João Xavier in the Piano Cycle at the Palaces of Sintra
João Xavier is a pianist from the new Portuguese generation whose flourishing career already includes several awards and numerous solo recitals and concertos. A pupil of Pedro Burmester in Porto and Eliso Virsaladze in Florence and Moscow, Xavier will perform a programme featuring continual dialogue and a diverse repertoire, revolving around the early Romantic period of Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin. Two major works by the genius Polish composer, Fantaisie Op.49 and Piano Sonata No.3, Op.58, will open and close the recital. In between, a selection of Schumann's works will emerge around the idea of a cycle: Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Op.15, and two of the Novelletten, Op.21, as well as his Arabeske, Op.18, and from this on to Chopin's Marzurkas, Op.56.
Programme
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
- Fantasia, op. 49
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
- Kinderszenen, op. 15
- (Two) Novelletten, op. 21
INTERMISSION
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
- (Three) Mazurkas, op. 56
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
- Arabesque, op. 18
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
- Sonata No 3 in B minor, op. 58 (I. Allegro Maestoso; II. Molto vivace; III. Largo; IV. Finale. Presto non tanto)
Biography
João Xavier was born in Lousada and began his musical education at the Conservatório do Vale do Sousa, where he spent 8 years, finishing in 2011 in Luísa Ferreira’s class.
He continued his studies at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo, in Porto, with Pedro Burmester. He has worked with pianist Tania Achot and, at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, in Italy, with Eliso Virsaladze, with whom he later continued his studies at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, graduating with distinction in 2020.
In 2023, he earned a master’s at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, under Aleksandar Madžar.
He has won various national and international competitions, including first prize in the 12th Santa Cecilia International Piano Competition. In 2011, he came first in the Young Musicians’ Prize, in the piano category – higher level; and in 2014, he won 3rd prize in the Jaén International Piano Competition, in Spain.
More recently, in 2021, he won the 22nd Estoril Performance Competition.
He has performed in concerts, solo and with orchestra, in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Russia, in halls such as the Great Hall of the Palácio da Bolsa in Porto; the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Grand Auditorium; Sala Suggia, at Casa da Música; Teatros del Canal, in Madrid; the Rachmaninoff Hall and the Small and Great Halls at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, among others.
He has worked with various orchestras in Portugal, Spain and Russia, namely the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Orchestra, the Porto Symphony Orchestra – Casa da Música, Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, City of Granada Orchestra, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, Moscow Conservatory Student Symphony Orchestra, and with conductors including Pedro Neves, Nikolay Lalov, Günter Neuhold, Anatoly Levin and Vasily Sinaisky.
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