Originally from Spain, Salvador Dário Florez de Pando, commonly known as Dário Florez, settled in Funchal in the first quarter of the twentieth century, and became a Portuguese citizen working as an official at the General Board of Public Works. In the music field, Dário Florez had an enormous role in Funchal society having directed, for about three decades, many concerts and orchestras, besides having composed several songs for ‘revista’, a gender in which he was one of the pioneer musicians in Funchal. Although some people would appoint the year of 1923 as the year the musician settled in Funchal, data was found of his presence in Madeira before that date, being possible that Dário Florez had settled on the island in 1913, as Luiz Peter Clode refers in his book “Registo Genealógico de Famílias que passaram à Madeira”. For example, back in 1916, at the Municipal Theatre there was a play titled "Miúdos" with music by Dário Florez and text by Pedro de Oliveira Castro, having the Spanish consulate, José Campanela, offered the musician a baton, on the third time that the play was shown. The ‘revista’ "Miúdos" must have obtained a good response from the public, because the following year, in 1917, Dário Florez composed music for a new ‘revista’, this time with lyrics by Adam Nunes and a well Madeiran title: "Semilha e Alface". We also know of two more ‘revistas’ composed by the Spanish musician for Madeira: the ‘revista’ "Água-vai", also with text by Adam Nunes, which was represented in 1922; and the ‘revista’ in one act, "Ilha de Sonho", represented in 1948. In 1929 we found Dário Florez leading an orchestra, directing his own music and the music by Capitan Edmundo Lomelino, in a recital to honour the Volunteer Fire-fighters of Funchal, organized by Eugénia Rego, in the Municipal Theatre. The prestige of Dário Florez as a conductor was such that, in the second quarter of the twentieth century, when the "Grande Orquestra Madeirense" was created - commissioned by the Clode brothers (Luiz Peter Clode and William Clode) and supported by the city council governed by Fernão Ornelas -, the Spanish musician was chosen to be its first maestro. Still as an orchestra conductor, one of the highlights of Dário Florez’s career was when he directed the inaugural concert of the prestigious Concert Society of Madeira, on March 4th, 1943 in front of the "Grande Orquestra de Salão de Amadores de Música", at the ‘Palácio de São Lourenço’. At the time, his prestige must have been very high, since he became part of the small and restricted literary group "Cenáculo" - chaired by Major João dos Reis Gomes -, that only accepted famous figures and intellectuals as members. The musician also composed a fado for voice and piano, entitled “Saudades de Coimbra”.
Originally from Spain, Salvador Dário Florez de Pando, commonly known as Dário Florez, settled in Funchal in the first quarter of the twentieth century, and became a Portuguese citizen working as an official at the General Board of Public Works. In the music field, Dário Florez had an enormous role in Funchal society having directed, for about three decades, many concerts and orchestras, besides having composed several songs for ‘revista’, a gender in which he was one of the pioneer musicians in Funchal. Although some people would appoint the year of 1923 as the year the musician settled in Funchal, data was found of his presence in Madeira before that date, being possible that Dário Florez had settled on the island in 1913, as Luiz Peter Clode refers in his book “Registo Genealógico de Famílias que passaram à Madeira”. For example, back in 1916, at the Municipal Theatre there was a play titled "Miúdos" with music by Dário Florez and text by Pedro de Oliveira Castro, having the Spanish consulate, José Campanela, offered the musician a baton, on the third time that the play was shown. The ‘revista’ "Miúdos" must have obtained a good response from the public, because the following year, in 1917, Dário Florez composed music for a new ‘revista’, this time with lyrics by Adam Nunes and a well Madeiran title: "Semilha e Alface". We also know of two more ‘revistas’ composed by the Spanish musician for Madeira: the ‘revista’ "Água-vai", also with text by Adam Nunes, which was represented in 1922; and the ‘revista’ in one act, "Ilha de Sonho", represented in 1948. In 1929 we found Dário Florez leading an orchestra, directing his own music and the music by Capitan Edmundo Lomelino, in a recital to honour the Volunteer Fire-fighters of Funchal, organized by Eugénia Rego, in the Municipal Theatre. The prestige of Dário Florez as a conductor was such that, in the second quarter of the twentieth century, when the "Grande Orquestra Madeirense" was created - commissioned by the Clode brothers (Luiz Peter Clode and William Clode) and supported by the city council governed by Fernão Ornelas -, the Spanish musician was chosen to be its first maestro. Still as an orchestra conductor, one of the highlights of Dário Florez’s career was when he directed the inaugural concert of the prestigious Concert Society of Madeira, on March 4th, 1943 in front of the "Grande Orquestra de Salão de Amadores de Música", at the ‘Palácio de São Lourenço’. At the time, his prestige must have been very high, since he became part of the small and restricted literary group "Cenáculo" - chaired by Major João dos Reis Gomes -, that only accepted famous figures and intellectuals as members. The musician also composed a fado for voice and piano, entitled “Saudades de Coimbra”. 