A concert with Roman Simovic, who is “a Champions League-level violinist” (January), Mozart’s Requiem, in a symphonic concert with additional musicians and soloist Pedro Neves (April), Remembering José Mário Branco (April), the now traditional Christmas concert, with the community choir, to which the principal conductor Martim Sousa Tavares contributes with an “arrangement of Christmas music on steroids”, the concert for families “Stop! Excesso de Velocidade”, a concert in the spring (May) with Salvador Sobral, “assembled from scratch”, or a “project to restore José Mário Branco’s heritage, on the occasion of the 25th of April”.
These are just some of the proposals from the Orquestra do Algarve for the 2024/2025 season, which were presented on Wednesday at sunset, at rooftop from the Eva Senses Hotel, in Faro, property of the (until now) only patron of Algarve education.
«I firmly believe that anyone who comes to or lives in the Algarve and does scan of this QR code [present in the brochure that was also presented], I guarantee here or I'll give you your money back, you'll find something you want to see", assured the principal conductor Martim Sousa Tavares.
“This is what an orchestra should be: this is no longer the classical orchestra of the south, it is simply the Orquestra do Algarve, which fulfils a public mission, for a public that is large and very diverse”, he added.
“You will find concerts for families, educational concerts, classical concerts, non-classical concerts, classical concerts, but with a more open spirit,” he listed.
«The hallmark [of the 2024-2025 programme] is coherence and commitment to a season of excellence, which is not characterised by two or three high points and then the rest in low rotation, but rather a permanence over time of this commitment», Martim Sousa Tavares explained to journalists, on the sidelines of the press conference to present the programme that runs until July 2025.
The chief conductor also highlighted the shows with the pianist and young German conductor Aurel Dawidiuk and with the Italian-Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, in June and July of next year, respectively.
For families, Martim Sousa Tavares pointed out the Christmas Concert, in December, which brings together the orchestra formation with its community choir, «in a format that is at once familiar, unexpected, irreverent and fun».
Outside the classical scope, the Orquestra do Algarve will recover, in April 2025, the work “A Noite”, by José Mário Branco.
This is a concert that will certainly give people a lot to talk about. In partnership with the José Mário Branco – Music and Freedom Study and Documentation Center (NOVA FCSH), the Orchestra recalls a lesser-known aspect of the musical heritage of the singer and composer who passed away in 2019.
Combining pre-existing original repertoire and new musical themes, this piece, which has verses by Antero de Quental, reflects José Mário Branco's concerns about the course of democracy established by April 25, 1974.
António Branco (interestingly, José Mário's nephew), president of the Algarve Musical Association, the entity that manages and administers the orchestra, had already highlighted that, «presenting an annual season of a small orchestra, without its own concert hall, is a risky bet».
This was done for the first time in the previous season and, he assured, it was “a risk that paid off”. Therefore, in this new season that starts now in September and runs until July 2025, the Orquestra do Algarve is taking another risk.
«A year ago, when we presented the first season, we were taking a shot in the dark, a very risky one, because no regional orchestra, except ours, to date, works this way», added Martim Sousa Tavares.
«I can give you examples of cases in which this risk is worth taking: the sisters Kristine and Margarita Balanas [who opened the season on 14 and 15 September with concerts in Ayamonte and Portimão] are the type of artists who cannot be arranged while sailing within sight of the coast», they have to be booked well in advance.
“When I joined this orchestra, like other regional orchestras, it was a ship that sailed within sight of the coast. And I decided that no, we had to take the orchestra out to sea, because on the high seas you catch bigger fish. And, in fact, we have caught big tuna, which were not here stranded on the sand”, explained the chief conductor.
Examples of this include the concert with Roman Simovic, who “is a Champions League level violinist”, in January, or, in June, the concert with “Nicola Benedetti, who is Champions League Premium”.
"This is a path from which, unless there is a disaster, there is no return. We will never sail within sight of the coast again," assured Martim Sousa Tavares.
“I believe that our orchestra is putting positive pressure on other regional orchestras, but also on the region. Because it forces our partners to make commitments to us earlier, to value what we are actually bringing to the Algarve and where we are making a difference,” he added.
António Branco took advantage of the press conference to present the season to announce that the Orchestra will inaugurate its renovated rehearsal room in October, finally guaranteeing better acoustic and thermal conditions for its musicians and conductors, «after the long-awaited works have been completed».
«This room will also allow us to do something that I see very positively, which is to return to being a studio orchestra, because it is a room that will be used not only for rehearsals, but also as a recording studio», said Martim Sousa Tavares.
It is so important that “contacts are already emerging from artists who want to come and record with our orchestra”, he revealed.
Therefore, “this will once again be, as it once was, an orchestra that plays so well that it doesn’t just play for its audience, but plays for the entire world, recording itself on disc.”
With the theme “Sounds of Discovery”, the new season of the Orquestra do Algarve will feature a total of 19 conductors and 15 soloists.
“It is important to remember this, because this is an orchestra that has been active for 11 months. 19 conductors in 11 months, if we add the main conductor, gives us constant diversity. The orchestra never repeats itself, it never beats around the bush,” stressed Martim Sousa Tavares.
Also in September, there will be a cycle dedicated to the genius of Franz Schubert, with the participation of conductors Pedro Amaral and José Eduardo Gomes.
With the arrival of autumn, the Orchestra will also commemorate the memory of its founder and first conductor, Álvaro Cassuto. The re-premiere of the “Concertino” for piano and orchestra, after more than 50 years, is presented as “a special moment to rediscover this masterpiece”.
Afterwards, under the direction of the young maestro Luís Toro Araya and with the presence of soprano Luca Maria Caelers, both in their national debut, the vibrant “Wesendonck Lieder” by Richard Wagner, one of the most emblematic works of romantic music, will be presented.
To maintain this increasingly high-quality programme, the support that the Orchestra receives must be maintained or, preferably, increased. António Branco highlighted “what this Orchestra has managed to do with the limited resources it has”, but he assured that work is being done “in the area of European funding, patrons and sponsors”.
The presentation of the season also served to announce that the Orquestra do Algarve has a new website, which can be consulted here, and where all the details of the program are, but also the possibility for each fan to register as a Benefactor Friend, a status that guarantees stable income for the Algarve team, but also many advantages for the public.
The website also allows each person to consult the agenda according to their profile (I'm a music lover, I like it a lot but I don't know much about it, I go more for the family, I still don't understand anything about this). A way of further strengthening the relationship with a public that is "very diverse".
The season's schedule can also be found in the virtual brochure, by clicking here.
“This season is a Christmas tree full of presents that we want to open,” concluded principal conductor Martim Sousa Tavares, with his characteristic good humor.
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