A CordaSonora Production
"Da Esteyra Vermelha Cantarey"
"From the Red Mat I Shall Sing"
Medieval Songs of Scorn and Mockery
The Wandering Bard & Fernando Ribeiro
CordaSonoraCordaSonoraA CordaSonora Production
Fernando Ribeiro — declamation
Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira — artistic direction, vielle, voice & medieval harp
Ricardo Alves Pereira — artistic direction, commentary, lute & percussion
Ruben Leonardi — percussion
Excerpt from the performance at the Monastery of Batalha, 9 May 2026.
Video recording: João Fitas; sound recording: Telmo Costa;
Lighting & technical support: Rodrigo Ferros Azevedo; video editing: CordaSonora
Medieval satire. Live music.
Freedom of expression.
A unique performance, dedicated to the Cantigas de Escárnio e Maldizer, “Da esteyra vermelha cantarey” merges medieval music with modern Portuguese poetic aesthetics through the work of The Wandering Bard, led by Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira and Ricardo Alves Pereira, who welcome as special guest the poet and writer Fernando Ribeiro of MOONSPELL.
In unison, the titan of metal and the ensemble of the two medievalists bring forth a satirical and provocative performance that unites the troubadour tradition with the spirit of the 21st century, celebrating freedom of expression.
Moments from a Concert
Monastery of Batalha, 2026
We thank Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, E. P. E., the Monastery of Batalha, and its Director, Clara Moura Soares, for welcoming this daring performance.
Photography: João Fitas
The poems gain life 800 years later, in the voice of Fernando Ribeiro, the only artist capable of carrying their fire, intelligence and danger with the care and strength they deserve.
Visceral, entertaining and fiery, “From the Red Mat I Shall Sing” connects historical curiosity with emotional charge, placing the audience face to face with the mordant wit, laughter and criticism of the Iberian troubadours.
We thank the Municipality of Leiria, Leiria Castle and Head of Culture Catarina Carvalho for making it possible to welcome this fearless performance.
Photography: Gil Lemos & João Fitas
In creating the programme, Ricardo Alves Pereira and Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira explored the entire known corpus of cantigas de escárnio e maldizer preserved in the Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional, the Cancioneiro da Vaticana and the Cancioneiro da Ajuda, selecting the most relevant, incisive and expressive songs in order to share with audiences both their humour and their emotional force, creating a direct dialogue with our medieval ancestors from this same land.
Although hundreds of secular medieval cantigas are documented, only a small number of melodies have been discovered to date. For this reason, Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira and Ricardo Alves Pereira bring the cantigas de escárnio e maldizer together with melodies they themselves researched in manuscripts: the cantigas de amor of D. Dinis, the Troubadour King, preserved in the Sharrer Parchment; the cantigas de amigo of Martin Codax, the minstrel, preserved in the Vindel Parchment; and the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X, the Wise, preserved in the Códice de los músicos and the Códice rico, giving the words of the medieval troubadours a musical voice worthy of their force and vitality.
“It is very different from what I do with Moonspell, but there is a connection.”
“‘Da esteyra vermelha cantarey‘ brings the past into the present. That is the most striking thing about all these cantigas written so many centuries ago, some of them in the 12th century: seeing how they still retain a relevance and a social critique that apply to the present day.”
“It is a very entertaining performance, a performance with a +18 warning.”
Read the full article on SAPO.pt
Text: Tiago David / Lusa
Founded and directed by Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira and Ricardo Alves Pereira, who are also responsible for the Portuguese medieval-music festivals CMML and DMMB, The Wandering Bard is an ensemble dedicated to historically informed performance grounded in manuscript sources.
Recognised for their precise, engaging and semi-staged performances, the ensemble combines distinctive arrangements born from historical research with strong musical creativity. Contextual narration and spoken commentary make rarely heard medieval music relevant to contemporary audiences.
While their albums reach thousands of listeners around the world, the ensemble regularly invites renowned specialists and artists such as Eduardo Paniagua and Fernando Ribeiro of MOONSPELL to join its stage formations.
Through the musical research and reconstruction undertaken by Esin and Ricardo, The Wandering Bard has presented audiences with more than one hundred Cantigas de Santa Maria by Alfonso X, the Wise; works from the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat; the complete Cantigas de Amigo of Martin Codax from the Vindel Parchment; and secular cantigas by dozens of troubadours and minstrels from the Iberian Peninsula.
On 7 January 2025, marking seven hundred years since the death of D. Dinis, the Troubadour-King, the ensemble premiered Esin and Ricardo’s musical research into the seven Cantigas de Amor attributed to the Poet-King and recovered from the Sharrer Parchment.
“Da Esteyra Vermelha Cantarey – From the Red Mat I Shall Sing” is available for booking:
✉️ Marta Almeida: booking@cordasonora.com
☎️ +351 965 642 540
