WEBVTT

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you Welcome back to another episode of the Pianopod,

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everyone. Today, I am thrilled to welcome José

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Ramos Santana, a pianist internationally acclaimed

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for his interpretations of Spanish and Latin

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American piano music. A Juilliard -trained virtuoso,

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José has performed as a soloist with major orchestras,

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including the New York Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic

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Orchestra, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and

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has graced prestigious concert halls around the

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world. His artistry and dedication to Spanish

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music earned him a special recognition for the

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Isaac Albany Medal, an honor acknowledging his

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contributions to the genre. In addition to his

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performing career, he is a devoted educator serving

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on the faculties of New York University and the

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Hart School of Music. In this episode, we'll

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explore the rich world of Spanish piano music.

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What makes it so distinctive? how regional influences

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shaped its development, and the pivotal role

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of ethnomusicologist Felipe Pedrell in defining

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its nationalistic style. José will also share

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insights from his work with the legendary and

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late Alicia de la Locha, one of the greatest

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Spanish interpreters, and truly a legend among

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legends. Her influence on Spanish piano music

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is unparalleled, and we'll discuss how her mentorship

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shaped José's artistic approach. Beyond Spain

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will take a deep dive into Puerto Rican classical

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music, a tradition that remains underrepresented

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in the broader classical world. José will highlight

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key composers, discuss the connections between

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Puerto Rican and Latin American musical styles,

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and share how his Puerto Rican heritage informs

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his artistry. His journey from growing up in

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Puerto Rico to training at Juilliard and establishing

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himself as a leading concert pianist offers a

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fascinating glimpse into the life of an artist,

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navigating both tradition and innovation. As

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an educator, he continues to shape the next generation

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of musicians and will hear his thoughts on the

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evolving landscape of classical music and the

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challenges young pianists face today. Before

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we begin, I want to share something new with

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you. Every Friday, I publish a blog on Substack

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where I go beyond the podcast, offering personal

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reflections, behind -the -scenes insights and

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thoughts on music, creativity, and the evolving

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role of classical musicians. If you enjoy these

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conversations, I invite you to subscribe at thepianopod

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.substack .com for exclusive content and deeper

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discussions. Now, let's dive into this incredible

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conversation with José Ramos Santana. Please

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enjoy the show. You are listening to The Piano

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Pod, where we talk to the brightest minds in

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the industry about how they are bringing the

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piano into the future and thriving in a complex,

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ever -evolving world. Welcome to The Piano Pod,

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Jose. It's such a pleasure and honor to have

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you on the show. Thank you. It's my pleasure

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and my honor to have you as a host. Thank you

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for having me. Oh, of course. And then I know

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you're in like a New York tri -state area. Yeah,

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in Connecticut. Connecticut. Well then, thanks.

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So thank you for joining me on this cold and

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icy February morning. You know, I've always been

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fascinated by Spanish music. It's instantly recognizable.

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You know, the moment you hear a piece by any

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Spanish composer, say, you know, Granados or

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whatever, even if you don't know the name of

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the composer, you know, that's a Spanish music.

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Right. Right. Yeah. And then there's just incredible

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fusion of folk traditions with regional diversity

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and classical structures and then annex. Really

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expressive passion and rhythmic vitality. That's

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really, I feel like sits it apart. So I've also

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been really always drawn to Spanish culture in

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general and the language, poetry, and the cinema,

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you know, they have such a amazing cinematography

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list of films that they have. And then, so I

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really liked the. The way that these films really

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capture something raw and deeply human and emotionally

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intensive, just like Spanish music. So today

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I am absolutely thrilled to explore the world

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of Spanish piano with you and someone who has

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truly lived and breathed this repertoire. And

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of course, I'm excited to talk about. Puerto

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Rican music and composers, which I am yet to

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learn. And this amazing music of your homeland.

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So let's start by getting to know you a little

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better. So you've received numerous accolades

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and performed on some of the world's most prestigious

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stages and distinguished Steinway artists yourself.

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You are undoubtedly one of the most celebrated

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pianists. from Puerto Rico, but in your own words,

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can you tell us, if you were to capture the essence

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of your artistry, mission, and passion in just

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a few sentences, how would you define who you

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are as an artist today? Well, I am an amalgamation

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of many things because my artistry, I was very

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privileged, very lucky to have had the last...

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I guess, part of the 19th, 20th century tradition

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of musicians, you know. When I was born, it was

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the time that Pablo Casals was in the island

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and he brought that, you know, his own tradition.

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Some of my teachers had studied in Europe before

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the Second World War. So... Akin to the Spanish

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culture, two of my teachers have studied first

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at the Real Conservatorio de Música de Madrid

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and then to Ecole Normale, which was first founded

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by Alfred Cortot. So saying that, some of my

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teachers were... became very much influenced,

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and they studied with people like Ricardo Viñes,

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who was one of perhaps the most famous first

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interpreters of Spanish music, although he lived

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in Paris at that time. And in Spain, they studied

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with, or they were associated with Fernandez

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Arboz, who was one of the notable... conductors

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of the Sinfonica de Madrid at that time. I think

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one or two of them studied with a lady called

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Lola Rodriguez de Aragon, who studied with Anton

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Rubinstein. So there was, you know, this influence.

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And the Spanish music was always a very strong...

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kind of definition in my upbringing. So therefore,

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I think that I, and I loved it. So I think that

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my mission is to continue that with that old

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tradition. And of course, later on, I met Alicia

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de la Rocha and so on and so forth. As you said,

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the Spain culture and the Spanish tradition in

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me was deeply rooted. And so I feel that I'm

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a conduit for the new generation from this point

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of view. That's part of my mission. My mission

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is also to educate young generations of pianists.

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And right now, for example... I started in Puerto

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Rico, Puerto Piano and Strings for Puerto Ricans

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and also international students to come to the

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island and just participate in this wonderful

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festival with international and national artists.

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So I think that this is what I want to make sure

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that... I establish, you know, as my legacy and

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as my mission. Also, again, I've been very fortunate

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and I'm very thankful for life. I've had great

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teachers in my background from Puerto Rico to

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the end of my studies. They all carry a tradition

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that is lost. And so anyway, I feel that I am

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a link to that old tradition of artistry in the

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piano. Thank you so much for sharing. So speaking

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of Spanish music, so let's really dive into this

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wonderful world of Spanish music that is still

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yet to be played, should be played more often,

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I feel like. It's still the mainstream is the

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German and French school and the post -romantic

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of Rachmaninoff and so on. But Spanish music,

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I feel like it's underrated still. Right. So

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Spanish music is often associated with flamenco

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and guitar, but there's so much more to it. Can

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you walk us through the diverse regional influences?

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Yes. For example, let's start from the north.

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You have typical dances. And, of course, the

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Basque country has their own language, but the

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Basque have their very complex rhythmic dances.

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One of them is called Sorzico, which, by the

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way, Albanians wrote a piece based on that. It's

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5 -4, 1 -2 -3 -4 -5, 1 -2 -3 -4 -5, 1 -2 -3 -4.

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It's a kind of unstable rhythm like that, but

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it's very beautiful. And then you also have the

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Galician. which comes from Gales and Wales and

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the British Isles, so that they also have their

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own musical language and dances typical of their

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region. Then if you go down, you have, well,

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to the east you have the Catalan, the Catalonian

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ones. Also, it's an amalgamation of Spanish and

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French and Basque. Then you have Aragon, which

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you have the famous Jota, which you can find

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in this Spanish Rhapsody. That's the main theme

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is the Jota, from famous Jota. And you have Jotas

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also in some of the Albanian Iberia. You find

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the Jota in Malaga, the first of the fourth book.

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And then, of course, the ones that we know most

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as Spanish music is flamenco, the south, the

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Andalusian. And that's an amalgamation of flamenco,

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gypsy, and... But there are also rhythms, for

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example, in Manuel de Falla and harmonies that

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are not flamenco. They are basically Moorish.

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So it comes from the Moor culture. which runs

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sort of, I guess, parallel to flamenco, but it

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dates even farther back than flamenco. So I think

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those are the ones, you know, different regions

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of Spain that you can identify as Spanish music.

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Those are the cultures, the general musical languages

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you'll find in the peninsula. Yeah, fascinating.

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Yeah, as I was studying a little bit more about

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Spanish music for this episode, I'm learning

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a lot more. I've known Spanish music, the background

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of it, but just the historical background is

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so fascinating, right? Right, yeah, it is. So

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then I come across this name, Felipe. Pedro?

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Yes. Ethnomusicologist. I think he holds the

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key to this quote -unquote Spanish piano music

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because he's the one who influenced three big

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names you mentioned. Bernice... Granados and

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the Fire. Can you tell me the background of this

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story? Do you know? Well, Felipe, as you said,

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he was an ethnomusicologist. And as an investigator,

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he delved into all these rhythms and cultures

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that the peninsula has had. And he encouraged

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Balbenes and De Falla and Granados to write in

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the style of Spanish language, of Spanish folk

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music, Spanish tradition. So he was... a precursor

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of, let's say, Nadia Boulanger, that in the 20th

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century also she motivated all the composers

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that went to study with her from different countries

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to write in their own folkloric language, like

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Copland or Astor Piazzolla, Bernstein. So he

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was actually, I think, the... the first one to

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recognize that the peninsula has a great cultural

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tradition in music and dance and it should be

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put into the composers pages you know it should

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be written down as music and and of course in

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the case of these people they were pianists and

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um so that's how they demonstrated uh they steal

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all the things through pianistic writing and

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at that time you know it was late 19th century

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The influence of France, Liszt, was very much

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in vogue among everybody in Europe, pianist -wise.

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And so they wrote like this, in this Lisztian,

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super pianistic way. Right, right, right. But

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also, I remember these three big Spanish... composers,

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Albanese, Granados, Dafaia, they also spent quite

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a long time in France. Yes. I think that that

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was like the cultural center around that. Yes.

