Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1
Europiano
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Date
- 20:30 / Cancelled 20:30 / Sold out Sunday, 20:30
Location
Gardens of Torre de Belém LisbonThis concert will be broadcast live on RTP2 and arte.tv.
- Conductor
- Piano
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Gulbenkian Orchestra
In 1962, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to establish a permanent orchestral ensemble. Originally with only twelve musicians (strings and continuo) it was named “Orquestra de Câmara Gulbenkian”. This collective was successively enlarged and today the “Orquestra Gulbenkian” (the name it has adopted since 1971) has a permanent body of sixty instrumentalists, a number that can be expanded depending on the repertoire.
This structure allows the Gulbenkian Orchestra to interpret works from the Baroque and Classical periods, a significant part of 19th century orchestral literature and much of the music of the 20th century, including works belonging to the current repertoire of the traditional symphonic orchestras. In each season, the orchestra performs on a regular series of concerts at the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium in Lisbon, where it has had the opportunity of working together with some of leading names of the world of music (conductors and soloists). It has also performed on numerous locations all over Portugal, in an effort to decentralize music and culture.
The orchestra has been constantly expanding its activities in the international level, performing in Europe, Asia Africa, and the Americas. In the recording field, Orquestra Gulbenkian is associated to labels as Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, Teldec, Erato, Adès, Nimbus, Lyrinx, Naïve and Pentatone, among others, and this activity was recognized with several international prizes.
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Hannu Lintu
Music Director
“Dynamic and sharp on the podium” (Bachtrack) and with an “extreme clarity of purpose, every detail worth noting” (Los Angeles Times), Hannu Lintu maintains his reputation as one of the world’s finest conductors. This season Lintu continues his tenures as Music Director of Orquestra Gulbenkian and Chief Conductor of Finnish National Opera and Ballet, proving himself a master of both symphonic and operatic repertoire, as well as beginning his tenures as Artistic Partner of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the International Sibelius Festival.
Last season also saw Lintu’s appointment as Music Director of Singapore Symphony Orchestra from 2026/27, where he will appear this season for several performances, including for Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Shostakovich’s 7th Leningrad Symphony. Other highlights include returns to the BBC, St Louis, Toronto, Baltimore and Detroit Symphonies, as well as productions of Strauss’ Elektra and a world premiere of Sebastian Fagerlund’s The Morning Star at Finnish National Opera.
Symphonic highlights of recent years have seen Lintu conduct the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic (including an immediate re-invitation from the orchestra to perform at Bravo! Vail Festival), Berliner Philharmoniker, The Cleveland Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Radio France, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, London Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, St Louis Symphony, and Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.
As an expert in both operatic as well as symphonic repertoire, Lintu’s recent opera highlights have included Enescu’s Œdipe with the Vienna Symphony at Bregenz Festspiele, Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at Opera de Paris and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at Bayerische Staatsoper as a guest conductor, as well as multiple productions at Finnish National Opera and Ballet, including a recent multi-season Ring Cycle, Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, a choregraphed reimagining of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Puccini’s Turandot, Richard Strauss’ Salome, and Britten’s Billy Budd.
Lintu has made several recordings for Ondine, BIS Records, Naxos, Avie Records and Hyperion Records. His diverse discography comprises recordings of Magnus Lindberg’s orchestral works, the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos with Stephen Hough, and Lutoslawski’s Symphonies Nos. 1-4, all with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. His often-gilded work boasts two International Classical Music Awards and several nominations for Gramophone and GRAMMY awards in recognition of recording projects such as Bartók’s Violin Concertos with Christian Tetzlaff, works by Sibelius featuring Anne Sofie von Otter, Rautavaara’s Kaivos, and the Violin Concertos of Sibelius and Thomas Adès with Augustin Hadelich and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Lintu studied cello and piano at the Sibelius Academy, where he also later studied conducting with Jorma Panula. He participated in masterclasses with Myung-Whun Chung at L’Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and took first prize at the Nordic Conducting Competition in Bergen in 1994.
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Bruce Liu
Piano
First Prize winner of the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition 2021 in Warsaw, Bruce Liu has emerged as one of the most compelling pianists of his generation — a musician praised not only for his dazzling technique, but for his curiosity and artistry that combines “nimble versatility” (New York Times) and “playing of breathtaking beauty” (BBC Music Magazine).
High in demand, he recently performed with many of the world’s finest ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Wiener Symphoniker, with conductors including Manfred Honeck, Paavo Järvi, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Antonio Pappano, Lahav Shani, and Dalia Stasevska.
In summer 2025, Liu makes his anticipated BBC Proms debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop at Ravinia, and goes on European tours with the NCPA Orchestra and Myung-Whun Chung, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Vasily Petrenko.
Highlights of Liu’s 2025/2026 season include several major international tours including Japan with Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski, China with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Daniele Gatti, and Germany, Austria, Belgium and Paris with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Kazuki Yamada. As a spotlight artist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Liu appears multiple times in the season to collaborate with Franz-Welser-Möst and Gustavo Gimeno.
As an active recitalist, Liu has performed at major concert halls such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall, and Philharmonie de Paris. In 2025/26, he gives recital debuts at the Berliner Philharmonie and Lyon Opera House, and returns to the Carnegie Hall, Wiener Musikverein and major venues in Italy and Japan. He appears at various international festivals, including Edinburgh, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Verbier, La Roque-d'Anthéron, Rheingau, Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals.
An exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon, Liu was awarded Opus Klassik’s ‘Young Talent of the Year’ prize 2024 for his debut studio album ‘Waves’. His second studio album, featuring Tchaikovsky’s Seasons, was released in November 2024 receiving rave reviews such as “superbly polished, but wonderfully free of mannerisms, giving these charming salon pieces the respect and sincerity they deserve” (The Guardian).
Born in Paris and raised in Montréal, Bruce Liu’s artistry reflects his multicultural heritage-blending European refinement, North American dynamism, and the long tradition of Chinese culture. He studied with Richard Raymond and Dang Thai Son.
Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky
Jean Sibelius
Luís de Freitas Branco
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
The ARTE/ZDF channel brings together eight countries and ten orchestras in a continuous broadcast running from 14:30 to 22:00 (GMT), moving from city to city and stopping in Lisbon for the live broadcast with RTP2 of the concert that the Gulbenkian Orchestra presents to the world from Belém, under the direction of conductor Hannu Lintu and featuring pianist Bruce Liu.
Alongside Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, the programme also includes Finlandia by Jean Sibelius, Scherzo fantastique by Luís de Freitas Branco, and Capriccio espagnol by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Photo © Bartek Barczyk
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