"Ambassador of Portuguese music"

Público (PT)





News


28.11.2024

Borralhinho conducts the São Carlos National Theater production of the opera L'elisir d'amore

The performances will take place on February 7th in Faro, February 22nd in Vila Real and March 1st in Caldas da Rainha and will feature an excellent cast of soloists, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos. The staging and choreography will be assumed by Mário João Alves.

Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
14.11.2024

Bruno Borralhinho appointed Artistic Director of international competition

Borralhinho assumes the Artistic Direction of the new Júlio Cardona International Music Competition, organized by the City Council of Covilhã. The first edition will take place from June 25th to 28th, 2025, and will feature a prestigious international jury. The competition categories will be violin, flute and piano.

CIMJC
01.09.2024

Debut in China with the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra

Bruno Borralhinho will conduct the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra in March 2025, in what will be his debut as conductor of a Chinese orchestra. The concert will take place at the Grand Theater of Guyiang and includes Symphony no. 3 Eroica by Ludwig van Beethoven, the Capriccio Espagnol by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and a Concerto for piano and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with Chinese soloist Jian Li.


24.06.2024

Season 2024-2025

In addition to his return to the podium of orchestras such as the Dresdner Philharmonie, the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa or the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Bruno Borralhinho will conduct two opera productions - Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Philippe Boesmans' Julie - and make his conducting debuts with orchestras in China and Romania, among others. He will also be performing solo and chamber music recitals in Germany, Turkey and Portugal. Stay tuned for news!

Agenda
01.09.2023

Don Giovanni and Opera Gala at the 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
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 Filarmonica Bacau (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, Spain and Romania.

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.

28.09.2024

Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Lisbon (PT)

Conductor, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa
Adés, Alves de Sousa, Ravel.

29.09.2024

Cine-teatro de Alcobaça, Alcobaça (PT)

Conductor, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa
Adés, Alves de Sousa, Ravel.

01.10.2024

Fórum Municipal Luísa Todi, Setúbal (PT)

Conductor, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa
Adés, Alves de Sousa, Ravel.

06.10.2024

Kulturpalast, Dresden (DE)

Ensemble Mediterrain
Vasks, Fauré.


03.11.2024

Webermuseum, Hosterwitz (DE)

Ensemble Mediterrain
Beethoven, Gideon Klein.

19.11.2024

Teatro Municipal da Covilhã (PT)

Conductor, Beyra - Ensemble Orquestral
Filipe Quaresma (soloist)

Debussy, Tinoco.

27.-30.11.2024

Universitatea Nationala de Arte "George Enescu", Iasi (RO)

Masterclass- Cello & Chamber music

05.12.2024

Centrul de Afaceri si Expozitii Bacau, Bacau (RO)

Conductor, Filarmonica Bacau
Beethoven, Stravinsky.


12.01.2025

Börse, Coswig (DE)

Conductor, Ensemble Mediterrain
Janacek, Turina, Grieg.

01.02-02.02.2025

Conservatório Nacional de Lisboa, Lisbon (PT)

Masterclass - Violoncello

07.02.2025

Teatro das Figuras, Faro (PT)

Conductor, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore.

22.02.2025

Teatro Muncipal, Vila Real (PT)

Conductor, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore.


01.03.2025

Centro Cultural e de Congressos, Caldas da Rainha (PT)

Conductor, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore.

20.03.2025

Kulturpalast, Dresden (DE)

Conductor, Junges Sinfonieorchester Dresden
Haydn, Delius, Boulanger, Sibelius, Dvorák, J. Strauss II.

21.03.2025

Hoyerswerda (DE)

Conductor, Junges Sinfonieorchester Dresden
Haydn, Strauss II, Sibelius, Boulanger.

28.03.2025

Guiyang (CN)

Conductor, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra
Jian Li (piano)

Rimsky-Korsakov, Mozart, Beethoven.


11.04.2025

Kulturpalast, Dresden (DE)

Conductor, Dresdner Philharmonie
Gershwin, Bernstein.

12.04.2025

Kulturpalast, Dresden (DE)

Conductor, Dresdner Philharmonie
Gershwin, Bernstein.

06.05.2025

Istanbul (TR)

Solo Recital
Bach: Suites n. 1 and n. 6
Cassadó: Suite

09.05.2025

CCB, Lisbon (PT)

Recital with piano
Raúl da Costa (piano)

Bach: 3 Sonatas BWV 1027–1029
A. V. d'Almeida: 3 Bagatelas and comissioned work


17.05.2024

Teatro Municipal da Covilhã (PT)

Conductor, Beyra - Ensemble Orquestral
de Falla.

25.-28.06.2025

Covilhã (PT)
Júlio Cardona International Music Competition

Artistic Director and Jury member.

11.07.2025

Cistermúsica, Alcobaça (PT)

Conductor, Ensemble Mediterrain
Carla Caramujo (Soprano)
André Baleiro (Baritone)

Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn.

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