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So you hear the influence of French music as

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well. Oh, yes, very much, very much. For example,

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I think the one that you can see the most of

00:17:36.589 --> 00:17:41.490
this in the Iberia street is Albanese. when he

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wrote it when he was living in Paris. And he

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wrote it as Impressions of Spain. I'm paraphrasing,

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but this is what he had in mind. And it was the

00:17:59.670 --> 00:18:02.250
publisher who said, you know, well, let's find

00:18:02.250 --> 00:18:05.710
a more marketing title. And why don't you call

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it Iberia? But again, Albéniz concentrated in

00:18:12.910 --> 00:18:16.569
the southern or the Andalusian rhythms of flamenco.

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And distilled by the impression, I think he was

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a good friend of Claude Debussy. Claude Debussy

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admired his El Albacín, one of the greatest pieces

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written in that period. So he had this Paul Ducasse,

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all these composers at that time. had a distinctive

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influence. And thanks God, because I mean, his

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writing is just unique and phenomenal. He took

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the impressionistic and made it his own with

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this marriage of flamencos, Andalusian, Spanish

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music. Absolutely. Yes. So for those who are

00:18:59.779 --> 00:19:03.460
listening right now, we're discussing about Isaac

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Albany's amazing. his masterwork, Iberia. Iberia

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has four volumes and each volume, each volume

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has three pieces. Correct. Right. But it's not

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the little tiny dance suite or anything. It's

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like each one has, is massive. Right. Exactly.

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It's also a piece in itself. Yeah. Oh my goodness.

00:19:29.859 --> 00:19:33.059
Right. Right. And then I know that you performed

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all of them. It's physically extremely difficult.

00:19:40.670 --> 00:19:43.849
It is. Because the problem is that they don't

00:19:43.849 --> 00:19:47.150
get easier as the volumes progress. The most

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difficult is the fourth volume. And the more

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complex and the longer ones, like it is. It's

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very difficult. It's hard to keep the concentration,

00:19:57.730 --> 00:20:01.289
of course, the memory for that long period of

00:20:01.289 --> 00:20:05.539
time with so many notes that he wrote. And when

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he wrote it, he thought, I don't think anybody's

00:20:07.740 --> 00:20:10.619
going to be able to play this. It's unplayable.

00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:13.680
So there was a pianist called Blanche de Selva

00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:17.319
that did play it. And she says, no, no, no, this

00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:19.920
is possible. It takes work, but it's possible.

00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:27.019
Really? Yes. Well, you know, personally, I did

00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:30.640
book three, all of them. Yes. But I didn't perform

00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.799
three of them back to back. There's no way I

00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:36.900
could do it. It was extremely difficult, but

00:20:36.900 --> 00:20:42.200
I fell in love with them immediately when I was

00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:46.640
introduced. So what makes this work really special

00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:55.220
for you? Yeah, I think it's my cultural background.

00:20:55.420 --> 00:21:03.210
My family, I was born toward the end of... My

00:21:03.210 --> 00:21:07.450
mother was 45 when she had me. So she was quite

00:21:07.450 --> 00:21:13.109
old. And many of them were born when Spain was

00:21:13.109 --> 00:21:18.190
still dominant. Puerto Rico was a colony of Spain.

00:21:18.690 --> 00:21:24.069
And so that root of Spanish was always present

00:21:24.069 --> 00:21:28.950
in my family. And, of course, my teachers, too,

00:21:29.069 --> 00:21:36.309
when I developed. So that's what I felt so drawn.

00:21:36.490 --> 00:21:40.450
Also, Spanish music seems to be very happy music.

00:21:41.329 --> 00:21:45.250
It's the happiness of the human race, the joy

00:21:45.250 --> 00:21:51.589
of living, and the enjoyment of this moment of

00:21:51.589 --> 00:21:55.920
cultural... ecstasies that we have because as

00:21:55.920 --> 00:22:00.599
you say Spain and it's so rich and so beautiful

00:22:00.599 --> 00:22:04.319
in so many ways but you know the southern part

00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:07.859
of Spain and Puerto Rico were very much alike

00:22:07.859 --> 00:22:11.359
you know there's beauty in Puerto Rico too and

00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:15.160
there's you know at that time you know as I said

00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:19.359
we were still very much influenced from with

00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:24.799
the Spanish culture in the island Yes. So I found

00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:27.339
a voice with them, you know. And I was going

00:22:27.339 --> 00:22:32.380
to say, when you said before that the pianist

00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:37.759
education nowadays concentrates, well, I mean,

00:22:37.779 --> 00:22:39.839
of course, the base of the pianic education,

00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:44.500
as you say, the German, you know, romantic, even

00:22:44.500 --> 00:22:48.220
going back to Beethoven, Haydn. So every pianist

00:22:48.220 --> 00:22:50.359
has to do that. That's the background. That's

00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:54.210
the base. But there are other influences that

00:22:54.210 --> 00:22:57.650
should shape a pianist's view and education.

00:22:58.109 --> 00:23:01.829
And let's start first with the French. You know,

00:23:01.950 --> 00:23:07.349
for a, you don't hear for a anymore, very little.

00:23:07.450 --> 00:23:11.250
And Debussy even is becoming not that popular.

00:23:12.009 --> 00:23:14.950
Ravel, some works because of their pianistic

00:23:14.950 --> 00:23:23.230
challenge. But that's another part of the pianistic

00:23:23.230 --> 00:23:26.089
development that has to be cultivated. The other

00:23:26.089 --> 00:23:29.930
one is, of course, the Russian music. Rachmaninoff,

00:23:30.150 --> 00:23:34.710
Scriabin, Tchaikovsky, and all the Russian. And

00:23:34.710 --> 00:23:40.930
that's also very, very important. And the Spanish.

00:23:44.109 --> 00:23:47.680
Why the Spanish? Because the Spanish... Music

00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:51.940
frees your spirit to be very creative, but yet

00:23:51.940 --> 00:23:58.240
very disciplined. So you have to really learn

00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:02.480
to have a free spirit within very disciplined

00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:08.140
structures and rhythmic patterns and things like

00:24:08.140 --> 00:24:12.539
that. And that helps, because if you're playing,

00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:16.400
you know... I don't know, Chopin, all the Romantics,

00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:23.660
Liszt, and even the Russians too, Rachmaninoff.

00:24:24.460 --> 00:24:28.299
You have to have this free spirit in your playing,

00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:30.279
but yet it has to be very, very disciplined.

00:24:31.180 --> 00:24:34.839
So all these things, all this culture, musical

00:24:34.839 --> 00:24:41.039
influence, share the same value from a different

00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:44.849
point of view, different perspective. And the

00:24:44.849 --> 00:24:50.789
more culture, I think the more you are exposed

00:24:50.789 --> 00:24:54.789
to as a student, you grow up with that. And I

00:24:54.789 --> 00:24:59.589
think it's great for the development of a pianist

00:24:59.589 --> 00:25:01.690
later on when they mature. They have all these

00:25:01.690 --> 00:25:08.869
resources to follow and fall on, you know. They

00:25:08.869 --> 00:25:11.500
are making up interpretations about. different

00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:15.339
styles and things like that. Absolutely. Yes,

00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:21.839
yes, yes. So in this, you know, Iberia, all 12

00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:27.160
movements, out of 12, 11 of them are sort of

00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:32.259
Andalusian influence. Right. And you mentioned

00:25:32.259 --> 00:25:38.299
you have such a deep sort of relatability or

00:25:38.299 --> 00:25:41.519
closeness to that culture. the Southern culture,

00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:44.759
but except for one, one is the, I think Lava

00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:48.720
Pies is not from the Andalusia. No, Lava Pies

00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.720
is a, is from Madrid. Okay. Yeah. Why is that

00:25:53.720 --> 00:26:00.180
so hard? Yeah. Well, because if you, if you,

00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:03.720
Lava Pies is a, it was, but it still is called

00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:09.480
Lava Pies, but it was a kind of an ethnic ghetto.

00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:14.599
If you want to, describe it that way, where the

00:26:14.599 --> 00:26:21.079
gypsies used to live. But they intermingled with

00:26:21.079 --> 00:26:27.920
other cultures, Spaniards. So it was very, very

00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:30.740
typical. And then, of course, Madrid has their

00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:36.380
own personalities and their own type of, I would

00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:41.950
say, Yeah, characters. You have the characters

00:26:41.950 --> 00:26:47.289
of the guy and the girl, the chotis, the chotis

00:26:47.289 --> 00:26:52.769
dance, which is very Madrileña dance. And, of

00:26:52.769 --> 00:26:57.730
course, the Paso Doble is also there. So, Lavapiés

00:26:57.730 --> 00:27:02.470
was what Albanians remember hearing all this

00:27:02.470 --> 00:27:05.549
confusion. It's a little bit like Charles Ives,

00:27:05.589 --> 00:27:09.849
you know. had all these memories when he heard,

00:27:09.890 --> 00:27:17.109
you know, all these evangelical hymns with parades

00:27:17.109 --> 00:27:22.609
and with, you know, other hymns from the Republic

00:27:22.609 --> 00:27:25.750
and everything together. And he, of course, in

00:27:25.750 --> 00:27:30.410
his own dissonant, highly complicated language,

00:27:30.670 --> 00:27:35.950
pianistically, contrapuntally. harmonically,

00:27:36.069 --> 00:27:39.990
you name it. So Lavapiece is that type of piece,

00:27:40.210 --> 00:27:44.289
you see, that it sort of brings this confusion.

00:27:44.609 --> 00:27:49.089
I can imagine Malbec says, God, I remember all

00:27:49.089 --> 00:27:52.150
that. They had like a little organ that you just

00:27:52.150 --> 00:27:56.069
pumped like that. There was a little monkey that...

