Biography
Career, studies, prizes, recordings, etc.
The portuguese cellist Bruno Borralhinho is a member of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Ensemble Mediterrain.
His professional activity includes regular soloist performances in solo recitals, with orchestra or with piano accompaniment. Among his highlights is the unanimously acclaimed interpretations of Bach's 6 Suites with the Montagnana Suggia (June/2008) and Beethoven's Complete Works for Cello and Piano with the Stradivari King of Portugal (November/2012), both in Lisbon. He led Masterclasses in Brazil, Portugal and Spain.
The diversified artistic activity of Bruno Borralhinho also includes orchestral conducting, in which he received important impulses through Christian Kluttig, Jorma Panula and Juanjo Mena. Along with regular appearences as a conductor with his Ensemble Mediterain (DE), he conducted the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa (PT), the Orquestra Clássica do Sul (PT), the Orquestra Clássica do Centro (PT), the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira (PT), the Orquestra de Camara Portuguesa (PT), the Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinu (CZ), the Orquestra Sinfônica do Paraná (BR), the Orquestra Sinfônica de Campinas (BR), the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin (DE) and the Berliner Symphoniker (DE).
rich tone and great sensibility
Philipp Scott, Fanfare Magazine (EUA)
In 2009 he lauches the CD Pagina Esquecida (Forgotten Page) with pianist Luísa Tender, completely dedicated to Portuguese music. This production has received the best reviews in the national and international press. In 2016, his next recording dedicated to Poruguese music appeared on NAXOS, this time for cello and orchestra accompained by the Gulbenkian Orchestra conducted by Pedro Neves. This album was considered the best of 2016 by voters from over 65 countries across the 5 continents of the planet after an international public vote promoted by The Violoncello Foundation (New York / USA). More recently, in 2018, Borralhinho recorded R. Strauss and Zemlinsky's sonatas and Mahler's songs with pianist Christoph Berner for the German record label ARS.
He was born in 1982 in Covilhã and began his music studies at twelve years old at 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 distintions. Afterwards, he also studied with the prestigious Norwegian cellist Truls Mørk. He attended several Master Classes with Natalia Gutman, Antonio Meneses, Pieter Wispelwey, Anner Bylsma, Jian Wang, Martin Ostertag, Martin Löhr, Márcio Carneiro and Thomas Demenga, among others.
He 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). He is currently a doctoral student (Humanities: Geography and Arts) at the Universidad Carlos III in Madrid.
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, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, Orquestra do Norte, Orquestra Clássica da Madeira, Orquestra XXI, Orquestra Clássica do Sul, Portuguese Chamber Orchestra and Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa.
technically impeccable and with a precise notion of the style and spirit of each work
Bernardo Mariano, Diário de Notícias (PT)
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, Kent Nagano, Franz Welser-Möst, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph Eschenbach, Paavo Järvi or Andris Nelsons.
DISCOGRAPHY
As a soloist and with the Ensemble Mediterrain
Release: October 2018 | Label: Ars Produktion
Artists: Bruno Borralhinho (Cello), Christoph Berner (Piano)
The works selected by Bruno Borralhinho and Christoph Berner for this CD were composed over a period of eleven years (between 1883 and 1894). It was appealing to place three early works alongside each other, works in which Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and Alexander von Zemlinsky prove their command of their art of composing, so to speak, and where – with all the echoes of admired role models – their own distinctive signature becomes audible for the first time.
The sonatas of Strauss and Zemlinsky belong to the essential nucleus of the repertoire of the instrument. 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, musical and personal connection between the three composers.
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Release: June 2016 | Label: Naxos
Artists: Bruno Borralhinho (cello), Orquestra Gulbenkian, Pedro Neves (conductor)
This recording brings together for the first time some of Portugal’s leading composers in a unique programme dedicated to their works for cello and orchestra. The impressionistic and luxuriant harmonies of Luiz Costa’s Poema contrast with Fernando Lopes-Graça’s sombre and austere Concerto da Camera, a commission from Mstislav Rostropovich. Luís de Freitas Branco’s Cena Lírica is an early, romantically expressive piece, while the Concerto by his eminent pupil Joly Braga Santos is a hauntingly poetic symphonic masterpiece.
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Release: December 2009 | Label: Dreyer & Gaido
Artists: Bruno Borralhinho (cello), Luísa Tender (piano)
This recording is entirely dedicated to Portuguese music for solo cello and cello/piano duet. We aim to make this repertoire better known in Portugal and abroad, as it includes some of the most significant Portuguese works of the past and current centuries. By recording this music, we wish to counteract the tendency for Portuguese cello repertoire to be dismissed as a “forgotten page” (Página Esquecida), abroad and even in Portugal. As we continue to honor these and other composers in our live performances, so we also hope our project stimulates the interpretation of Portuguese music by even more musicians.
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Release: August 2009 | Label: Dreyer & Gaido (coprod. Deutschlandradio Kultur)
Artists: Ensemble Mediterrain
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.
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Release: July 2006 | Label: CCR - Classic Concert Records
Artists: Trio Mediterrain
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 proeminent portuguese composers.
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Agenda
Concert schedule as a soloist, conductor and chamber musician.
The concert agenda of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra can be followed here.
Next performances...
21.03.2019
Beijing (CN)
Chamber music
Trios for Violin, Cello and Piano by Schubert, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky.
24.03.2019
Shanghai (CN)
Chamber music
Trios for Violin, Cello and Piano by Schubert, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky.
10.-13.04.2019
Cologne (DE), Ljubljana (SL) and Warschau (PL)
Dresdner Philharmonie
J. Brahms.
19.04.2019
Lukaskirche, Dresden (DE)
Ensemble Mediterrain
J. S. Bach: Excerpts from Matthäus-Passion BWV 244,
Johannes-Passion BWV 245, Osteroratorium BWV 249, etc..
11.05.2019
Campinas (BR)
Conductor and Soloist
Orquestra Sinfônica de Campinas
M. Portugal: Overture "Il Duca di Foix"
J. Haydn: Cello-Concerto in C
J. Brahms: Symphony n.4
12.05.2019
Campinas (BR)
Conductor and Soloist
Orquestra Sinfônica de Campinas
M. Portugal: Overture "Il Duca di Foix"
J. Haydn: Cello-Concerto in C
J. Brahms: Symphony n.4
14.05.2019
Brasilia (BR)
Soloist
Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional Claudio Santoro
Richard Strauss: Don Quixote
15.05.2019
Brasilia (BR)
Masterclass
Teatro Nacional Cláudio Santoro
Brasilia Cello Academia
19.07.2019
Festival das Artes, Coimbra (PT)
Conductor
Ensemble Mediterrain
G. Mahler: Symphony n.4 (E. Stein)
20.07.2019
Cistermusica - Festival de Alcobaca (PT)
Conductor
Ensemble Mediterrain
G. Mahler: Symphony n.4 (E. Stein)
03.08.2019
Festival de Musica
de Sant Pere de Rodes, Catalunya (ES)
Recital Cello & Piano
L. v. Beethoven: Variations on a theme from "Judas Maccabäus", WoO 45
S. Rachmaninov: Sonata, op. 19, etc.
23.08.2019
Schloss Wackerbarth, Radebeul (DE)
Ensemble Mediterrain
L. v. Beethoven: Septet
I. Albéniz/B. Borralhinho: Suite Espagnole, op. 47
08.09.2019
Robert-Schumann-Fest, Dresden (DE)
Ensemble Mediterrain
C Schumann: Piano Trio
R. Schumann: Piano Trio n. 1
15.09.2019
teatro Guaira,
Curitiba (BR)
Conductor
Orquestra Sinfônica do Paraná
F. J. Haydn: Symphony n.1
F. Lopes-Graça: Sinfonietta, "to Haydn"
D. Shostakovich: Symphony n.1
10.11.2019
Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden (DE)
Conductor
Dresdner Philharmoniker e.V.
Benefit Concert
Works by Beethoven, Villa-Lobos and Camargo Guarnieri.
10.01.2020
Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos, Lisbon (PT)
Conductor
Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa
W. A. Mozart: Symphony n. 39
W. A. Mozart: Symphony n. 40
W. A. Mozart: Symphony n. 41
11.01.2020
Centro Cultural e de Congressos, Caldas da Rainha (PT)
Conductor
Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa
W. A. Mozart: Symphony n. 39
W. A. Mozart: Symphony n. 40
W. A. Mozart: Symphony n. 41
22.01.2020
Berliner Philharmonie, Berlin (DE)
Conductor
Deutsches Kammerorchester
Freitas Branco: Duas Melodias
Shostakovitch: Kammersinfonie, 110a
Mahler: Adagietto, Symphony n. 5
Braga Santos: Concerto for Strings
25.04.2020
Centro Cultural de Belem, Lisbon (PT)
Conductor
Vienna Chamber Orchestra
L. v. Beethoven: Symphony n. 5, Symphony n. 6,
Concert aria "Ah! Perfido" (Soloist: Camilla Nylund),
Concerto for piano and orchestra n. 4 (Soloist: Peter Rösel),
Fantasy for piano, choir and orchestra (Soloist: Peter Rösel),
"Gloria" and "Sanctus" from the Mass in C op.86
