I’ve been writing a lot about the Chopin Competition lately, mostly on Facebook. Long posts that have stirred an interest for which I’m grateful. Here’s another one: the most important, I think, and certainly the most personal and engaged. We’ve just witnessed the final, and with it, twenty days come to an end—days in which […]
After the release of a single in November 2024 and the commercial launch of the full album on February 7 of this year, accompanied by the dissemination on social networks of various video clips of diverse aesthetics, the articulate presentation to the world of Alice Sara Ott and Deutsche Grammophon’s project around Field’s Nocturnes has […]
The five days I just spent in Lithuania—a country I had never visited before—have been full of fascinating experiences and encounters. As I fly back home, I write down some of the many reflections from these days, trying to bring some order to my own thoughts. The first one is about the doctoral defense for […]
I just watched No Fear, the documentary film by Regina Schilling featuring Igor Levit. It’s a feature-length documentary entirely focused on this pianist who, as we know, occupies a unique space in today’s musical landscape. Levit plays very well and has a colossal repertoire, but his popularity isn’t based solely on musical merits. In reality, […]
Sigo desde hace años la encomiable carrera de Mariana Alandia Navajas, que fusiona admirablemente su faceta de excelente pianista con la de investigadora y divulgadora del repertorio boliviano. No es exagerado decir que en el conocimiento de este riquísimo legado hay un antes y un después de ella. Fue gracias a ella, por ejemplo, que […]
El Concurso Chopin 2021 ha acabado. Han sido muchos días de retransmisión online que he seguido con especial atención porque suponía que se convertiría en un espacio interesantísimo para reflexionar sobre el estado actual de la interpretación, y así ha sido. Ahora que ya sabemos el veredicto del jurado, aún más. En este largo post […]
Juan Pérez Floristán acaba de ganar el Primer Premio del Concurso Arthur Rubinstein, uno de los más exclusivos del mundo. Que un querido amigo como es él gane un concurso de este nivel siempre es una alegría, de aquellas que apetece compartir aunque no haga una especial falta, visto que los medios de comunicación se […]
Conozco a Susan Campos-Fonseca desde hace muchos años. Y estoy acostumbrado a que me sorprenda una y otra vez. Toda su extraordinaria carrera está marcada por giros inesperados y apuestas valientes, de aquéllas que te desafían continuamente. Hace unos meses anunció que su siguiente álbum iba a estar dedicado a la música pianística de Marvin […]
It had to happen: the virus turned into two hours of sleepy music for relaxation. As the friend who sent it to me said, the perfect music for “the searchers of the light to meditate to on their way to the energetic equilibrium with brother Corona”. At least no one has said “this is what […]
Freedom is not being afraid, says the great Nina Simone in this video. Hopefully research will soon return the freedom that fear is taking away from us. Because healthcare personnel are saving lives in the short term, and we will never thank them enough for their work. But only research will create the conditions to […]