00:27:56.319 --> 00:27:59.559
kept dancing to it, and there was somebody asking

00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:02.900
for money, and then there was this florist selling

00:28:02.900 --> 00:28:07.460
the flowers, and there was all kinds of things

00:28:07.460 --> 00:28:10.960
happening, very, very colorful. And he tried

00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:14.960
to write in notes all these dissonant sounds,

00:28:15.220 --> 00:28:19.460
all these clashing experiences, and that's why

00:28:19.460 --> 00:28:27.140
it is so difficult. Yes, it is. heard, you know,

00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:32.880
many, several performances. Well, one standout

00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:36.200
was a live performance by Yu Zhuang. She played

00:28:36.200 --> 00:28:39.500
beautifully. But some recordings, they played

00:28:39.500 --> 00:28:42.839
it so clean, too clean to me. It's just a miss,

00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:46.700
it missed out the cultural, like a little messiness,

00:28:46.900 --> 00:28:52.559
in my opinion. Well, yes, because it's difficult,

00:28:52.700 --> 00:28:58.630
you know, you have to sort of make a choice but

00:28:58.630 --> 00:29:01.730
whether you're going to be very very clean or

00:29:01.730 --> 00:29:04.509
just emphasize the rhythm the one i think that

00:29:04.509 --> 00:29:08.009
is most satisfying is de la rocha because she

00:29:08.009 --> 00:29:12.549
has that rhythmic backbone with all this cleanness

00:29:12.549 --> 00:29:14.869
that she used to play with and it's fantastic

00:29:14.869 --> 00:29:19.529
how she does the proportions of sound and form

00:29:19.529 --> 00:29:23.309
and everything sort of works for her unfortunately

00:29:23.309 --> 00:29:28.990
the piece also lends itself to be bombastic.

00:29:29.289 --> 00:29:33.210
And I think that's already distorting the idea

00:29:33.210 --> 00:29:37.450
that, you know, it's not bombastic. It can be

00:29:37.450 --> 00:29:40.029
bombastic because it's so huge. But that's, I

00:29:40.029 --> 00:29:43.230
don't think, what Mr. Albanis had in mind. It

00:29:43.230 --> 00:29:49.170
was just this super colorful writing, very complicated.

00:29:49.710 --> 00:29:53.569
And you have to sort of strike a balance between

00:29:53.569 --> 00:29:57.609
both of those. Wow. So speaking of Alicia de

00:29:57.609 --> 00:30:01.430
la Rocha, so first of all, what was she like?

00:30:02.670 --> 00:30:07.930
Well, she was the typical, you know, either Russian

00:30:07.930 --> 00:30:14.269
teacher or, well, the Spanish grandmother. You

00:30:14.269 --> 00:30:17.869
know, she was like, you know, for her, her pupils

00:30:17.869 --> 00:30:21.990
were, you know, part of her and she took a personal

00:30:21.990 --> 00:30:25.539
interest in each one of them. development and

00:30:25.539 --> 00:30:28.940
their careers. And, you know, she was wonderful.

00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:32.640
Yeah. So you actually studied with her and she

00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:36.259
gave you love? What I did with her is I studied

00:30:36.259 --> 00:30:41.740
the Iberian. No way. Yes, I did. Wow. Yes. I

00:30:41.740 --> 00:30:44.420
think we did 11. There was one that I couldn't

00:30:44.420 --> 00:30:47.640
play for some reason, but we did 11 of the 12.

00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:53.450
I worked here with her. How special. Wow. What

00:30:53.450 --> 00:30:58.349
stands out of all the probably advice you get?

00:30:58.730 --> 00:31:01.849
Yes. Well, it's very funny. I like to tell this

00:31:01.849 --> 00:31:05.390
story because when I first came to the Juilliard

00:31:05.390 --> 00:31:07.509
School, well, in the story with Adela Marcos,

00:31:07.690 --> 00:31:11.009
of course, she knew that I was from a Hispanic,

00:31:11.170 --> 00:31:14.529
Spanish background, and she emphasized that I

00:31:14.529 --> 00:31:19.430
should play this music. And at that time, I think

00:31:19.430 --> 00:31:22.390
I only have done maybe one of the debuts. And

00:31:22.390 --> 00:31:27.089
she introduced me to another one. Well, the Triana,

00:31:27.089 --> 00:31:30.829
of course, and the first one, Evocacion. And

00:31:30.829 --> 00:31:36.990
she played Evocacion in such a convincing way

00:31:36.990 --> 00:31:42.549
when she was in the studio. Her best performance

00:31:42.549 --> 00:31:46.910
was in the studio. There she could play like

00:31:46.910 --> 00:31:51.640
you have never heard anything like it. What struck

00:31:51.640 --> 00:31:56.779
me was the understanding of the style that this

00:31:56.779 --> 00:32:01.400
lady had. She had never been to Spain, and she

00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:03.380
had never studied with somebody from Spain. She

00:32:03.380 --> 00:32:05.720
studied with the Levins, the Russian and German

00:32:05.720 --> 00:32:10.079
school, Schnabel. And yet she was able to capture

00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:14.880
the flavor, the spirit, and even the rhythmic

00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:21.240
turns, and did it so well. that it just, I was

00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:26.539
in awe, you know, how she did it. I think she

00:32:26.539 --> 00:32:29.859
used to play also Andalusia from the Falla, again,

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:32.980
in a manner that the other person I've heard

00:32:32.980 --> 00:32:36.240
play like that is Della Rocha. So when I went

00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:38.440
to Della Rocha, I played some of that, and Della

00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:41.640
Rocha said, oh, my God, you play very beautifully.

00:32:42.039 --> 00:32:45.619
Who was your teacher? So I thought, and then

00:32:45.619 --> 00:32:48.019
she... De La Rocha called the Academia Marshall

00:32:48.019 --> 00:32:49.859
and told them about me and blah, blah, blah.

00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:54.000
But so starting with De La Rocha was like a continuation

00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:58.319
of what Marcus was doing. I remember doing once

00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:02.220
Albaicín with her. And of course, you know, sometimes

00:33:02.220 --> 00:33:07.940
you forget, you know, it's so complicated that

00:33:07.940 --> 00:33:11.160
you strive for getting the notes right and clean.

00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:14.210
And she said, no. No, no, no, phrasing, phrasing,

00:33:14.210 --> 00:33:16.829
phrasing. It was just like, listen to Adel Marcos

00:33:16.829 --> 00:33:23.970
teach. So it was very, very interesting, very

00:33:23.970 --> 00:33:26.930
illuminating. She gave me some information about,

00:33:27.230 --> 00:33:31.069
you know, what the dances are, the integrated

00:33:31.069 --> 00:33:37.849
complexity of the dances. And, for example, she

00:33:37.849 --> 00:33:40.809
pointed out to me La Jota in Malaga, in the middle

00:33:40.809 --> 00:33:45.259
section. This is a hota, you know. And so you

00:33:45.259 --> 00:33:49.579
want to see what a hota is, you go download one

00:33:49.579 --> 00:33:53.119
of those YouTube videos of the dance in Aragon

00:33:53.119 --> 00:33:57.900
and you see what a hota is. But she was just

00:33:57.900 --> 00:34:02.299
wonderful, just wonderful. Wonderful to hear

00:34:02.299 --> 00:34:08.679
that. And so, you know, obviously, I have this

00:34:08.679 --> 00:34:13.739
personal question. As I said, I learned a few

00:34:13.739 --> 00:34:17.119
from Iberia. And I often notice that his notation

00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:22.280
is quite messy on the score, even the ones that

00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:26.179
are printed on the print. I feel like some of

00:34:26.179 --> 00:34:31.179
the notes are wrong, wrongly notated, or maybe

00:34:31.179 --> 00:34:34.360
sometimes the accidental is missing. Well, yes,

00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:36.920
you have to be very, very careful. The only two

00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:41.789
editions that are... true to what the composer,

00:34:42.190 --> 00:34:45.369
Albanius, wrote. Well, the only one, really,

00:34:45.409 --> 00:34:48.969
is the Urtext, the German Urtext. They have it,

00:34:48.989 --> 00:34:51.610
and all the notes in the Urtext are correct.

00:34:51.929 --> 00:34:55.190
This is a very interesting topic, what you just

00:34:55.190 --> 00:34:59.269
brought up, because with Beethoven and composers

00:34:59.269 --> 00:35:01.630
like that, it was very difficult. Sometimes he

00:35:01.630 --> 00:35:06.400
raised... wrote on top, and you didn't know what

00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:09.800
really the notes, what he meant. But with Albanese,

00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:12.099
when you see the script, you go to the Library

00:35:12.099 --> 00:35:15.219
of Congress, or you go to the Morgan Library

00:35:15.219 --> 00:35:21.219
of the Iberia, it's so clear. And how can editions

00:35:21.219 --> 00:35:24.820
in France, like Durand, misinterpret that? I

00:35:24.820 --> 00:35:27.539
still, it's mind -boggling. I don't know what,

00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:32.440
they did a very sloppy job sometimes. So, it

00:35:32.440 --> 00:35:36.690
took... somebody like de la rocha uh and and

00:35:36.690 --> 00:35:40.989
this to say look let's let's do a real good edition

00:35:40.989 --> 00:35:45.190
and she promoted uh you know the the real uh

00:35:45.190 --> 00:35:49.130
note correct writing and reading of the notes

00:35:49.130 --> 00:35:52.809
so i think she had a lot to do with with that

00:35:52.809 --> 00:35:55.469
in there by seeing there are a lot of wrong notes

00:35:55.469 --> 00:35:58.570
that she corrected she says no no this is not

00:35:58.570 --> 00:36:05.210
the original this is So, and of course, you have

00:36:05.210 --> 00:36:09.590
to really do what he did. You cannot really play

00:36:09.590 --> 00:36:13.909
it as it's written. It's unplayable. You have

00:36:13.909 --> 00:36:17.309
to take things into hands. You have to, you know,

00:36:17.469 --> 00:36:19.849
and you have to voice them properly sometimes.

