The new concert season for the Amigos de Música began with two piano recitals in their “home” at Os Agostos country estate, near Santa Bárbara de Nexe last week. Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin, winner of the Australian International Piano Competition 2016 and a host of other prizes, brought a programme of great variety.
On the first night, he played Beethoven and Chopin with magical delicacy and, on the second, a complete Russian evening of Shostakovich and Stravinsky.
Andrey played with such formidable power that his versatility as an internationally sought-after recitalist and soloist came brilliantly to the fore and blew away the full-house assembly of Amigos de Música and guests.
The musician’s distinguished playing, astonishing for such a young man, and his technique has him performing at the Vienna Musikverein, Carnegie Hall, the Great Halls in Moscow and at the Mariinsky, as well as the Paris Louvre and Tokyo Art Space, among others.
The aim of Amigos de Música, for all their concerts at Os Agostos, is to invite musicians of world-class calibre to the Algarve. Bringing this young Russian pianist here certainly was a great achievement and enriching for the cultural scene of the Algarve, and we are proud of having had the privilege of introducing him to Portugal.
For information about the Amigos de Música at Os Agostos as well as upcoming concerts, visit the website www.amigos-de-musica.org
For membership enquiries, email helga.hampton@btinternet.com
Next month
The next performance organised by the Amigos de Música will be a programme of words and music scripted from Chopin’s letters and writings, adapted by Lucy Parham (piano) and narrated by actors Dame Harriet Walter and Guy Paul, on October 2 and 3. Full report next week.
Review by HELGA HAMPTON
Photo: The musician Andrey Gugnin with Maria do Rosário Farrajota, owner and host at Os Agostos
