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.

Bruno Borralhinho is a member of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra and artistic director of the Ensemble Mediterrain. Born in Covilhã, Portugal, he studied with Luis Sá Pessoa in his native city and, later, with Markus Nyikos in Berlin and Truls Mørk in Oslo. He has also worked with Natalia Gutman, Antonio Meneses, Pieter Wispelwey, Anner Bylsma, Martin Ostertag and Marcio Carneiro. Awarded a grant by the Gulbenkian Foundation, he also won first prize at the Júlio Cardona Competition in 1999 and the Prémio Jovens Músicos in 2001. In 2009, he released a double album of works for cello and piano by Portuguese composers entitled Página Esquecida, which garnered widespread critical acclaim.