00:36:21.610 --> 00:36:24.809
So you have to make it easy. For example, when

00:36:24.809 --> 00:36:31.219
you take the one that everybody... It's so afraid,

00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:34.059
Tiana. There are ways of playing it that makes

00:36:34.059 --> 00:36:38.559
it more possible to play, you know, and in a

00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:41.639
way of not affecting the music and the music

00:36:41.639 --> 00:36:44.320
impulse or the music phrasing because of the

00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:48.320
difficulties. So if the arrangement helps that,

00:36:48.420 --> 00:36:52.519
why not? Really? Yeah. But that's something that

00:36:52.519 --> 00:36:56.420
I have to learn from someone like you. Yeah.

00:36:57.780 --> 00:37:00.960
Yes, you have to rearrange many of those pieces.

00:37:01.320 --> 00:37:03.860
Della Rocha did too. She rearranged many of them.

00:37:04.500 --> 00:37:07.940
Really? Yeah. Della Rocha's hands were interesting

00:37:07.940 --> 00:37:10.460
because she had, they say small, but she had

00:37:10.460 --> 00:37:15.739
long fingers. So she was able to, you know, when

00:37:15.739 --> 00:37:20.280
you have long fingers, that's a plus, even though

00:37:20.280 --> 00:37:23.300
you have sort of a small hand. But you can do

00:37:23.300 --> 00:37:26.699
many things with long fingers. I see. You have

00:37:26.699 --> 00:37:30.340
sharp fingers like mine, and that's more challenging.

00:37:32.420 --> 00:37:34.920
Joseph Hoffman had sharp fingers, too, and yet

00:37:34.920 --> 00:37:40.400
he was great and virtuoso. It's how you manipulate

00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:45.559
the piano. I see, yes. As De La Rocha used to

00:37:45.559 --> 00:37:52.269
say. That's interesting, and it's so true. Well,

00:37:52.289 --> 00:37:54.510
thank you for sharing all these insights about

00:37:54.510 --> 00:37:58.369
Iberia. I've always had big question marks about

00:37:58.369 --> 00:38:01.329
interpretations and things like that. So just

00:38:01.329 --> 00:38:04.250
coming from you, especially studying with someone

00:38:04.250 --> 00:38:07.210
like Adele Marcus and then, of course, with Alicia

00:38:07.210 --> 00:38:10.829
De La Rocha's insights, it really just all of

00:38:10.829 --> 00:38:13.250
a sudden the music even comes more alive to me.

00:38:13.349 --> 00:38:17.090
Right, yes, yes. And, you know, as I said, my

00:38:17.090 --> 00:38:19.989
main teacher was Marcus, but De La Rocha, I only

00:38:19.989 --> 00:38:23.639
studied the... I videoed with her, but she considered

00:38:23.639 --> 00:38:26.320
me one of her pupils. I was like, honor. I said,

00:38:26.360 --> 00:38:29.039
well, thank you so much. Oh, no, my pupils always

00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:32.139
mean a lot to me. So keep me posted of your career.

00:38:33.340 --> 00:38:35.639
She was so sweet. She was like a grandmother.

00:38:36.460 --> 00:38:41.539
Oh, wow. Yes. What a great story. Yes. Yes. Wow.

00:38:42.519 --> 00:38:48.119
So now, can we now move on to Granados? Yes.

00:38:49.659 --> 00:38:54.780
Granados, also you, played his most famous Koyaskas

00:38:54.780 --> 00:39:00.239
piano suite. So can you tell us what makes these

00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:05.940
series of pieces? Well, Granados was, you know,

00:39:06.019 --> 00:39:12.579
the improviser. All that you've seen in Page

00:39:12.579 --> 00:39:16.360
was improvisations that he did. No way. Yes,

00:39:16.619 --> 00:39:20.940
everything is improvisation. he decided, or somebody

00:39:20.940 --> 00:39:23.440
I can remember decided, you have to pen them

00:39:23.440 --> 00:39:25.739
down, you have to write them down, because they're

00:39:25.739 --> 00:39:28.659
too precious just to left in the air. So he did.

00:39:29.599 --> 00:39:33.539
Goyescas is based on the opera Goyescas, which

00:39:33.539 --> 00:39:41.079
stems from Goyes painting. And so the style of

00:39:41.079 --> 00:39:47.860
Granados is much more conventional in the sense

00:39:47.860 --> 00:39:52.869
of... pianistic writing, you know, like more

00:39:52.869 --> 00:39:56.690
Lisztian, arpeggios and double notes and things

00:39:56.690 --> 00:40:02.349
like that, in a more clear way, not harmonically

00:40:02.349 --> 00:40:07.389
as integrated. But there were two main influences

00:40:07.389 --> 00:40:12.969
in Granados' upbringing. That was Robert Schumann

00:40:12.969 --> 00:40:20.400
and Domenico Scarlatti. Oh, okay. Yeah. So many

00:40:20.400 --> 00:40:26.019
of his writing has this type of scarlatian clarity

00:40:26.019 --> 00:40:32.739
and bite to it, you know, with this very romantic,

00:40:32.780 --> 00:40:38.539
I guess, French salon style. But Amalga, the

00:40:38.539 --> 00:40:43.860
Goyescas is a throwback to classical Spanish

00:40:43.860 --> 00:40:48.519
music, meaning from the classical period. Arriaga,

00:40:48.519 --> 00:40:51.280
composers like that, which weren't that many,

00:40:51.420 --> 00:40:57.079
but his tonadillas were all, you know, based

00:40:57.079 --> 00:41:02.460
on classical Spanish music, not necessarily a

00:41:02.460 --> 00:41:07.119
flamenco or Andalusian. It's different. I see.

00:41:07.280 --> 00:41:10.980
You have a piece called Zapateado, for example,

00:41:10.980 --> 00:41:16.480
which is, it's a part, Zapateado is, well, You

00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:19.179
have that later on in Latin America, in Mexico,

00:41:19.280 --> 00:41:24.599
zapateados means to dance with your foot in a

00:41:24.599 --> 00:41:30.280
particular manner and rhythm. So even the gauchos

00:41:30.280 --> 00:41:33.480
have zapateados when they dance. It's like a

00:41:33.480 --> 00:41:36.199
cowboy dance, became a cowboy dance in Latin

00:41:36.199 --> 00:41:41.679
America, but it stems from the dance with the

00:41:41.679 --> 00:41:47.469
feet in Spain. Then you have pieces like Alegro

00:41:47.469 --> 00:41:51.349
de Concierto or Cenas Románticas, which is very

00:41:51.349 --> 00:41:55.590
much romantic piano music with a Spanish flavor.

00:41:56.070 --> 00:41:59.690
That's really what it is. And also, I must say

00:41:59.690 --> 00:42:07.949
that, you know, he was the founder of Academia

00:42:07.949 --> 00:42:13.730
Granados. He was a pedagogue. He loved to teach.

00:42:14.269 --> 00:42:16.409
Albanian was not much of a teacher, but he loved

00:42:16.409 --> 00:42:21.809
to teach. And he lived in Barcelona most of his

00:42:21.809 --> 00:42:24.389
life after he came from Paris. And he founded

00:42:24.389 --> 00:42:27.710
this academia. He did treatises on piano playing,

00:42:28.030 --> 00:42:33.210
technique, pedaling, production of tone and sound.

00:42:33.449 --> 00:42:36.449
And it's very interesting because I read somewhere

00:42:36.449 --> 00:42:42.630
that he came to the same conclusions as Theodor

00:42:42.630 --> 00:42:46.539
Leschetizky did. in terms of approaching the

00:42:46.539 --> 00:42:49.880
instrument. I don't think they knew each other,

00:42:49.980 --> 00:42:53.820
but it's interesting that they both found out

00:42:53.820 --> 00:42:57.099
this way of playing, this way of listening to

00:42:57.099 --> 00:43:02.800
sound, which is, you know, part of the old romantic

00:43:02.800 --> 00:43:06.219
pianistic tradition. Right, right. So that's

00:43:06.219 --> 00:43:08.820
why you have somebody like Frank Marshall. I

00:43:08.820 --> 00:43:11.699
was a great teacher and teaching Alicia de la

00:43:11.699 --> 00:43:15.539
Rocha. You know, she has this approach to music,

00:43:15.679 --> 00:43:22.139
the structure, the grandeur, the production of

00:43:22.139 --> 00:43:24.320
the sound, the pedaling, which is not taught

00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:27.639
anymore. You know, people just put the things,

00:43:27.820 --> 00:43:30.059
they say it was by ear. Yes, but you have to

00:43:30.059 --> 00:43:32.760
train the ear to hear it properly, how to play

00:43:32.760 --> 00:43:38.300
it all. And it's a whole discipline. So Granados

00:43:38.300 --> 00:43:42.960
wrote a trilogy on pedal, how to pedal. Wow,

00:43:43.079 --> 00:43:47.400
that's interesting. So Alicia's teacher, Ms.

00:43:47.559 --> 00:43:49.699
De La Rocha's teacher was Frank Marshall. Frank

00:43:49.699 --> 00:43:53.019
Marshall studied at the academy, Granados Academy.

00:43:53.119 --> 00:43:54.780
Yeah, he studied with Granados. He was Granados'

00:43:54.940 --> 00:43:57.860
pupil and assistant. And when Granados died,

00:43:58.099 --> 00:44:03.260
he, you know, he did continue the Granados Academy.

00:44:03.340 --> 00:44:07.650
Then he called it Academia Marshall. Really?

00:44:09.409 --> 00:44:15.690
Interesting. So with that tradition that Della

00:44:15.690 --> 00:44:19.269
Rocha had, and then now you have the tradition

00:44:19.269 --> 00:44:25.349
coming from her. That's very, very intriguing.

