Aria ( á-ri-a ) - Series of notes that make up a canto

The question evokes the most recent show produced by the Quarteto Contratempus - ‘What is opera?’, presented in the association's hall, Espaço QC, on 1 and 4 September. For Teresa Nunes, co-founder of the Quartet in 2008, the definition is simple and comprehensive: ‘It is undoubtedly a primordial form of expression.’ For the Quarteto Contratempus in particular, opera must also be something ‘that sends a message to the public, that moves people’.

After all, that's what they've been doing for over a decade - a unique case in the country, this is an association entirely dedicated to producing and staging original operas. Founded by musicians who recently graduated from ESMAE, they are dedicated to an art form that has almost been forgotten. Today, only one theatre in the whole country is dedicated to operas: the São Carlos Theatre in Lisbon. In the city of Porto, and with infrequent regularity, only the Coliseu used to bring this genre to the stage.

Diva (di-va) - From the Italian, goddess. Famous opera singer.

These days, what Quarteto Contratempus wants to say to the world is simple: ‘We want to tell Porto that it needs opera. We've been out on the streets interviewing people, finding out what they know about opera - and many tell us that they like opera, but have never been to one.’ This seemed to be a problem on the supply side, hence FIATO's initiative. ‘We never thought we'd be programme-makers; the festival really arose out of the need to create a space for opera in Porto. I think people have an opportunity here to say that they want opera - by coming to the festival, by buying tickets, by patronising it.’

This sort of census of Porto's appetite for the genre kicks off with five contemporary operas. Opening the festival on the 13th, the operetta ‘Maria da Fonte’, directed by Ricardo Neves-Neves, is a reprise of the play premiered last November at the CCB. It will feature the choir of the São Carlos National Theatre and the Artave orchestra - it will be the largest-scale opera of the entire festival. On the 14th, Inestética Companhia Teatral brings ‘Manifesto Nada’ to the Bolhão Theatre, an opera about the Dadaist movement. On the 15th, ‘O Fauno das Montanhas’, at the Helena Sá e Costa Theatre, is the Arepo company's reinterpretation (‘opera’ in reverse script) of a Portuguese silent film. The little ones can join the party on the 16th with ‘Serena Serenata’ by Ópera Isto, at the Coliseu. And the finale is an opera by the Contratempus Quartet, ‘Torre da Memória’, at the Bolhão Theatre, with a libretto that pays homage to fishermen's wives.

Sul fiato - From the Italian, on the breath. Lyrical singing technique in which the singing is done with the exhaled breath

But FIATO isn't just about theatre performances. As a result of an open audition for lyric singers, the Contratempus Quartet has been working with a team that will take five short sketches to various public spaces, in a series they've called ‘Opera à Moda do Porto’. These free-access shows will take place at São Bento Station, Trindade Metro Station, Via Catarina shopping centre on two different days, Bolhão Market and inside an STCP bus. According to Teresa, the idea is to ‘take “earwormy” melodies that people will recognise from commercials, for example, and transform them with new texts written by Ricardo Alves from Palmilha Dentada’. The aim of this activity is precisely to bring opera to the general public and take them by surprise, so that they realise that opera is more than the usual clichés. ‘I'm happy with the idea that we're going to divert people from their usual path, that we're going to surprise them with something new.’

Other parallel programmes include free vocal screenings and vocal health workshops, in partnership with a health institution, and an ‘open mic’ evening - a kind of ‘opera karaoke’ with live music, at Casa da Beira Alta, where anyone can sing their favourite aria, accompanied by the musicians present. The Casa da Beira Alta will also host an exhibition of opera posters, provided by Coliseu Porto Ageas and created by ESMAD students for augmented reality. The event closes with a party at Maus Hábitos, with a new angle for a pair of DJs who are regulars at the venue, in ‘Shuggah Lickurs vai à Ópera’ (Shuggah Lickurs go to the Opera).

The first edition is full of hope that ‘opera is here to stay’ in the city. With regard to the future of the festival, Teresa confesses that she would like it to ‘become a permanent structure that exists on its own, like fimp or FITEI’.