Pedro de Freitas Branco

[1] He founded the Portuguese Opera Company in 1926, and conducted the state symphony orchestra from 1934.

[2] Branco made his Paris debut in 1932 in a concert of Maurice Ravel's music at the Salle Pleyel conducting Daphnis et Chloé, Pavane pour une infante defunte, Rapsodie espagnole, La valse and Boléro.

He guest conducted in several other European countries including France, Germany, Spain and Britain.

[2] The singer Astra Desmond praised Branco for "his magnificent musicianship, his immersion in the spirit and style of whatever composer he is playing, his boundless enthusiasm and complete selflessness".

[6] The Times observed that he was at his finest in "music of great textual brilliance, notably in the work of Berlioz, Stravinsky and Richard Strauss.