00:44:25.869 --> 00:44:28.050
So, I mean, there are more pieces that we can

00:44:28.050 --> 00:44:31.280
discuss, but I also want to... really get some

00:44:31.280 --> 00:44:34.280
sort of sense of the fire from your point of

00:44:34.280 --> 00:44:38.039
view, Manuel de Falla. And you've performed at

00:44:38.039 --> 00:44:40.980
Nights in the Gardens of Spain. Yes, I will perform

00:44:40.980 --> 00:44:43.880
it next year again. Oh, wonderful. That's such

00:44:43.880 --> 00:44:48.900
a unique orchestral plus piano piece. Yes, it's

00:44:48.900 --> 00:44:54.579
a very beautiful piece. The orchestra sets a

00:44:54.579 --> 00:45:00.510
background of, I guess, I would call it Moorish

00:45:00.510 --> 00:45:05.469
impressionistic sounds and textures. The piano

00:45:05.469 --> 00:45:12.329
has more of the cantejondo, flamenco role, and

00:45:12.329 --> 00:45:19.050
rhythms also, also colored by this beautiful

00:45:19.050 --> 00:45:26.690
impressionistic and neo -romantic harmonies.

00:45:27.629 --> 00:45:32.590
always, I think, considering the... He always

00:45:32.590 --> 00:45:38.730
had the sound of the Andalusian music in his

00:45:38.730 --> 00:45:42.429
ears, so he was able to write harmonically as

00:45:42.429 --> 00:45:46.670
he heard the sounds. But in Fantasia Betica,

00:45:46.869 --> 00:45:50.710
he uses some of it, but he goes back to the Moorish

00:45:50.710 --> 00:45:54.889
tradition, which with the quarter tones... and

00:45:54.889 --> 00:45:57.090
things like that. So he tried to imitate that

00:45:57.090 --> 00:45:59.469
at the piano the best he could, and it was quite

00:45:59.469 --> 00:46:04.809
successful. So to do that, do you use trills

00:46:04.809 --> 00:46:09.309
a lot? You have to use pedaling. You have to

00:46:09.309 --> 00:46:12.050
be very careful how you pedal to create these

00:46:12.050 --> 00:46:19.909
harmonious overtones and blurs to give the impression

00:46:19.909 --> 00:46:24.150
of these overtones. this Moorish instrument gave.

00:46:24.929 --> 00:46:29.250
Wow. Yeah. He was also a musicologist inclined.

00:46:29.630 --> 00:46:33.329
He didn't write too much. He was a very ascetic

00:46:33.329 --> 00:46:37.190
man. He lived a very, he almost was like a monk.

00:46:38.210 --> 00:46:41.769
And of course, he moved to Buenos Argentina at

00:46:41.769 --> 00:46:44.789
the end of his life. But everything he wrote

00:46:44.789 --> 00:46:48.469
was so well planned and so well thought, you

00:46:48.469 --> 00:46:52.760
know, that note, one note. was out of place.

00:46:53.059 --> 00:46:58.260
I see. Okay. Yes. Wow. I have yet to really learn

00:46:58.260 --> 00:47:01.559
his pieces. I've touched upon a little bit, but

00:47:01.559 --> 00:47:05.340
not quite. For example, the four Spanish dances,

00:47:05.579 --> 00:47:13.619
the first one, it's a jota. It's a real jota.

00:47:13.760 --> 00:47:18.619
The last one is a totally gypsy flamenco dance.

00:47:21.220 --> 00:47:25.460
the taconeado and things like that. And the other

00:47:25.460 --> 00:47:29.239
ones are, again, amalgamation of impressionistic

00:47:29.239 --> 00:47:35.719
Cuban habaneras. Very exotic. So the Latin American

00:47:35.719 --> 00:47:39.639
and Spain, later on, they fuse much more and

00:47:39.639 --> 00:47:44.179
more. And so sometimes it's difficult to distinguish.

00:47:44.179 --> 00:47:48.599
For example, the best example is the tango by

00:47:48.599 --> 00:47:52.449
Albain. This tango and tango was brought from

00:47:52.449 --> 00:47:55.590
Argentina to Spain and to Europe. And Albanese

00:47:55.590 --> 00:47:57.630
immediately wrote this beautiful piece called

00:47:57.630 --> 00:48:03.230
the tango. That's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The

00:48:03.230 --> 00:48:07.550
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joyous and meaningful experiences with you on

00:49:01.659 --> 00:49:05.360
the piano pod. Let's move on to the 20th century

00:49:05.360 --> 00:49:08.599
Spanish music, which you've done the complete

00:49:08.599 --> 00:49:13.579
piano violin works by Xavier. Montsalvage. Montsalvage,

00:49:13.599 --> 00:49:17.840
yes. It's very hard to pronounce. I know. It

00:49:17.840 --> 00:49:24.139
means wild forest. Oh, really? Oh, my goodness.

00:49:24.380 --> 00:49:27.420
Yeah, but his music is like a wild forest. It

00:49:27.420 --> 00:49:32.400
is like a wild forest. Yes, right? And he has

00:49:32.400 --> 00:49:35.460
this, some of that, I've listened to his solo

00:49:35.460 --> 00:49:38.800
pieces as well, and then has the sort of Afro

00:49:38.800 --> 00:49:41.869
-Cuban. Influences to? Oh, yes. There you are.

00:49:42.030 --> 00:49:46.210
The amalgamation of Caribbean and Spanish music.

00:49:46.489 --> 00:49:50.329
And, of course, he took the poems of Nicolás

00:49:50.329 --> 00:49:55.469
Guillén, a great poet, and he sent them to music

00:49:55.469 --> 00:50:00.489
with these just delicious pieces, harmonies of

00:50:00.489 --> 00:50:06.429
habaneras and Afro -American, Afro -Cuban dance

00:50:06.429 --> 00:50:10.639
at the last one. It's just fascinating in the

00:50:10.639 --> 00:50:14.179
hands of a Spaniard. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:50:14.480 --> 00:50:18.519
Beautiful. So for my listeners, please check

00:50:18.519 --> 00:50:23.920
out Mr. José Ramos Santana's recordings of some

00:50:23.920 --> 00:50:27.780
of the pieces I mentioned, especially this Violin

00:50:27.780 --> 00:50:32.699
and Piano Works by Monsalvache. Yes. Monsalvache.

00:50:32.699 --> 00:50:36.500
And then also you have other recordings, obviously.

00:50:37.800 --> 00:50:43.900
Oh, so yeah, I did. I recorded the Glossas piano

00:50:43.900 --> 00:50:48.739
concerto for a piano and orchestra with the Royal

00:50:48.739 --> 00:50:52.500
Philharmonic by my friend and colleague Roberto

00:50:52.500 --> 00:50:57.780
Sierra, a noted Puerto Rican composer who's having

00:50:57.780 --> 00:51:02.820
a great, great career to this day. Oh, that's

00:51:02.820 --> 00:51:06.079
right. Yes, yes. I know the album. But didn't

00:51:06.079 --> 00:51:11.570
you also, record like concertos like Ravel concertos

00:51:11.570 --> 00:51:15.750
Ravel G and the Sansanji minor that's right they

00:51:15.750 --> 00:51:18.449
are incredible and then I can't wait to talk

00:51:18.449 --> 00:51:22.090
about Roberto Sierra but before that I kind of

00:51:22.090 --> 00:51:25.130
want to know your upbringing in Puerto Rico and

00:51:25.130 --> 00:51:29.500
then you know how you You discovered the love

00:51:29.500 --> 00:51:32.539
for music. And then, you know, later on, you

00:51:32.539 --> 00:51:35.559
moved to the United States and studied at Juilliard

00:51:35.559 --> 00:51:39.500
with Adele Marcus. So how was music introduced

00:51:39.500 --> 00:51:45.659
to you? Well, I grew up with my mother from in

00:51:45.659 --> 00:51:49.019
my mother's side of the family. My mother went

00:51:49.019 --> 00:51:52.960
back to live with them and she took me. So since

00:51:52.960 --> 00:51:58.099
I was, you know, a baby. My aunts and my uncles,

00:51:58.480 --> 00:52:02.920
they all loved music. They weren't professional

00:52:02.920 --> 00:52:06.800
musicians, but they were amateur musicians. My

00:52:06.800 --> 00:52:11.019
aunt started voice with the great tenor Antonio

00:52:11.019 --> 00:52:15.599
Paoli, who was a very, very important figure

00:52:15.599 --> 00:52:21.059
in Europe in the early 20th century, late 19th

00:52:21.059 --> 00:52:29.670
century. He even sang. under Verdi, one of the

00:52:29.670 --> 00:52:32.210
Otellos productions, I think, in Covent Garden.

00:52:32.489 --> 00:52:38.789
So my aunt loved music, loved opera. But my other

00:52:38.789 --> 00:52:43.230
aunts all took piano. My uncle loved music. They

00:52:43.230 --> 00:52:47.230
were founder members of the first Pro Arte Musical

00:52:47.230 --> 00:52:51.710
in the 1930s in Puerto Rico. That brought all

00:52:51.710 --> 00:52:54.610
the great artists, Segovia, Rubinstein, Claudia

00:52:54.610 --> 00:52:58.130
Rao, Jesha Heifetz to the island. They used to

00:52:58.130 --> 00:53:02.489
stop in Cuba and then in Puerto Rico. And so

00:53:02.489 --> 00:53:07.570
that was the background of my, when I grew up.

00:53:07.690 --> 00:53:11.929
Then my next door neighbor moved to be a pianist

00:53:11.929 --> 00:53:15.730
herself, her daughter. And both, actually she

00:53:15.730 --> 00:53:21.800
started with this great pianist. She's known

00:53:21.800 --> 00:53:24.760
as Mexican pianist, but really she was born in

00:53:24.760 --> 00:53:27.920
Durabo, Puerto Rico, from a Puerto Rican father,

00:53:28.260 --> 00:53:32.599
Angelica Morales Fonsauer. And Angelica was a

00:53:32.599 --> 00:53:36.800
pupil of Emil Fonsauer, who was one of the least

00:53:36.800 --> 00:53:42.420
pupils. So I had that next door to me, this teacher

00:53:42.420 --> 00:53:45.239
who studied with her. I used to hear her practice.

