"Ambassador of Portuguese music"

Público (PT)





News


01.09.2023

Don Giovanni and Opera Gala at the “new” Óbidos Opera Festival

Bruno Borralhinho conducts a new production of Mozart's masterpiece Don Giovanni as well as an opera gala with excerpts from La Traviata, Carmen, Rigoletto, Cavalleria Rusticana and other opera classics at the Óbidos Opera Festival. The cast includes, among others, some of the most famous Portuguese singers, the director Jorge Balça and the Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa.

Festival de Ópera de Óbidos
08.08.2023

Borralhinho started the season leading the Dresden Philharmonie

The concert on August 18th at Dresden's historic Theaterplatz, entirely dedicated to Portuguese music, included symphonic works by the composers Luís de Freitas Branco, Fernando Lopes-Graça and Frederico de Freitas as well as new Fado orchestrations sung by the Portuguese Fado star Sara Correia.

Dresdner Philharmonie - "Fado"
30.06.2023

Debut at the Casa da Música in Porto

Bruno Borralhinho makes his debut with the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música on July 7th in the Sala Suggia. The program includes Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 2 (soloist: Konstanze Pietschmann) and Fernando Lopes-Graça's Suite Rústica.

Interview (PT) / Casa da Música

10.06.2023

Borralhinho takes over musical direction of the Beyra – Ensemble Orquestral

The new project based in the Beira Interior region, whose public debut is scheduled for July 2, focuses on the artistic laboratory format and its main goal is decentralization and the conquest of new audiences. The opening concert will take place at the Igreja Matriz do Fundão and will include the Symphony No. 9 by Gustav Mahler, conducted by Bruno Borralhinho.

01.06.2022

New CD with the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa dedicated to the Portuguese composer Fernando Lopes-Graça

The classical music label NAXOS will release a new CD in June 2022 with the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa conducted by Bruno Borralhinho. Entirely dedicated to the Portuguese composer Fernando Lopes-Graça, this new album includes the first world recording of the "Cinco Velhos Romances Portugueses".

Naxos
Promotional video
25.05.2022

Opera by Maurice Ravel and Ballet by Manuel de Falla in Lisbon

Bruno Borralhinho conducts Ravel's "L'heure espagnole" and de Falla's "El sobrero de tres picos" in November at the Centro de Cultural de Belém, a production directed by Jorge Balça that brings together some of the most outstanding contemporary Portuguese singers and the Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporâneo.


19.04.2022

New releases on Swiss publisher Kunzelmann

The well-known music publisher recently published the string orchestra versions of "Souvenir de Florence" by Tchaikovsky, "Italian Serenade" by H. Wolf as well as the chamber orchestra versions of "El sombrero de tres picos" by M. de Falla and the "Suite from Le Bourgeois gentilhomme" by Lully, all transcribed from the original versions by Bruno Borralhinho. The same publisher had recently published other transcriptions by Borralhinho of works by Mozart, Grieg, Albéniz and Mahler.

Edition Kunzelmann - Bruno Borralhinho
15.03.2021

Monthly column in Da Capo

Theme & Variations is the title of the monthly bilingual column by Bruno Borralhinho in the Portuguese music magazine Da Capo. The target group are the musicians themselves, but also music lovers in general. Read the last issues here, with exclusive interviews with prominent personalities such as Antônio Meneses, Emmanuel Pahud, Ton Koopman, Norman Lebrecht, Tabea Zimmermann, Barbara Hannigan, Alina Pogostkina, Sofia Gubaidulina, Jordi Savall or René Pape:

n. 1 Mar/21 | n. 2 Apr/21 | n. 3 May/21 | n. 4 Jun/21 | n. 5 Jul/21 | n. 6 Aug/21 | n. 7 Sep/21 | n. 8 Oct/21 | n. 9 Nov/21 | n. 10 Dez/21 | n. 11 Jan/22 | n. 12 Feb/22 | n. 13 Mar/22
09.03.2021

New book released!

Based on the analysis of specific cases of institutions, people or events that are seen as representative and exemplary of the interrelational dynamics, Borralhinho's new publication offers a contextualization of the music sector in the various historical and political settings in Portugal in the past century. Written in Spanish and considered as "from now on an inevitable reference", it is available both in book and eBook formats on the usual platforms.

