Diamanda Galás's violence at Culturgest, in Lisbon: "The Portuguese stole my heart many years ago"

Expresso | Paulo André Cecílio | Posted on Feb 15, 2026 by Intravenal Sound Operations

Diamanda Galás at Culturgest, in Lisbon, February 11, 2026 | Vera Marmelo
Diamanda Galás at Culturgest, in Lisbon, February 11, 2026 | Vera Marmelo

In the first of three concerts this month in Portugal, the only ones scheduled so far for 2026, the American Diamanda Galás was true to herself: a voice lacking a vocabulary sufficient to define it, an aura of violence, universal suffering expressed in just under an hour of piano songs. No, it's not for everyone.

Read the full article

Great thanks to the Portuguese artist GUILHERME GAMITO for his detailed design of make-up and hair used on this tour.
- Diamanda Galás

Latest Press

Diamanda Galás at Culturgest, in Lisbon, February 11, 2026 | Vera Marmelo

The Piano as Guillotine and Other Joys of Diamanda Galás - Theatro Circo

“Galas is capable of piercing the molecular structure of a room.”

Diamanda Galás at Culturgest, in Lisbon, February 11, 2026 | Vera Marmelo

Diamanda Galás At Culturgest: The Liturgy Of A Voice That Portugal Conquered

If there is one thing Lisbon loves, it is a cult—and last Wednesday Culturgest became the temple of a congregation that had not gathered there to “listen to music,” but to be pierced by it. With the venue completely sold out, Diamanda Galás’s return to Portugal unfolded as a roughly hour-long liturgy that left everyone in a collective trance, somewhere between prayer and exorcism.

Diamanda Galás at Culturgest, in Lisbon, February 11, 2026 | Vera Marmelo

Our 2026 listening resolutions: from Radiohead to Kendrick Lamar, critics try to get into music they’ve never liked

'...her floor-shaking melismatic vocals seem to channel something ancient and terrible...'

More Press