Porto Casa do Musica - A DJ at the Orchestra

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Porto Day #4 - Saturday morning in a light rain.

Yesterday was quite a beautiful day in Porto and we got to see more of the city since we took a Taxi in the evening to the Casa do Musica. I had found in my research about Porto last winter that the City had a concert hall designed by Rem Koolhass in 1999. I liked his work on the Seattle Public Library and so I found a concert that we could attend, and also see the building. Well, both the building and the concert were very modern and I suppose hip would be a word you would have to use. Quit cringing. First, the concert hall is the most modern hall I've ever been in. The outside is all white, clueing you to know it was build in the 1990s not the 2010's. It would be black if build today.

The building has 7 floors, the top 2 were a wonderful, airy restaurant where we had desserts before the show and a drink afterwards. The Concert hall was not rectangular but the seating was in perfect straight rows, 5 rows raised behind the stage, the stage in the middle and then 25 rows in front of the stage. The seats where low bench-like affairs and were quite comfortable. The sightlines were unobstructed. The walls were a warm combination of golden and darker wood and some wavy glass. There was a small box seat on one side with 10 seats. For the Royals I guess. It was empty.

Each end of the concert hall was windows that were covered with a very modern fabric curtain during the performances, but that raised at the end. The top floor with the restaurant also has a small trapezoidal outside space where an immense glass door would open for as you approached and you could walk out almost onto the roof. Veery Koolhass.

The Music was the Full ORQUESTRA SINFONIA do Porto Casa da Musicia. The program was three parts. The initial 12 minute piece was from 2013 by a North American composer Mason Bates called THE RISE OF EXOTIC COMPUTING. It was dense and deftly preformed by the entire 80 musicians. I liked it best though I can't exactly say why. The second 20 minute piece was the most contemporary and included in the orchestra a trumpet, a percussionist and a "turntableist" a young DJ named MR SWITCH who fronted the orchestra and added something, but it was mostly lost to me in the mix of the song. The Trumpet and Percussion were excellent and easily appreciated. The third piece was a straight-up 34 minute Russian classical piece composed in 1929 by Sergei Prokofieff which I liked very much.

And the Senior tickets were only 21.25 Euro

Lunch yesterday was at Traça Restaurante near our hotel, it was 28 euro. It was a place I read about in the NYT. You can eat very well very reasonably here.

We have two more days here in Porto and it looks like it will be raining on and off.

Then we go the Coimbra, Portugal's third largest city and a University town Rick Steve's calls the Oxford of Portugal.

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