Order

Biography


Portuguese conductor and cellist Bruno Borralhinho is Artistic Director of the Ensemble Mediterrain and a member of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra.

Along with regular appearances leading his Ensemble Mediterain (DE), he conducted for example the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa (PT), the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música (PT), the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa (PT), the Orquestra do Algarve (PT), the Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa (PT), the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira (PT), the Orquestra de Câmara Portuguesa (PT), the Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinu (CZ), the Orchestra de Camera Radio of Bucharest (RO), the Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes (MX), the Orquestra Sinfônica do Paraná (BR), the Orquestra Sinfônica de Campinas (BR), the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin (DE), the Berliner Symphoniker (DE) and the Dresdner Philharmonie (DE), and worked along with internationally renowned soloists such as Camilla Nylund, Tara Erraught, Sarah Maria Sun, Karolina Gumos, Adriane Queiroz, Lothar Odinius, Peter Bruns and Javier Perianes.

Opera is one of his great passions: he conducted new productions of Mozart (Don Giovanni, 2023), Ravel (L'heure espagnole, 2022) and Puccini (Gianni Schicchi, 2018) and worked as an assistant in new productions of Wagner (The Flying Dutchman, 2022) and Beethoven (Fidelio, 2020).

In 2022, the label NAXOS released a CD exclusively dedicated to the composer Fernando Lopes-Graça, performed by the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bruno Borralhinho, receiving excellent reviews from the international press and the general audience. Musicweb (USA): "This fine release is a must for anyone interested in Lopes-Graça’s music but others will also find much to enjoy and admire"; Das Orchester (DE): "Under the direction of conductor Bruno Borralhinho the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra blossoms passionately"; Da Capo (PT): "Bruno Borralhinho knew how to promote, with artistic depth, editorial sensitivity and clear conducting, the forgotten creative production of one of the greatest Portuguese composers of the 20th century".

Bruno Borralhinho holds a Master's Degree in Culture Management from the UOC - Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Barcelona). In October 2011 he was one of the participants of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Izmir (Turkey), organized by the EFA - European Festivals Association). Bruno Borralhinho received his PhD in Humanities - History, Geography and Art - from the Universidad Carlos III (Madrid) in 2020. His research and thesis focused on the relations between power and the field of classical music in Portugal throughout the 20th century.

He was born in 1982 in Covilhã and began his music studies at the age of 12 years old in his hometown, where he studied with prof. Luis Sá Pessoa. Between 2000-2006, he studied with prof. Markus Nyikos at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, concluding the Graduate and Postgraduate studies with the highest distinctions. Afterwards, he also studied with the prestigious Norwegian cellist Truls Mørk. He attended several Masterclasses with Natalia Gutman, Antonio Meneses, Pieter Wispelwey, Anner Bylsma, Jian Wang, Martin Ostertag, Martin Löhr, Márcio Carneiro and Thomas Demenga, among others.

Bruno Borralhinho appears regularly as a soloist with orchestra or in recitals with piano in Portugal, Spain, Germany and Brazil. Among his highlights are the unanimously acclaimed interpretations of Bach's 6 Suites with the Montagnana Suggia (2008), Beethoven's complete works for cello and piano with the Stradivari King of Portugal (2012) and Haydn's complete cello concertos (2014, soloist and conductor). Borralhinho led until now Masterclasses in Brazil, Portugal and Spain.

In 2018 Borralhinho recorded the sonatas of R. Strauss and Zemlinsky as well as Mahler's songs with pianist Christoph Berner for the German record label ARS and in 2016 NAXOS released a CD dedicated to Portuguese music for cello and orchestra, with Bruno Borralhinho accompanying as a soloist by the Orquestra Gulbenkian. This album was ranked as the best of 2016 by voters from over 65 countries on the 5 continents of the planet, following an international public vote sponsored by The Violoncello Foundation (New York/USA). In 2009 Bruno Borralhinho released the double CD "Pagina Esquecida" (Forgotten Page), also dedicated entirely to Portuguese music, and received enthusiastic reviews in the national and international press.