00:53:45.320 --> 00:53:48.460
So I started because, of course, we had a piano,

00:53:48.480 --> 00:53:50.780
and I used to hear her practicing. I used to

00:53:50.780 --> 00:53:53.739
go to the piano at my house and try to pick up

00:53:53.739 --> 00:53:57.360
by ear what they were practicing. So she calls

00:53:57.360 --> 00:54:00.980
one of my mothers. She says, wait a second. Is

00:54:00.980 --> 00:54:05.980
somebody trying to play the Greek concerto that

00:54:05.980 --> 00:54:09.059
I'm practicing? I said, oh, yes, that must be

00:54:09.059 --> 00:54:13.099
my son. So anyway, she said, really? I was four

00:54:13.099 --> 00:54:16.179
and a half years old. So she said, well, send

00:54:16.179 --> 00:54:19.099
that boy immediately to me. So I started with

00:54:19.099 --> 00:54:22.639
her. But I developed mostly with the Figueroa

00:54:22.639 --> 00:54:26.679
family after a period of time. When I was seven,

00:54:26.760 --> 00:54:28.840
eight years old, I went to the Figueroa. And

00:54:28.840 --> 00:54:31.500
they were the ones that really, really developed

00:54:31.500 --> 00:54:35.699
me. Carmelina Figueroa, my teacher at that time,

00:54:35.719 --> 00:54:40.110
was... the head of the High School of Performing

00:54:40.110 --> 00:54:43.210
Arts in Puerto Rico, the Free School of Music

00:54:43.210 --> 00:54:46.690
is what it's called. And she studied in Paris.

00:54:46.789 --> 00:54:50.710
She studied à l 'école normale with all her brothers

00:54:50.710 --> 00:54:53.690
and sisters. They moved there, and they were

00:54:53.690 --> 00:54:58.170
under the umbrella of Cortot, Casals, Thibault.

00:54:59.789 --> 00:55:02.710
They formed the Quintet, Figueroa Quintet at

00:55:02.710 --> 00:55:06.199
that time. in Paris, and if it weren't for Hitler

00:55:06.199 --> 00:55:09.099
and the Second World War, they would still probably

00:55:09.099 --> 00:55:12.380
be there. But then the Second World War broke,

00:55:12.500 --> 00:55:14.539
and they had to come back to Puerto Rico, and

00:55:14.539 --> 00:55:20.440
they started teaching there. So my teacher, it's

00:55:20.440 --> 00:55:23.940
interesting, because at that time, you had people

00:55:23.940 --> 00:55:31.000
like Dino Lipati, René Janoli, Gida Bakauer,

00:55:31.239 --> 00:55:34.179
that went through. through the Col Normalo study

00:55:34.179 --> 00:55:38.340
with Courtauld. But it was meant to be like a

00:55:38.340 --> 00:55:42.860
pedagogy school, I was told. The Conservatoire

00:55:42.860 --> 00:55:46.699
of Paris always was performing. It was the Julliard

00:55:46.699 --> 00:55:51.179
of Paris. But Le Col was more to train good teachers.

00:55:51.219 --> 00:55:54.659
So my teacher studied with an assistant of Courtauld,

00:55:54.800 --> 00:55:58.940
Jeanne Blancard, and she was a great pedagogue.

00:55:59.289 --> 00:56:01.309
So she gave me a very, very good foundation.

00:56:01.730 --> 00:56:04.210
So when I went to the Juilliard school and I

00:56:04.210 --> 00:56:07.530
played for Marcus, she was like, wow, you really

00:56:07.530 --> 00:56:10.469
know how to play the piano. Who taught you? And

00:56:10.469 --> 00:56:15.050
so I told her. And so when I went to Marcus,

00:56:15.190 --> 00:56:19.769
I had that already, you know, under my belt.

00:56:19.909 --> 00:56:23.280
So Marcus just really developed. and discipline

00:56:23.280 --> 00:56:26.920
and all of that. But I had a very, very good

00:56:26.920 --> 00:56:30.460
foundation, good training, good sense of musicality

00:56:30.460 --> 00:56:37.219
and ear for sound and all of that. Wonderful,

00:56:37.760 --> 00:56:41.639
wonderful. I was very, very privileged. But developing

00:56:41.639 --> 00:56:45.340
ear is like really the priority, the most important

00:56:45.340 --> 00:56:46.460
thing as a musician. Yeah, the most important

00:56:46.460 --> 00:56:50.510
thing. Absolutely. Wow. And what was it like

00:56:50.510 --> 00:56:55.969
back in Juilliard days? Well, Juilliard, they

00:56:55.969 --> 00:56:59.030
used to call it a professional school. So it

00:56:59.030 --> 00:57:03.909
was a very professional school. It was a big

00:57:03.909 --> 00:57:05.889
shock for me, you know, coming from Puerto Rico

00:57:05.889 --> 00:57:12.110
to just be in New York at that time. But my mother

00:57:12.110 --> 00:57:16.949
moved with me. And the training that Adele Marcus

00:57:16.949 --> 00:57:20.420
expected was... She was very tough. She was a

00:57:20.420 --> 00:57:25.000
very tough, demanding teacher. And I'm talking

00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:29.280
later on nowadays with my colleagues, the ones

00:57:29.280 --> 00:57:32.239
who studied in Moscow, the Moscow Conservatory.

00:57:32.699 --> 00:57:35.239
It was the same kind of training. You had to

00:57:35.239 --> 00:57:39.639
be able to, you know, have pieces. I remember

00:57:39.639 --> 00:57:45.320
I had eight works in one semester by memory.

00:57:45.929 --> 00:57:48.369
She demanded you have to have it by memory the

00:57:48.369 --> 00:57:52.130
second week. And it was really that type of training,

00:57:52.289 --> 00:57:56.429
like in all Russia. But that gave me a tremendous

00:57:56.429 --> 00:58:01.130
discipline. And, you know, later on, she was

00:58:01.130 --> 00:58:04.809
not the most easiest person to get along with.

00:58:05.090 --> 00:58:08.530
But later on, in the later part of her life,

00:58:08.690 --> 00:58:11.550
we became very, very good friends. And we used

00:58:11.550 --> 00:58:14.849
to have a... laugh and dinners and we'd talk

00:58:14.849 --> 00:58:18.650
about music. She would hear me for hours and

00:58:18.650 --> 00:58:22.349
she would sit down and advise me and it was wonderful.

00:58:22.789 --> 00:58:27.750
Wonderful. And then your career as a soloist

00:58:27.750 --> 00:58:31.989
and recording artist flourished. Yeah, flourished.

00:58:32.070 --> 00:58:34.230
After that I immediately signed with Herbert

00:58:34.230 --> 00:58:38.349
Barrett and then I went to several competitions.

00:58:38.789 --> 00:58:42.760
I was a finalist in the Bacower. Then I won an

00:58:42.760 --> 00:58:45.500
affiliate artist that gave me opportunities to

00:58:45.500 --> 00:58:48.340
play with many symphonies across the nation,

00:58:48.559 --> 00:58:51.340
including the New York Philharmonic, Detroit

00:58:51.340 --> 00:58:55.960
Symphony. Yeah, so that was a good St. Louis

00:58:55.960 --> 00:59:00.559
symphony. Good break in that time, my career.

00:59:00.639 --> 00:59:04.699
I was very lucky. So, you know, if you ask me

00:59:04.699 --> 00:59:08.960
then and now, it has been such a different, you

00:59:08.960 --> 00:59:15.320
know, what... young people's faces now. And that's

00:59:15.320 --> 00:59:17.860
from my time when I was at that age, at that

00:59:17.860 --> 00:59:22.960
younger age. And it has changed quite dramatically,

00:59:23.099 --> 00:59:26.860
completely, I would say. Yeah, I think so too.

00:59:27.000 --> 00:59:30.519
Now, then... Maybe we can talk about that. You're

00:59:30.519 --> 00:59:33.440
an educator. You're teaching currently in Connecticut.

00:59:33.440 --> 00:59:37.880
It's a hard school. And also, you also teach

00:59:37.880 --> 00:59:40.619
at NYU as well? At NYU, I am, yeah, one of the

00:59:40.619 --> 00:59:44.699
artist faculty at NYU. There's such a huge difference

00:59:44.699 --> 00:59:49.400
between the time that you spend as a youth, as

00:59:49.400 --> 00:59:52.280
a young professional to now. Drastic difference.

00:59:52.980 --> 00:59:57.380
Totally. As a musician, or young musician. they're

00:59:57.380 --> 01:00:00.579
all required to have multiple different skills,

01:00:00.780 --> 01:00:03.980
not just as a pianist. Yes. Time has changed.

01:00:04.360 --> 01:00:08.659
Time has changed, yeah. What do you see? Well,

01:00:08.719 --> 01:00:13.039
of course, the demands are different now, you

01:00:13.039 --> 01:00:16.559
know, from where I was. But I believe that the

01:00:16.559 --> 01:00:20.199
students, for example, when I was at the Juilliard

01:00:20.199 --> 01:00:27.679
School, besides piano, I took courses on... improvisation.

01:00:27.780 --> 01:00:31.599
I took courses on accompanying, transposition,

01:00:31.940 --> 01:00:34.900
orchestral reading, many, many other things that

01:00:34.900 --> 01:00:37.980
prepared me to do things that I needed to do.

01:00:38.019 --> 01:00:42.639
I even took organ. So, you know, I was in a strand

01:00:42.639 --> 01:00:44.699
as a musician. I needed to play for a church

01:00:44.699 --> 01:00:47.380
once. I did it. You know, it was no problem.

