International Cultural Festival ‘Kypria 2009’ presents
24th September, D’Avila Moat, Nicosia, 20:30
25th September, Castle Square, Pafos, 20:30
Dulce Pontes the Portuguese Artist with the distinctive and unmistakable voice will be performing her new project ‘Moments’ at the D’Avila Moat in Nicosia and the Castle Sqare in Pafos and will surely leave the audience spellbound with her awe-inspiring and soul harrowing voice. The concerts will take place on the 24th and 25th of September within the framework of the international Festival Kypria 2009 organized by the ministry of Education and Culture, Cultural Services.
Over the years DULCE PONTES has evolved into a renowned star of World Music, but more than anyone in this genre, Dulce is a diva – like a Lusitanian Callas.
Dulce was born in 1969 in Montijo, in the vicinity of Lisbon. A young Dulce was introduced to the Portuguese Fado tradition by her uncle Carlos Pontes, Fado singer and a lover of bullfights. At the age of seven she began studying piano at the National Conservatory of Music in Lisbon, and it was here that her curiosity for music was aroused, and she acquired an insatiable instinct to research music which would eventually lead her to the multifaceted international career she possesses today.
Dulce burst onto the World Music scene with the song ‘Canção do Mar’ – a kind of folk aria, rich with vast and dramatic minor chords that served as a backdrop to the sweeping power of her supremely emotional voice. Included on the album, Lágrimas, which became one of the best-selling records of all time in Portugal, this song appeared on the soundtrack of the 1996 Hollywood film Primal Fear, and is to this day Dulce’s instantly recognizable and world-known trademark song.
With her global success, Dulce became a citizen of the world. Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, the United States, Japan, Brazil, Dulce was everywhere, singing in a strange language on the stage, and achieving the miracle of proving that great music is a universal language. Her inimitable voice cannot be categorized within any style that limits her; it knows no national boundaries that can stop her. Her voice and singing are her very own style and, for that reason it is a style that is unique and unmistakable.
Through her career, Dulce Pontes released several records of Fado and Portuguese folk music, but expanded beyond the boundaries of Portuguese music. Her artistic explorations know no geographical or cultural borders. Her work is inspired and influenced not only by Iberian musical tradition, but also Arabic, African, Brazilian and Bulgarian. She sings mostly in her native Portuguese, but also in Spanish, Galician, Mirandese, Italian, English and Greek.
Invitations from international music stars for collaborations and her participation in concerts and recordings came of her versatility and fame. She has performed with Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, the Spanish tenor José Carreras, the Brazilians Simone, Cesaria Evora from Cape-Verde, the Brazilian Caetano Veloso, the Spanish bagpipe player Carlos Nuñez, and The Chieftains from Ireland. She has performed with George Dalaras, collaborated with Stefanos Korkolis, and the Greek singer Eleftheria Arvanitaki for whom she composed a song for her album Broadcast. Dulce’s 2003 album Focus is the fruit of collaboration with Italian film composer Ennio Morricone, on which she vocally interpreted his famous compositions, as well as some works that he created especially for her.
In Cyprus, Dulce will be presenting her new tour "Momentos", which is a celebration of this versatile and prolific artist's 20 year career span. She will be accompanied by her world famous, nine piece band, performing together some of her most recognizable and loved work to date as well as previously unreleased songs and new versions of her songs recorded earlier in her career. Some songs will be specifically chosen for the Cyprus concerts.
The tour "Momentos", started in the Spring of 2009 with great success. All concerts to date have sold out and the tour is gaining momentum by each new show. "Momentos", is inspirational and has managed once again to establish her title as the Queen of Fado, bringing her followers even closer to the sound of Dulce.
Audiences should expect nothing less than a couple of mesmerizing evenings with Portugal's or maybe even Europe’s top voice.
Press
“When Dulce Pontes started a song at Carnegie Hall…she flooded them with emotion: longing, seductiveness, bravado, desperation, strength.”
The New York Times
“Unlike many singers in her country, she is individual...a clone of no one.”
The Live Music Report
“Sometimes she sings with a mournful cry, other times in a hallucinatory staccato. Dulce Pontes is a mesmerizing and versatile instrument of Fado. And Fado, the national song of Portugal and a word that means "fate," is meant to be heard live.”
The Standard – Times
“Pontes passion is hard to resist.”
The Boston Herald
“I think this record is one of the most important collaborations I’ve ever done with a singer. I knew the final result would be a success, but I didn’t imagine that the whole experience would be so extraordinary.”
“She has qualities on this record which are so chameleon-like, so complete, so incredibly varied and versatile, that I have to say she touches all the aspects of singing, all ways of singing.”
Ennio Morricone about their 2003 collaborative album Focus
“…This album holds the mystery of things that have never been said out loud. It urges us to share them with the ones we love, but also with the rest of the silent and intense universe that surrounds us.”
Brazilian novelist Paolo Coelho about Focus
“We've arrived at the Portuguese coast and have delivered ourselves to the melancholy of Fado, hanging from the lips of Dulce Pontes. Wonderful voice! Breathtaking, full of passion, theatrically, flaming, came on stage barefoot, dressed in the colours of the sand, her cry took us into another dimension where the sweet lyrics of the fado Lágrima were present. Accompanied by the bouzuki of Manoli Karadini and the baglamadaki of George Dalaras.”
I Kathimerini on Dulce Pontes at Herode Atticus Odeon
BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!!
Tickets:
€18 General admission
€12 for pensioners, students and National Guard conscripts
€9 for children under the age of 12
Lefkosia:
Strovolos Municipal Theatre: 22-313010
Megaland Diagoras Avenue: 22-456622
Megaland Ledras: 22-670338
Musical Paradise: 22-750505
Lemesos:
Irenis Str. Box Office 158: 25878744
Rialto Theatre: 77777745
Brent Cross Anexartisias: 25-378344
Brent Cross Makariou: 25-747814
Musical Paradise Makariou: 25-822380
Musical Paradise Kolonakiou: 25-324025
Pafos:
Public information Centre: 80008181
Kalypso Music Store: 26-949296
Pafos Castle Square Box Office
Larnaca:
Larnaca Municipal Theatre: 24-665795
Accapella Music Store: 24-664165
Online Tickets:
www.fluffyfish.net
Please note that online tickets carry a 7% Handling Fee
For more information contact:
FLUFFYFISH PRODUCTIONS:
Tel: 25 66 14 66
Fax: 25 56 32 31
Email: info@fluffyfish.net
Web: www.fluffyfish.net