He won the 1. Prize in the competitions Julio Cardona (1999) and Prémio Jovens Músicos (2001), this last organized by RDP (Portuguese National Radio). As a soloist, he performed with the Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon (PT), Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa (PT), Orquestra do Norte (PT), Orquestra Clássica da Madeira (PT), Orquestra XXI (PT), Orquestra Clássica do Sul (PT), Orquestra de Câmara Portuguesa (PT), Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa (PT), Orquestra Sinfônica de Campinas (BR) and Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional Cláudio Santoro de Brasília (BR).

Bruno Borralhinho has been a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and Solo-Cellist of the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra. He was also a member of the Academy of the Staatskapelle Berlin, resident orchestra of the Berlin State Opera, and of the DSO - Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin.

During all these years he performed in leading concert halls throughout all Europe, Asia, USA, Canada, Russia and South America and worked with important conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Kurt Masur, Christian Thielemann, Marek Janowski, Kent Nagano, Franz Welser-Möst, Herbert Blomstedt, Paavo Järvi or Andris Nelsons.

Multimedia


"Poder y Música Clásica
en el Portugal del siglo XX"

Author: Bruno Borralhinho
Release: March 2021
Language: Spanish
Format: Book/eBook
Editor: Universo de Letras (Grupo Planeta)


Title translation: Power and Classical Music in Portugal in the 20th Century

The various political regimes that ruled in Portugal in the 20th century -monarchy, first republic, dictatorship and democracy- represented decisive changes in society and in socio-communicative processes in general. The field of classical music was these more or less peaceful and complex transformations and transitions not alien. Starting from the observation of specific cases of institutions, people or events that are seen as representative and exemplary of the interrelational dynamics, this research carries out a contextualization of the music sector in the different historical and political contexts of the country over the last century.

ORDER

Discography


Fernando Lopes-Graça



Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa
Bruno Borralhinho, conductor
NAXOS
  • Fernando Lopes-Graça was one of Portugal’s greatest composers of the 20th century, whose artistic credo was the binding together of the folk music of his native country with modern techniques to create an alternative and original national identity. With its constantly shifting tonal context the Divertimento perfectly captures Lopes-Graça’s inimitable style, which is further enriched in the concisely constructed Sinfonieta by his admiration for Haydn. The moving, even tragic Cinco Velhos Romances Portugueses are based on traditional ballads while the challenging Quatro Invenções, in the composer’s words, explore ‘essentially atonal dramatic expressionism’.

R. Strauss, Mahler
& Zemlinksy



Bruno Borralhinho, cello
Christoph Berner, piano
ARS PRODUKTION
  • The sonatas by Strauss and Zemlinsky belong to the essential nucleus of the cello repertoire. The new transcription by Bruno Borralhinho of Mahler's songs, on the other hand, establishes a tempting link between the composer and the instrument, but also, in the concrete case of this programmatic construction, a historical and musical connection between the three composers.

"Portuguese music for Cello and Orchestra"



Bruno Borralhinho, soloist
Gulbenkian Orchestra, Pedro Neves (cond.)
NAXOS
  • For the first time, some of Portugal’s leading composers in a unique recording dedicated to their works for cello and orchestra. The impressionistic and luxuriant harmonies of Costa’s Poema contrast with Lopes-Graça’s sombre and austere Concerto da Camera. Freitas Branco’s Cena Lírica is an early, romantically expressive piece, while the Concerto by his eminent pupil Braga Santos is a hauntingly poetic symphonic masterpiece.

"Página Esquecida"
Cello & Piano



Bruno Borralhinho, cello
Luísa Tender, piano
DREYER & GAIDO
  • This recording is entirely dedicated to Portuguese music for solo cello and cello/piano duo and aims to making this repertoire better known in Portugal and abroad, as it includes some of the most significant Portuguese works of the past and current centuries.

Ensemble Mediterrain
Albéniz & Beethoven



Ensemble Mediterrain
DREYER & GAIDO
  • On the 100th Anniversary of his death, the Ensemble Mediterrain dedicates to the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz the world premiere of his famous "Suite Española op.47", on a version for septet by Bruno Borralhinho. The CD also includes the "classical" Septet op.20 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Trio Mediterrain: "Música contemporânea portuguesa"



Trio Mediterrain
CCR - CLASSIC CONCERT RECORDS
  • Idealized and developed under absolute responsibility of the former Trio Mediterrain, this project consists of a recording of 4 original works dedicated to the group itself by 4 prominent Portuguese composers.

