Raquel Tavares | Singer
“It’s people who make cities”
With traditional notes and contemporary chords, singer Raquel Tavares and composer and musician Rodrigo Leão write the score and add the vocals to Lisbon.
Text: Guadalupe Rodríguez | Photos: Carlos Luján | Video: Kreativa Visual
Rodrigo Leão | Composer and musician
“Lisbon is present in my music”
Rodrigo Leão’s career is a metaphor for Portugal’s evolution. Without turning his back on his roots and traditions, he has absorbed outside influences to take his music all over the world.
Text: Guadalupe Rodríguez | Photos: Carlos Luján | Video: Kreativa Visual
Since he started out in the 80s as part of the groups Sétima Legião first and Madredeus later, composer, keyboard player and guitarist Rodrigo Leão has gone back to the roots of Portuguese music, reclaiming instruments like the accordion. He has mixed them with a wide range of influences, from British pop to new age and Brazilian music, building a career as a soundtrack and album composer and collaborator with several notable singers. “Portuguese music has a very strong identity. Not just Fado; there are other groups that are closer to Portuguese folk music,” he says, sitting in 100 Maneiras restaurant close to his home, on the same sofa where the cover photo was taken for his latest album ‘Life is Long’, together with Scott Matthew.
When he isn’t on tour, Leão divides his time between Alentejo, where he finds the peace and quiet he needs to compose, and Lisbon. There, he likes to walk around Chiado and along the banks of the Tagus, from Cais do Sodré to Alcântara. “The walk takes an hour there and back, against a backdrop of extraordinary light. Cais do Sodré and Barrio Alto are two places with a lot of movement at night, with young people, lots of bars and restaurants. For people who like a lively nightlife they’re the best places in Lisbon.” If, on the other hand you’re after a quieter atmosphere, Leão recommends Praça das Flores, near Príncipe Real, and Estrela garden. “En Lisboa han abierto espacios nuevos donde escuchar a grupos de música en directo, más restaurantes… Se ha dado una nueva vida a Lisboa, no sólo por la noche, pero durante el día también. Cada vez hay una mayor oferta de espectáculos. No sólo en el verano, con todos los festivales, a los que acuden los grupos más conocidos de pop rock; también con una programación en salas como el Coliseo del Centro Cultural de Belém que no existía hace diez años”, se felicita el músico.
“In Lisboa they’ve opened new venues where you can listen to live music, more restaurants… Lisbon has been given a new lease of life, not only at night but during the day as well. There are more shows running every day. Not only in summer, with all the festivals, where you get the most famous pop rock groups, there’s also a packed programme at show venues like the Coliseum at the Belém Cultural Centre that didn’t exist ten years ago,” says the musician happily. “Of course I feel that there’s something of Lisbon, of Portugal, in my music because I love living here. It may not be very obvious but there are some melodies that are very Portuguese. There’s a certain melancholy that’s very typical of Portugal, that’s very present in the songs I try to write.” But Leão assures us that this melancholnia or romanticism isn’t necessarily sad, but can actually be the opposite. “There’s a little sadness, a little melancholy, but there’s poetry and hope too; living near the sea, having wine, food, it’s all part of our culture.”