01:00:47.659 --> 01:00:50.480
So the education I got at the junior was very,

01:00:50.539 --> 01:00:57.109
very valuable. I think we planted the seed. for

01:00:57.109 --> 01:01:02.170
what I have become. Later on, the best education

01:01:02.170 --> 01:01:05.349
I've really gotten is by teaching. I have learned

01:01:05.349 --> 01:01:11.030
so much from teaching. I discovered so many things

01:01:11.030 --> 01:01:18.469
that has really been my education. So for my

01:01:18.469 --> 01:01:22.670
students, what I'm shocked nowadays is, I don't

01:01:22.670 --> 01:01:24.960
know, maybe... It was like that, but I wasn't

01:01:24.960 --> 01:01:27.579
aware. But, you know, they don't know the piano

01:01:27.579 --> 01:01:32.239
repertoire. I remember, just to give you an example,

01:01:32.500 --> 01:01:37.280
I had a student once who came from a prestigious

01:01:37.280 --> 01:01:41.219
Ivy League school with a prestigious music department,

01:01:41.300 --> 01:01:44.880
and I was shocked. I mean, things he didn't know.

01:01:45.179 --> 01:01:47.559
I said, well, you're a pianist, you never taught.

01:01:47.699 --> 01:01:51.199
No, what a culture you have. I said, well, I

01:01:51.199 --> 01:01:54.409
think that... How can you be and not know those

01:01:54.409 --> 01:01:56.789
things, you know? How can you be a complete musician

01:01:56.789 --> 01:02:01.849
and not know the things, you know? And the same

01:02:01.849 --> 01:02:05.650
thing, you know, with the arts, you know, I was

01:02:05.650 --> 01:02:10.510
exposed to museums, to opera, to chamber music,

01:02:10.630 --> 01:02:14.429
to theater. They are not. They're just very much

01:02:14.429 --> 01:02:17.190
in the practice rooms and trying to win a competition.

01:02:17.590 --> 01:02:20.429
And this is very stifling because especially

01:02:20.429 --> 01:02:24.150
nowadays, if you don't win a competition, what

01:02:24.150 --> 01:02:26.530
are you going to do? If you don't have all these

01:02:26.530 --> 01:02:29.150
other skills developed, if you want to be in

01:02:29.150 --> 01:02:35.329
music. So I insist on this well -rounded education

01:02:35.329 --> 01:02:40.440
to my students. And I provide them myself. I

01:02:40.440 --> 01:02:42.519
take them to museums. I take them to the opera.

01:02:42.699 --> 01:02:47.199
I tell them what to listen for. Yeah, I think

01:02:47.199 --> 01:02:50.179
this is very, very necessary. And it's lacking

01:02:50.179 --> 01:02:54.780
in their education. It's been given, but very,

01:02:54.780 --> 01:02:58.699
very lightly, very superficially, and not enough.

01:02:59.800 --> 01:03:03.170
It's not integrated. into their lives, right?

01:03:03.570 --> 01:03:06.269
And it's not realistic, but as I say, because

01:03:06.269 --> 01:03:08.710
they only think in terms of competition. But

01:03:08.710 --> 01:03:11.309
if that, how many people can compete and win?

01:03:11.429 --> 01:03:14.289
One, two, three at the most? You know, that doesn't

01:03:14.289 --> 01:03:17.269
even guarantee a career. It just tells you, you

01:03:17.269 --> 01:03:19.889
know, a few years of concerts and then what?

01:03:20.670 --> 01:03:25.570
See? So you have to be prepared for that. Then

01:03:25.570 --> 01:03:27.949
what? You know, because that's going to be most

01:03:27.949 --> 01:03:30.900
of the time of your life. Yeah. And you have

01:03:30.900 --> 01:03:33.360
to be an entrepreneur. You have to know how to

01:03:33.360 --> 01:03:37.760
become creative, you know. The classical music

01:03:37.760 --> 01:03:42.480
is challenged now by pop music, which is a great

01:03:42.480 --> 01:03:50.159
competition. So I think that in a way it's been

01:03:50.159 --> 01:03:54.099
our fault because we've been in such a bubble,

01:03:54.219 --> 01:03:57.500
you know, all the time that we don't realize

01:03:57.500 --> 01:04:01.409
there's a world around us. And we have to connect

01:04:01.409 --> 01:04:04.469
with the world and the needs of the world. And

01:04:04.469 --> 01:04:08.170
the needs have changed. So I believe in bringing

01:04:08.170 --> 01:04:11.690
classical music to everybody, not just an elite,

01:04:11.809 --> 01:04:16.110
but everybody should be exposed. Because it's

01:04:16.110 --> 01:04:20.650
such a gift to just enjoy this great universal

01:04:20.650 --> 01:04:23.530
music. I hate to put it, classical music is a

01:04:23.530 --> 01:04:28.329
universal music. that bind us together and things

01:04:28.329 --> 01:04:29.869
like that. And I think there should be access

01:04:29.869 --> 01:04:33.809
to all kinds of economic, social economic levels,

01:04:33.909 --> 01:04:39.309
not just a privilege. Yeah, I know. And I see

01:04:39.309 --> 01:04:44.489
that too. So even when I see, I'm raising quite

01:04:44.489 --> 01:04:50.230
a few young, small, but talented students, but

01:04:50.230 --> 01:04:52.940
then... they're so focused on the competitions

01:04:52.940 --> 01:04:56.019
because that's how the industry is right now.

01:04:56.480 --> 01:05:01.320
And not just a classical music industry, but

01:05:01.320 --> 01:05:04.219
I think in general, if you want to get into this

01:05:04.219 --> 01:05:06.679
school, that school, then you've got to win this

01:05:06.679 --> 01:05:09.380
thing or you've got to score this thing. It's

01:05:09.380 --> 01:05:12.320
not about being exposed to a different culture.

01:05:12.559 --> 01:05:14.940
No. When I went to school, I didn't go for the

01:05:14.940 --> 01:05:18.860
school. Once Leo Fleischer told me, what do you

01:05:18.860 --> 01:05:22.170
think, Julia is gold? No, I didn't go for Julia

01:05:22.170 --> 01:05:25.010
for gold or for Julia because it's gold. I went

01:05:25.010 --> 01:05:28.710
to Julia because of a teacher. See, I wanted

01:05:28.710 --> 01:05:30.869
to study with that person. I wanted to get that

01:05:30.869 --> 01:05:34.050
legacy. Kids don't think this way anymore. They

01:05:34.050 --> 01:05:36.909
just think in terms of the names of the school.

01:05:37.489 --> 01:05:41.469
And that's unfortunate. That really is unfortunate

01:05:41.469 --> 01:05:46.130
because this, we're not in a, this is not, I

01:05:46.130 --> 01:05:49.820
mean, there's a certain sport. and commercial

01:05:49.820 --> 01:05:55.079
aspect of our profession. But the root is art.

01:05:56.300 --> 01:05:59.719
And as Adele Marcus once told me, your career

01:05:59.719 --> 01:06:05.340
starts at the piano. Nothing else. If you're

01:06:05.340 --> 01:06:08.920
really good at the piano, if you're really an

01:06:08.920 --> 01:06:14.280
artist, life will take care of that. Life will

01:06:14.280 --> 01:06:17.320
take care of it. But you have to have that first.

01:06:19.659 --> 01:06:23.739
And this is what it's not, these young generations

01:06:23.739 --> 01:06:28.679
don't really have in mind. It's a little bit

01:06:28.679 --> 01:06:32.840
empty, hollow, their approach to everything.

01:06:33.320 --> 01:06:36.679
Yeah. And later on, yeah, they discover that.

01:07:29.480 --> 01:07:31.940
I want to go back to your roots, Puerto Rico.

01:07:32.679 --> 01:07:36.920
So, you know, because I still want to learn about

01:07:36.920 --> 01:07:39.980
composers. You mentioned about Roberto Sierra,

01:07:40.059 --> 01:07:45.480
but I also know Gonzales de Jesus Nunez and then

01:07:45.480 --> 01:07:51.059
Adeline Cruz. So can you just tell us about this

01:07:51.059 --> 01:07:55.320
beautiful, beautiful music of Puerto Rico? So

01:07:55.320 --> 01:07:59.300
let me tell you my view of Puerto Rico. Puerto

01:07:59.300 --> 01:08:03.639
Rico is a nation. What by saying it's a nation

01:08:03.639 --> 01:08:09.239
is that it has all kinds of music. I'm talking

01:08:09.239 --> 01:08:13.719
from a musical point of view. So we have obviously

01:08:13.719 --> 01:08:17.159
the salsa, we have the pop music, we have what

01:08:17.159 --> 01:08:20.380
we know of Puerto Rican music, the Caribeños

01:08:20.380 --> 01:08:24.579
music, that it's universal now. But there is

01:08:24.579 --> 01:08:30.100
also a parallel world of... folkloric music that

01:08:30.100 --> 01:08:33.560
has not really been popularized. For example,

01:08:33.619 --> 01:08:37.300
the music from the mountains, the Híbaros, they

01:08:37.300 --> 01:08:41.560
have their own way of singing, which comes from

01:08:41.560 --> 01:08:47.319
the Canary Islands in Spain. As a root, you have

01:08:47.319 --> 01:08:51.899
the African, Puerto Rican population, Bomba and

01:08:51.899 --> 01:08:59.409
Plena, which is also not known so much. Having

01:08:59.409 --> 01:09:02.369
mentioned those, let's say, three, and of course

01:09:02.369 --> 01:09:05.090
you have the European influence from Spain and

01:09:05.090 --> 01:09:11.170
France. Those music we had in Puerto Rico, polkas,

01:09:11.390 --> 01:09:16.810
we had in Puerto Rico, mazurkas, and all sorts

01:09:16.810 --> 01:09:20.350
of European form of music written by composers

01:09:20.350 --> 01:09:23.090
from Puerto Rico. I'm talking about the 19th

01:09:23.090 --> 01:09:29.600
century. Many of these... composers like Julio

01:09:29.600 --> 01:09:34.500
de Arteaga and Manuel Tavares, I'm talking about

01:09:34.500 --> 01:09:40.300
1865, 1870, 1880, went to France to study in

01:09:40.300 --> 01:09:44.800
France at the conservatory, or people from the

01:09:44.800 --> 01:09:48.199
conservatory. There was Marmontel, who was a

01:09:48.199 --> 01:09:50.659
very famous piano teacher at that time. I think

01:09:50.659 --> 01:09:54.430
he was a pupil of Kalbrenner. And this one you

01:09:54.430 --> 01:09:58.470
mentioned, Gonzalo Nunez, who later moved to

01:09:58.470 --> 01:10:00.630
Cuba, and I think he died in Cuba, but he was

01:10:00.630 --> 01:10:03.430
born in Puerto Rico, started in Paris with George

01:10:03.430 --> 01:10:06.890
Matias, who was an Englishman who was one of

01:10:06.890 --> 01:10:13.689
Japan's pupils. Oh, I see. See? So he was supposed

01:10:13.689 --> 01:10:18.760
to be quite a virtuoso. I think he played in

01:10:18.760 --> 01:10:22.420
New York once in Aeolian Hall, a very old hall

01:10:22.420 --> 01:10:26.800
that doesn't exist in ages. But he settled in

01:10:26.800 --> 01:10:31.640
Cuba. So he wrote music, again, with kind of

01:10:31.640 --> 01:10:38.380
Habanera rhythm, but very French Salon style,

01:10:38.659 --> 01:10:43.479
you see. Now, Tavares was, he stayed in Puerto

01:10:43.479 --> 01:10:47.970
Rico. daughter, Elisa Tavares, was a pianist

01:10:47.970 --> 01:10:51.789
and she became one of the, she was like the Rosina

01:10:51.789 --> 01:10:55.350
Levine of Puerto Rico in that time. And she studied

