Leitão & Irmão Jewellers was founded in 1822 and is renowned for its historical connection to the Portuguese monarchy, having been appointed Crown Jewellers. Over generations, it has stood out for its artisanal excellence, technical precision, and use of noble materials, creating pieces that combine tradition and innovation. The brand continues to play an important role in Portuguese high jewellery and goldsmithing, remaining a symbol of quality, elegance, and cultural heritage.
What first moved you in opera?
Allow me a personal note: my mother.
Since the early 1960s she went to the opera every year in Berlin. Not in Vienna, Austria, the more conspicuous name when one thinks of opera, but at the Staatsoper on the famous Unter den Linden avenue (“under the linden trees”), which at the time was located in East Germany. My mother was able to enter and leave because she had acquired Portuguese nationality. Later, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, she returned as a German citizen.
For reasons that were not musical, I became familiar from an early age with the world of opera and its power of attraction. Opera was present at different moments and in different stories of life, becoming a constant reference.
How does it feel to contribute to the beginning of an artistic career?
We contribute, in our own way, to placing Portugal on the international path of excellence. In one sentence: “Art has no boundaries.”
Numbers are a universal language — anyone with basic notions of arithmetic understands them, regardless of the language they speak. Music works in a similar way: those who know it understand it, but in truth even those without musical training can feel what it conveys.
What impact do you think an international competition such as Cascais Ópera can have on culture in Portugal?
An international competition at the level of Cascais Ópera places the country once again alongside the very best in the world. At the very least, it is a source of satisfaction and a light on the horizon.
What legacy would you like this partnership to leave?
A commitment to the future. The conviction that it is possible and that excellence must be nurtured.
Investing in young people is creating the conditions for the world we are going to build and in which we will live.
