Among the first works composed in Berlin by the young José Viana da Mota were the Fantasiestück, op.2, brimming with Schumannesque cantabile, and the more fiery, Liszt-inspired Zwei Klavierstücke nach A. Böcklin. Written when the composer had established himself as one of the great virtuoso pianists of the Liszt school, the Rapsódias Portuguesas draw upon native fado tunes, religious and love songs and children’s round dances to create a vivid and idealised mosaic of Portuguese national identity.

Portuguese pianist João Costa Ferreira (b.1986) holds the prestigious Diplôme Supérieur d’Exécution of the École Normale de Musique de Paris–Alfred Cortot, and graduated with a master in music and musicology from the Paris-Sorbonne University and has started a doctoral programme there with a scholarship from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia to study the composition, technique and interpretation of José Viana da Mota’s piano works. João Costa Ferreira has won several prizes, notably the second prize in the XVth Maria Campina International Piano Competition (a first prize was not awarded), and the first ‘Musicology’ prize at the 8th Jeunes solistes de la Sorbonne Competition.