“Amplitude” is the extent of a vibration. For two years Danças Ocultas and Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras had shared this sound dimension in numerous common stage performances, which in May 2015 culminated in highly acclaimed concerts in the two most prestigious Portuguese concert halls: Sala Suggia in Casa da Música, Oporto and CCB Grande Auditório in Lisbon. Portuguese stars Carminho, Dead Combo and Rodrigo Leão were the special guests who contributed a lot to transmit the musical magic to the sold out auditoriums. Now, with the live recording of these two concerts, the magic will be extended to a wider audience.

The orchestra arrangements of Danças Ocultas’ classics are the perfect scenery for the dialogue with the invited guests. The fact that Dead Combo and Rodrigo Leão come from instrumental music facilitates the communication between the different artistic worlds. On the other hand with fado singer Carminho there is the completing of a circle: “O Diabo Tocador”, a theme from the „Tarab“ album, was inspired by a labourers’ song collected by ethnomusicologist Michele Giacometti. Carminho’s unique voice re-transforms the instrumental piece into a song with powerful lyrics.

António Vassalo Lourenço, conductor of the Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras and intimous conoisseur of the music of Danças Ocultas, had enthusiastically embraced this special project right from the beginning. The arrangements for string orchestra only amplify what is already there, giving a new dimension to the melodies, the counterpoints and harmonies explored by the original quatuor of four diatonic accordions.

For 25 years Danças Ocultas have been touring and carrying their universal Portuguese music across the world. With Amplitude and Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras they want to invite the largest possible number of listeners to their magic journey of sounds.