Omara, ″Bésame Mucho″. The night the Cuban diva said goodbye to Portugal
A symbolic moment in the history of the Musics of the World Festival. Omara Portuondo passed through Sines, on the singer’s last tour to distant lands. Like a queen, she sang, sitting in a wicker chair, like a throne worthy of a queen who, even before arriving, had conquered the subjects who filled the castle to see her one last time… “Maybe?”
Supported by her son and by the musician José Portillo, musical director of this last tour, Omara Portuondo spent all her time in her age until the chair installed next to the piano was occupied. She waved to the audience before sitting down, and the magic began. Over the course of an hour, the 91-year-old Cuban diva rocked the audience with feeling of a voice still in tune, and the night was lit up by duets in the castle of Sines.
Yusmari Dias Perez, Cuban ambassador to Portugal, took the stage at the end of the concert with a bouquet of red, white and blue flowers, the colors of the national flag.
“Omara is a symbol of Cuba”, explained to TSF the young diplomat who has been in Portugal since February, and could not miss the concert. “Being in the country and knowing that Omara was coming to the Festival, I had to come, first because I’m Cuban, then because I owe this tribute.”
This was the concert in Europe of the farewell tour of all Cubans, “one of the most important moments of the career, whether or not the last tour”, emphasizes the second Cuban ambassador, who also sang in the audience with the audience.
“Culture also unites people and this festival is an example of that.” Having been in Portugal for a short time, Yusmari Dias Perez can already see the similarities between the two countries: “There is a lot in common between the two countries, because they like music and because they often speak from the heart. That’s what Omara did today.”
From Quizás to Bésame Mucho, “Como se fuera esta noche la last time”.
The tour continues in Madrid, Brussels and Malaga.
Omara Portuondo has already finished “Vidas”, a new album of duets that will be released soon, and promises to return to a studio with other projects.