Fausto Neves

Pianist Fausto Neves initiated his studies with his parents and from a very early age with Helena Costa, in Oporto. Through her, Robert Weisz (Canada - Quebec) and Harry Datyner (Switzerland - Geneve) he contacted the great pianistic tradition of Vianna da Motta, Edwin Fischer, Alfred Cortot, Marguerite Long and Dinu Lipatti. Graduated by the Oporto Conservatory (1977), he was awarded with the Virtuosity Prize of the Geneva Conservatory (1982) and invited to teach in this school. Fausto Neves began performing to a widespread audience very early, being frequently invited to play at most important musical events in Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Brazil, Canada and France. He was soloist with several orchestras under conductors like Arpad Gerezs, Gunther Arglebe, Graça Moura, Álvaro Salazar, Kamen Goleminov, Fernando Eldoro, Marc Tardue, Ferreira Lobo, Philippo Zigante, Cesário Costa, António Lourenço or Pearce de Azevedo. He has often recorded for RDP or RTP (Portugal) and TV Cultura (Brazil). His large repertoire, embracing from baroque to contemporary periods, gives a special attention to Portuguese Music. He has performed first auditions by Lopes-Graça, Eduardo Patriarca, Amílcar Vasques Dias and Cândido Lima and has divulged in Portugal composers like Ramon Barce, Charles Griffes, Frank Martin or Karol Szymanowsky. He has collaborated with other soloists on various occasions namely violoncellist Gisela Neves (CD ”Alla Danza”) and pianist Pedro Burmester together with percussionists Miquel Bernat and Manuel Campos integrating a piano and percussion quartet. His pedagogic activity included teaching at the Geneva and Sion Music Conservatories (Switzerland), Oporto Conservatory and Superior School of Music. At present he is invited Professor in Aveiro University. Fausto Neves holds the first prize in the “Cidade da Covilhã” contest among others. He is regularly invited to integrate juries in national and international contests as well as masterclasses. (from text by Fausto Neves)

Luís Costa

Composer Luís Costa was born in São Pedro de Farelães in 1879 and died in Oporto in 1960. After completing his studies with Bernardo Moreira de Sá, he left for Germany, where he studied with Viana da Mota, Stavenhagen, Ansorge and Busoni. In parallel with his career as a soloist pianist, he worked with remarkable artists such as the cellists Casals, Hekking, Suggia and violinists Enesco and Aránye as well as the Rosé and Chaumont quartets. He taught at the Oporto Music Conservatory of which he was also director. He was a teacher of rare distinction due to both his natural gifts and his vast culture as well as deep musical knowledge. He taught and influenced whole generations of pianists as far as both aesthetics and professional ethics were concerned. As Artistic Director of the "Orpheon Portuense" he had a noteworthy action. At his invitation, some of the most remarkable artists of his time visited and performed in Oporto. Namely, he was responsible for Maurice Ravel's visit, in 1928. In nature he always found an endless source of inspiration that can be found in the titles and atmospheres of many of his piano compositions. His friendship with his master Moreira de Sá, a celebrated encyclopaedist and a violinist keen on chamber music, left him a taste for ensemble music which later translated into his professional life as a pianist and composer. His chamber music works are proof of the above. He was a cultivated musician interested in all arts and a friend of sculptors, painters, poets and writers. He was captivated by the magic of poetry. Thus were born works for piano and singing that were not irrelevant in the context of his work. (adapted from text by Maria Teresa Macedo, in PMIC)

António Rosado

Pianist António Rosado began studying music when the was 3 years old, with his father, and graduated at the Lisbon National Conservatoire with the highest classifications. When he was 16 he went to study in Paris, where he had classes with Aldo Ciccolini, his tutor for several years, who said, about him: “António Rosado has something that cannot be taught or learned: the sense of the keyboard.” His virtuosity made him win international prizes such as the Alfredo Casella Competition and the Perosi International Academy’s G. Pella Prize. Those achievements helped establish a notorious career which throughout the years lead him to play many concerts and festivals all over the world, solo or with prestigious orchestras and conductors. He has been invited to play and record for TV and radio stations in many countries. His discography includes CDs dedicated to Enescu, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Mozart, Schumann and the Portuguese composers José Viana da Mota, Fernando Lopes-Graça, Luís de Freitas Branco and Armando José Fernandes. In 2008, António Rosado was decorated Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.

Available discography.

António Rosado plays Fernando Lopes-Graça's Piano Sonata No. 2, 2nd movement.

Guilhermina Suggia

A unique name in music history. Guilhermina Suggia (b. 27th June 1885 - d. 30th July 1950) took the world by storm when, still a youngster, was invited to play, as a soloist, in many ot the most important concert halls throughout Europe, where she thrilled everyone with her perfect technique and overwhelming, enticing style. She was one of the first women cellists to work as a soloist and had works dedicated to her by several composers. For a few years, until 1913, she lived in Paris, with companion and former teacher Pablo Casals, and they were considered the best cello players of the day. After they split up, she moved to London, where she was cherished as a performer and settled while developping her highly praised international career. Moving back to Portugal, in the late 1920s, she kept on touring and tutoring and formed a new generation of young cellists who later passed on her teachings to their own pupils. She worked with some of the greatest Portuguese musicians of her time, namely pianist and composer José Viana da Mota, conductor Pedro de Freitas Branco and violinist Bernardo Moreira de Sá. On her will, Guilhermina Suggia left her Stardivarius to the Royal Academy of Music, in London, and her Montagnana to the Conservatoire in Oporto, with the purpose of creating a fund, both in the UK and Portugal, to help young cello students. Check out Suggia's blog (mostly in Portuguese) for a lot of information and photos, as well as for a complete bibliography (including several books and articles in English).

http://suggia.weblog.com.pt/

Available CD

Suggia plays Max Bruch's "Kol Nidrei"