PIANIST BERNARDO SANTOS (Portugal)

Bernardo Santos, piano

Programme:

António Fragoso (1897–1918)
Valsa Ingenua (Naive Waltz)
Dança Popular (Popular Dance)
Inquietude (Restlessness)
Canção e Dança Portuguesas (Portuguese Song and Dance)
Valsa Capricho (Caprice Waltz)

Aleksandra Naumovski Potisk, Praeludium No. 1, Op. 13 (premiere)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893), Dumka, Op. 59

Franz Liszt (1811–1886), Two Legends
St. Francis of Asisi Preaching to the Birds
St. Francis of Paola Walking on the Waves

Enrique Granados (1867–1916), Allegro de Concierto, Op. 46

Portuguese leading pianist Bernardo Santos was proclaimed a musical prodigy by the British newspaper The Guardian. His performances span more than twenty countries across four continents and countless prestigious venues (Casa da Música in Portugal, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, National Concert Hall in Dublin). As a soloist, he has performed with numerous orchestras under the batons of conductors such as António Vassalo Lourenço, Charles Gambetta, Hilo Carriel and many others. He is also a prolific chamber musician boasting a sizable discography (I.C. Pereira – Curtas, E.Grieg – Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Saint-Saëns – Piano Quintets, Dvořák – Piano Quintets). His most recent recordings include works for solo piano by Portuguese composer Ruy Coelho, whom he is currently researching as a researcher at INET-md and doctoral candidate at the University of Aveiro. He has previously published critical editions of works by Portuguese composers Berta Alves de Sousa and Frederico de Freitas. Bernardo has been a Trinity College London Scholar and recipient of scholarships from several Portuguese foundations. Bernardo serves as the the president of the World Piano Teachers Association (WPTA) Portugal, co-founder and co-director of Festival Internacional de Piano y Orquesta de Guadalajara (FIPOG) in Mexico and Artistic Director of the “Ciclos Lua Nova” concert series, hosted by Fundação Dionísio Pinheiro e Alice Cardoso Pinheiro, in Águeda, Portugal. He graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, Conservatori del Liceu in Barcelona, the University of Aveiro, and the Ljubljana Academy of Music, having studied with world renowned Slovenian pianist Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak. Tonight’s concert is aimed at underscoring his connection to Slovenia, which is why he also included a Slovenian piece in his programme.

Aleksandra Naumovski Potisk is not only an exceptionally active pianist, but also an exceedingly fruitful composer, who first came to the attention of Slovenian audiences in March 2017, when her first children’s opera titled “Glasbena Hiša” (Musical House) premiered at the Slovenian Philharmonic (in coproduction with Cona 8, The Slovenian Philharmonic, and SNG Opera and Ballet Maribor). Her next children’s opera Martin Krpan, which premiered at the Brechthaus in Berlin in 2017, counts fifty performances. In November 2018, her first ballet for children titled “La Fontainove basni” (La Fontaine’s Fables) premiered with a top-tier ballet ensemble at Ljubljana’s Cankarjev Dom. In 2021 she won the SpevSLAM competition and saw the premiere of her opera “Mehurčki” (Bubbles). At the invitation of the Slovenian Embassy, her cantata “Misijonar,” which she wrote for the bicentennial of noted missionary Dr. Ignacij Knoblehar, was performed on the 30th Slovenian Independence Day at the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome. In March of 2023, her Concertino for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra, Op. 14, with the meaningful subtitle “Ljubljanske Vedute” (Vedutas of Ljubljana), premiered at the illustrious Cankarjev Dom cultural centre.

Preludes for piano op. 13 are a cycle of six preludes, which were created during the years of the worst restrictions on the normality of life due to the covid-19 pandemic, so that they could (although they don’t) carry a significant addition to the name »from quarantine«. The preludes are especially in terms of their content (they are almost poems in form), as they are permeated by the spirit of confinement, isolation and the helplessness of looking through the window into normality. They are full of dubious uncertainty and longing sentimentality for the “good old days” and as a result are trapped in the very function of an introduction – a prelude to a redemptive story suspended with each extension. It is the alienation from the world on the other side of the window that is the leading motive of the emotionally extremely condensed compositions, where the wavering and hesitating emotion rarely finds salvation.

Complimentary tickets, courtesy of Večer can be collected an hour before the concert at the venue. Reservations are not possible, spaces are limited.

In collaboration with: