Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DON'T MISS
PORTO'S MUSIC MECCA
Grand and minimalist, sophisticated yet populist, dreamt up by a local cultural elite and beloved by young bo-
220 120 220;
www.casadamusica.com
; Av da Boavista 604; tours per person €3; tours 4pm daily) opened its
doors in 2005. Like a gigantic piece of raw crystal, the cloud-white concrete exterior is at once rigorously geo-
metric and defiantly asymmetrical. But that monolithic sheathing doesn't prepare you for the surprisingly varied
delights inside.
At the building's heart is a classic shoebox-style concert hall, meticulously engineered to accommodate
everything from jazz duets to Beethoven's Ninth. It's also home to most of the building's right angles. The rest of
the rooms - from classrooms to group rehearsal spaces to professional soundproof practice studios to a light-filled
VIP lounge - wind around the central hall in a progression of trapezoids and acute angles. It's as if architect Rem
Koolhaas has deliberately crushed and twisted the sombre geometry of high modernism, then added narrative
touches such as
azulejos
and gilded furnishings - though always refracted through his own peculiar vision.
The hall holds concerts most nights of the year, from classical to jazz, and fado to electronica (look out for one
of the Casa's all-night raves popular among local beat freaks), with occasional summer concerts staged outdoors
in the adjoining plaza. It also offers one-hour guided
tours
in English led by students from Porto's highly re-
garded school of architecture.
Other ways to interact with the space include having a coffee or a light meal in the ground-floor cafe
Bar dos
160; lunch & dinner Mon-Sat) , or jacking into the lobby's dozen-seat digitopia where you can tickle key-
boards linked to Macs souped up with pro-grade mixing and beat-making software, and leave with a demo CD,
all for free.
Entertainment
Fado
Porto has no fado tradition of its own, but you can enjoy the Lisbon or Coimbra versions
of 'Portuguese blues' into the wee hours at several places in town.
Restaurante O Fado
OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP
( 222 026 937;
www.ofado.com
; Largo de São João Novo 16; 8.30pm-2am
Mon-Sat)
is a great option, but an even greater spot is
Casa da Mariquinhas
(Rua S Sebastião 25;
5pm-1am Wed-Thu, 5pm-2am Fri-Sat)
, which has fado nightly from Wednesday to Saturday.
Another good stop on the fado circuit is
O Mal Cozinhado
(Rua do Outeirinho 13;
8.30pm-midnight
Mon-Sat)
.
Music & Theatre
The Casa da Música has quickly become the city's premier music venue.
