A candlelit evening of Chopin in a centuries-old Portuguese country house, canapés included for €35 — that's the pitch from the Algarve's long-running Amigos de Música concert series, which opens its new season with two nights from Paris-born pianist Hélène Tysman.
The concerts take place at Monte Os Agostos, an 18th-century estate above the village of Santa Bárbara de Nexe, near Loulé, on Tuesday October 27 and Thursday October 29, both starting at 7pm with doors at 6.30pm. The first programme pairs Purcell and Bach with Mozart and Beethoven sonatas; the second is a Chopin-heavy affair built around his four piano ballades, plus works by Ravel — a fitting combo, since Tysman has recorded both composers.
If you're not a classical regular, Tysman is a serious name: a graduate of the Paris Conservatoire who trained in Cologne, Vienna, Hamburg and Weimar under Grigory Gruzman, she broke through with a distinction at the 2010 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw after earlier taking first prize at the Chopin competition in Darmstadt. Since then she's played Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Philharmonie de Paris, Salle Gaveau, Hamburg's Laeiszhalle and the Cairo Opera House. Off the concert stage, she experiments with literary collaborations and a project called The Musician's Hypnosis, which looks at how performers prepare and how audiences listen.
The setting is half the appeal here. Monte Os Agostos sits above the countryside near Bordeira, and Amigos de Música serves wine, fruit juice and canapés before the music and at the interval — more house party than formal recital. Entry for non-members is €35 with refreshments, but you'll need to book ahead by email, as there's no walk-up option.
The series itself is a local institution worth knowing about if you winter in the Algarve. Founded in 1991 as a non-profit with around 120 members, Amigos de Música is marking its 35th anniversary this year and stages roughly 16 concerts annually, drawing musicians from Portugal and across Europe. The Tysman dates are just the season opener; the rest of the programme runs through the autumn and winter, giving expats and visitors a reliable fix of chamber music without a trip to Lisbon.
For travellers, this is the kind of event that turns a beach holiday into something more memorable — an inland evening amid the Algarve's barrocal hills, a short drive from Faro and the coast, timed for late October when the summer crowds have gone and the region settles into its calmer, milder season.
Full details at amigosdemusica.org.
First reported by Portugal Resident.
