The 1st Algarve Piano Festival, which will take place at the Municipal Theater of Portimão (TEMPO), starts next Saturday, February 18, at 21 pm, with the world premiere of the 30 hands concert, performed by Mário Laginha and Armando Mota, accompanied by the Portuguese Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by conductor Osvaldo Ferreira.
The work composed by Armando Mota, dedicated to Bernardo Sasseti and Mário Laginha, has the originality of being the only one written by a Portuguese composer for this type of training.
The concert, which also marks the return to the region of conductor Osvaldo Ferreira, former artistic director of Orquestra do Algarve, also includes the interpretation of Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73, by Johannes Brahms.
The Algarve Piano Festival is an old dream of conductor and composer Armando Mota, who has now seen the funding guaranteed by 365 Algarve program to open the doors for its realization. "This 365 Algarve program only sins for being late," said Armando Mota, speaking to Sul Informação.
«The Algarve is associated with tourism, which is the basis of the regional economy, and there is a very significant number of foreign residents who are regular spectators of the quality concerts that take place in the region», he added.
«For a long time, other tourist regions that want to attract tourists throughout the year have realized that it is necessary to invest in a diversified, quality and continuous cultural program, so it is good that here, with the 365 Algarve, this has also been understood, finally», he said.
It's just that, Armando Mota pointed out, good ideas have always been there, but until now there was a lack of money. “Hiring a symphony orchestra or a renowned pianist is expensive,” he recalled.
Therefore, the conductor is very happy with the possibility of promoting the Algarve Piano Festival at TEMPO, in Portimão. «These structures, in the future, give us the possibility of, together with 365 Algarve, having here a festival with the same level, if not superior, to Lisbon», he guaranteed.
After opening in an unprecedented way, with the world premiere of a piece, the program includes some of the biggest names in piano at national level ("as a programmer, I prefer national artists"), but also worldwide.
«Creating a Piano Festival that doesn't exist in the South of the Tagus is to create a reference. It will associate the name of the Algarve and Portimão with a high quality festival, creating a reference for people to come here, also for this reason, and outside the tourist peak season», added Armando Mota.
Altogether, the Algarve Piano Festival has six shows, which last throughout the month of March and end in April, every Saturday at 21 pm. Armando Mota stresses that the festival will include «all instrument modalities: solo piano, piano with orchestra, two pianos with orchestra and two pianos».
So, on March 4, Pedro Burmester and Mário Laginha, who know each other so well and have performed together so many times, take the stage.
The repertoire of this concert on two pianos by Mário Laginha and Pedro Burmester includes an unpublished work by jazz pianist and composer João Paulo Esteves da Silva, a brief Sonata for piano by Mário Laginha for two pianos and works by Claude Debussy (Prelude de l' aprés-midi d'un faune) and Maurice Ravel (La valse). As a tribute to a mutual friend, who disappeared prematurely, the music of Bernardo Sassetti will also be part of this concert.
On March 11th, it will be António Rosado's turn to perform a concert dedicated to George Gershwin, in a presentation with the ESART Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by conductor Osvaldo Ferreira.
The program begins with «A Suite das Descobertas», composed by Armando Mota, continues with «Concert in F by Gershwin» and ends with «La valse», one of Ravel's most emblematic works.
A week later, on March 18, TEMPO hosts the interpretation of Sergey Rachmaninoff's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra nº 3 by pianist Miroslav Kultishev, with conductor Osvaldo Ferreira conducting.
Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3 is perhaps the ultimate exponent for any pianist. The technical difficulties are immense and its complexity and harmonic richness mean that few pianists in the world are able to perform it conveniently. The Russian pianist who won the Tchaikovsky competition will perform this beautiful work and a milestone in the career of any pianist. This concert will close with Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony, one of the reference works of the symphonic repertoire that concentrates and musicalizes the entire soul of the Russian composer in a piece of great beauty with passages full of feeling.
On March 25th, it will be time for a piano recital with Borja Otero, a renowned Andalusian pianist awarded in several competitions in Spain and the USA. He has also recorded for Radio Nacional de España. It features a program that combines classical and contemporary composers: Joaquin Turina (No. 1 and No. 2 of Danzas Fantásticas), Luis Leandro Mariani (Sonata), Franz Liszt (Nocturne no. 3; Bagatelle sans tonalité; Après une lecture du Dante ; Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11).
This premiere edition of the Algarve Piano Festival ends on April 8th, with a 4 hands piano recital, which brings together the pianist duo Ranko Markovic (Austria) and Marialena Fernandes (India).
A four-hand piano recital is a rare thing in the world of classical concerts. But in this Festival there will even be two. The duo formed by the pianists Marialena Fernandes and Ranko Markovic originated in Vienna, where both were professors at the two Universities of Music existing in this city. Over time, they quickly became known both in Austria and around the world where they have played. Ranko Markovic was born in Croatia, becoming an Austrian, and Marialena Fernandes was born in Bombay, India. Together they form a duo of high interpretive quality.
The program they will perform for the closing of the Festival, in Portimão, is composed by Franz Schubert (Fantasie F minor D 940 op.103), Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky (Suite Sleeping Beauty: Op. 66) and Sergei Rachmaninoff (Suite, Op. 11).
Each show costs 10 euros and tickets can be purchased online at http://www.tempo.bol.pt/ or at the TEMPO ticket office (282402 475 or 961 579 917). For those interested in attending all the concerts, a package of six tickets is available for 50 euros.
The Algarve Piano Festival is part of the “Programa 365 Algarve”, an initiative financed by Turismo de Portugal and coordinated by the Algarve Tourism Region, promoted by Associação Arte do Sul, under the artistic direction of maestro Armando Mota and with the support of of the Municipality of Portimão.
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