Agenda


Concert schedule as a soloist, conductor and chamber musician. The concert agenda of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra can be followed HERE.

26.08.2022

Webermuseum, Hosterwitz (DE)

Ensemble Mediterrain
Debussy, Franck.

13.10.2022

Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City (MX)

Conductor, Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes
Haydn, Schubert.

16.10.2022

Auditorio Silvestre Revueltas, Mexico City (MX)

Conductor, Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes
Haydn, Schubert.

20.11.2022

Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon (PT)

Conductor, Ensemble Mediterrain - Soloists - Companhia Nacional de Bailado Contemporâneo
Ravel: L'heure espagnole
Falla: El sombrero de tres picos


08.01.2023

Kulturpalast, Dresden (DE)

Conductor, Dresdner Philharmonie
Nicolas Namoradze, piano

R. Strauss, Henze.

10.02.2023

Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon (PT)

Conductor, Orquesta Sinfónica Portuguesa
Beethoven.

11.03.2023

Picadeiro Real, Lisbon (PT)

Conductor, Orquesta Metropolitana de Lisboa
Haydn, Faria Gomes.

28/29.04.2023

Kulturpalast, Dresden (DE)

Conductor, Dresdner Philharmonie
Purcell, Britten.
Beethoven, Dvorak.
Butterworth, Debussy.


07.05.2023

Weinbergkirche, Pillnitz (DE)

Solo
J.S. Bach: Six Suites for Cello Solo

11.06.2023

Meisterwerke/Meisterinterpreten, Dresden (DE)

Ensemble Mediterrain
Respighi, Rota, Verdi.

19.06.2023

Kulturpalast, Dresden (DE)

Conductor, Junges Sinfonieorchester Dresden
Bruch, Haydn, Creston, Lopes-Graça, Elgar.

02.07.2023

Igreja Matriz, Fundão (PT)

Conductor, Beyra - Ensemble Orquestral
Mahler.


07.07.2023

Casa da Música, Porto (PT)

Conductor, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música
Konstanze Pietschmann, cello

Lopes-Graça, Shostakovich, Prokofiev.

22.07.2023

Teatro Municipal da Covilhã, Covilhã (PT)

Conductor, Symphony Orchestra
EPABI - 30th Anniversary Concert

Mozart, Dvorák.

18.08.2023

Theaterplatz, Dresden (DE)

Conductor, Dresdner Philharmonie
Lopes-Graça, Freitas Branco, Frederico de Freitas.

10.09.2023

Schloss Seifersdorf (DE)

Solo
Sonatas by Bach and Vivaldi.


15.09.2023

Festival de Ópera de Óbidos (PT)

Conductor, Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa
Mozart: Don Giovanni.

16.09.2023

Festival de Ópera de Óbidos (PT)

Conductor, Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa
Opera Gala - Verdi, Mascagni, Bizet, etc.

17.09.2023

Festival de Ópera de Óbidos (PT)

Conductor, Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa
Mozart: Don Giovanni.

24.09.2023

Kulturpalast, Dresden (DE)

Chamber music
Martinu, Tchaikovsky.


26.09-08.10.2023

Austria, Slovakia, Italy, Croatia.

Dresdner Philharmonie

27.10.2023

Igreja da Misericórdia, Covilhã (PT)

Conductor, Beyra - Ensemble Orquestral
Hindemith, Azevedo.

05.11.2023

Kulturpalast, Dresden (DE)

Chamber music
Dohnányi.

15.11.2023

Sala Radio, Bucharest (RO)

Conductor, Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra
Simina Croitoru (vln), Radu Sinaci (vlc)

Ligeti, Sinaci, Beethoven.


09.12.2023

Universidade do Algarve, Faro (PT)

Conductor, Orquestra do Algarve
Delius, Haydn, Beethoven.

10.12.2023

Sé Catedral, Silves (PT)

Conductor, Orquestra do Algarve
Delius, Haydn, Beethoven.

14.01.2024

Kulturpalast, Dresden (DE)

Conductor, Dresdner Philharmonie
Philipp Schupelius (vlc)

Gulda, Mozart.

16.03.2024

Igreja S. Roque, Lisbon (PT)

Conductor, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, Coro TNSC, Soloists
Mozart: Vesperae solennes
Mozart: Coronation Mass.

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