighborhood, or opera at Bar Lux) and theaters and auditoriums all over the country.
Commission for new vocal repertoire, operas and other formats are made to composers and librettists (António Chagas Rosa, Alexandre Delgado, Eurico Carrapatoso, Nuno Côrte-Real, Luís Soldado, Sara Ross, João Ricardo, Ana Seara, Daniela Moreira, Nuno da Rocha, André Hencleeday, Afonso Portugal, Francisco Lima da Silva, Miguel Castro Caldas). Support and a stage and show case for emergence are granted to new performers and directors.
Opera do Castelo also launched the acclaimed television series Super Diva – opera for everyone, created by Catarina Molder, with three seasons (2013, 2015, 2018) for RTP2, the first being distinguished with the SPA award for the best television program, the second and third co-produced by German production company Unitel, and the third also in an English version, in international distribution, with the participation of the biggest stars in world opera (Antonio Pappano, Fiorenza Cossotto, Kristine Opolais, Sonia Yoncheva, Magdalena Kožená, Rolando Villazón, Kasper Holten, René Pape) and where it launches the Twitter Opera format, brief Operas in short film format, with contemporary Opera, in Portuguese language, by Portuguese composers.
In 2020, a new annual opera festival in Lisbon was created— the Operafest Lisboa e Oeiras (2), whose successive editions have contributed to the dynamism of the national operatic market, establishing itself as the main gateway for new audiences to opera in Portugal and a stage for emerging operatic talent in all areas. Once again crossing opera repertoire (Tosca Puccini (2020), Madama Butterfly Puccini (2021), Un Ballo in maschera (2022), Carmen and The Magic Flute Mozart (2023), Cavalleria Rusticana Mascagni and Pagliacci Leoncavallo and Don Giovanni (2024), La Traviata de Verdi and Dido and Aeneas Purcell (2024)- with the presentation of new repertoire, including national premieres of internationally renowned operas: A hand of Bridge (2001) and Vanessa (2025) Samuel Barber Jeremias Fisher Isabelle Aboulker (2010), Labyrinth Gian-Carlo Menotti (2022), Julie Philippe Boesmans (2025). It initiated an unprecedented number of national creatives to opera staging. Within the scope of this festival, it also been created a national competition for contemporary opera composition — Maratona Ópera XXI, which has led to the emergence of new repertoire and new protagonists, in all dimensions of operatic production.
Opera do Castelo held more than 13 absolute premieres, of small and medium format operas, as well as alternative formats, of which the opera “O Homem dos Sonhos” by António Chagas Rosa stands out, based on the homonymous short story by Mário de Sá-Carneiro, which had its absolute premiere in 2022 at the Teatro São Luiz, continuing on tour and also the production of its film version, in 2024 embodied and directed by Catarina Molder for the Rtp2, also in international distribution, as well as the edition of its CD and score by Ópera do Castelo Edições.
Other more recent projects include the launch, in 2025, of a new Art song festival that aims to reinvigorate the genre — Liedfest, progressively disappearing of concert halls worlwide,3 as well as an anthological fiction with opera created by Catarina Molder, produced for RTP2, directed by acclaimed Portuguese film director Carlos Conceição— Cortina Vermelha (Red Curtain) —, which marks the absolute premiere of opera in the audio-visual format of a fiction series.4
Ópera do Castelo Operafest Lisboa e Oeiras O Homem dos Sonhos