01:10:55.350 --> 01:11:00.949
with Isidore Philippe in Paris. And she studied,

01:11:01.130 --> 01:11:04.010
she played in New York too. She started an academy

01:11:04.010 --> 01:11:06.029
of piano in Puerto Rico. Many of the pianists

01:11:06.029 --> 01:11:11.109
of the early 20th century studied with her, Elisa.

01:11:11.409 --> 01:11:15.899
But Manuel, her father, was the one. wrote Danza,

01:11:15.960 --> 01:11:19.119
La Danza puertorriqueña. It was the father. The

01:11:19.119 --> 01:11:23.000
Danza comes from the Cuban Contradance and the

01:11:23.000 --> 01:11:28.439
Cuban Habaneras. People like Ignacio Cervantes,

01:11:28.680 --> 01:11:33.899
Saumel, wrote in Cuba Contradances and Dances,

01:11:34.060 --> 01:11:40.510
were just salon pieces with... a promenade for

01:11:40.510 --> 01:11:44.090
first a section then the dance the b section

01:11:44.090 --> 01:11:48.930
and goes back to uh this a well there's introduction

01:11:48.930 --> 01:11:54.550
a b a that's the format uh of the danza uh in

01:11:54.550 --> 01:11:58.810
the hands of cervantes was very very short maybe

01:11:58.810 --> 01:12:01.550
one two pages at the most in the hands of mr

01:12:01.550 --> 01:12:04.979
tavares in puerto rico he was three four pages

01:12:04.979 --> 01:12:08.859
long so he you know expanded the form of dances

01:12:08.859 --> 01:12:13.380
and uh as i say danza means to dance but it also

01:12:13.380 --> 01:12:16.300
means to listen so it's like a masurka it's a

01:12:16.300 --> 01:12:19.439
combination of dance and song so you can sing

01:12:19.439 --> 01:12:26.199
it yeah so and and and and uh one thing about

01:12:26.199 --> 01:12:28.560
cervantes even though he was in puerto rico he

01:12:28.560 --> 01:12:32.560
was cuban he was living in paris At that time,

01:12:32.579 --> 01:12:35.539
he studied there, and he lived near Franz Liszt.

01:12:35.579 --> 01:12:40.119
And Mr. Liszt walked one day through and heard

01:12:40.119 --> 01:12:44.000
this piano music, very weird, very exotic. So

01:12:44.000 --> 01:12:46.840
he knocked on his door, and Cervantes opened

01:12:46.840 --> 01:12:50.460
the door when he saw Mr. Franz Liszt in the footstep.

01:12:50.800 --> 01:12:55.100
And Franz Liszt came in, and he played some dances

01:12:55.100 --> 01:13:00.109
that he composed for Liszt. Really? No way. That's

01:13:00.109 --> 01:13:04.909
so cool. It's cool, yeah. But Puerto Rican dancers

01:13:04.909 --> 01:13:07.470
in the hands of Manuel Tavares. Then there was

01:13:07.470 --> 01:13:11.250
another Juan Morel Campos that came at the same

01:13:11.250 --> 01:13:13.890
time. He was not a pianist, but he wrote a lot

01:13:13.890 --> 01:13:19.470
of dances for piano. And Mr. Morel Campos never

01:13:19.470 --> 01:13:22.449
left the island. Yet he was the most prolific

01:13:22.449 --> 01:13:27.079
and inventive. I mean, he had very, very... innovative

01:13:27.079 --> 01:13:33.520
way, harmonic even, to impart to the danza puertorriqueña.

01:13:33.600 --> 01:13:39.060
He wrote over 500 of them. Then in the 20th century,

01:13:39.460 --> 01:13:43.819
that tradition of danza has been still, you know,

01:13:43.840 --> 01:13:47.779
up to this day, I had a pupil of mine who wrote

01:13:47.779 --> 01:13:51.439
a danza. But it sounds like a danza rita by Richard

01:13:51.439 --> 01:13:55.979
Strauss. It's so chromatic and so, you know.

01:13:56.039 --> 01:14:01.760
But it still has that habanera kind of rhythm,

01:14:01.899 --> 01:14:05.439
you know. The Afro -American, the Afro -Puerto

01:14:05.439 --> 01:14:11.859
Rican, Afro -Caribbean, and the French. So it's

01:14:11.859 --> 01:14:15.060
fascinating. So that's one genre that the Puerto

01:14:15.060 --> 01:14:19.619
Rican classical music has. cultivated. Then in

01:14:19.619 --> 01:14:22.640
the 20th century, composers like Hector, Campos

01:14:22.640 --> 01:14:27.060
Parsi, Amaury Veray, they were born in the 20s,

01:14:27.060 --> 01:14:31.300
so they got to study either in Paris with Boulanger

01:14:31.300 --> 01:14:34.680
or in the United States, Campos Parsi studied

01:14:34.680 --> 01:14:38.220
at the New England Conservatory with Adam Copeland,

01:14:38.479 --> 01:14:44.760
Irving Fine, and so they went back to Puerto

01:14:44.760 --> 01:14:49.819
Rico. had positions of administrative and teaching

01:14:49.819 --> 01:14:51.979
positions at the conservatory in the government,

01:14:52.119 --> 01:14:57.180
and they wrote pieces based on other Puerto Rican

01:14:57.180 --> 01:15:04.579
folk idioms, like la bomba and plena, which is

01:15:04.579 --> 01:15:09.119
Afro -Puerto Rican music. Mr. Campos Parsi wrote

01:15:09.119 --> 01:15:11.880
a plena for piano that is very, very effective.

01:15:13.520 --> 01:15:17.979
written, the concert plan, he called it. And

01:15:17.979 --> 01:15:21.659
then you have somebody like Roberto Sierra, who

01:15:21.659 --> 01:15:25.140
was a pupil of all these people. And he was already

01:15:25.140 --> 01:15:30.899
a product of when Pablo Casals founded the Conservatory

01:15:30.899 --> 01:15:33.680
of Music in Puerto Rico. And Roberto was a pianist.

01:15:33.739 --> 01:15:37.060
I remember him being a pianist and participating

01:15:37.060 --> 01:15:41.619
in student recitals. But then he decided to continue.

01:15:42.220 --> 01:15:47.380
as a composer. He went to Urdrecht in, I think,

01:15:47.539 --> 01:15:53.340
in Holland. He studied with Ligeti. And so he

01:15:53.340 --> 01:15:57.539
became one of Ligeti's students. And, you know,

01:15:57.600 --> 01:15:59.859
the rest is history. He has been very successful.

01:16:01.340 --> 01:16:04.699
Just now, Duda Mel and the Berlin Philharmonic

01:16:04.699 --> 01:16:09.800
play some of his music. He's been recorded by

01:16:09.800 --> 01:16:13.369
Deutsche Grammophon. And he's written a lot of

01:16:13.369 --> 01:16:16.770
music for piano. He has, I think, 19 sonatas

01:16:16.770 --> 01:16:21.770
for piano. No way! Sonatas for piano, yes. And

01:16:21.770 --> 01:16:26.310
his writing has evolved tremendously. He also

01:16:26.310 --> 01:16:30.869
has the 24 preludes, based back in Chopin's preludes.

01:16:31.510 --> 01:16:35.529
Do you plan to play any of them? Yes, I've done

01:16:35.529 --> 01:16:39.130
some of the preludes, too. I haven't delved into

01:16:39.130 --> 01:16:41.710
the sonatas because they're very difficult. I

01:16:41.710 --> 01:16:44.609
haven't at the time. But I have some students

01:16:44.609 --> 01:16:47.350
of mine that I want them to study solo because

01:16:47.350 --> 01:16:50.890
they're really, really wonderful pieces. Yeah,

01:16:51.130 --> 01:16:54.529
yeah. Very, very... But my genitives, they're

01:16:54.529 --> 01:16:57.670
very difficult, very complex. But yeah, they're

01:16:57.670 --> 01:17:03.439
wonderful works. I need to... get the score yes

01:17:03.439 --> 01:17:07.939
the score is available yes yes uh subito music

01:17:07.939 --> 01:17:11.380
i think is the publisher i think yeah yes yeah

01:17:11.380 --> 01:17:14.739
i'll check them out roberto sierra wonderful

01:17:14.739 --> 01:17:22.520
wow so i mean all these composers latin especially

01:17:22.520 --> 01:17:26.720
latin american music is underrated so that's

01:17:26.720 --> 01:17:32.439
why someone like amazing artists like you is

01:17:32.439 --> 01:17:36.800
promoting the music of Latin American music and

01:17:36.800 --> 01:17:41.359
Spanish music as well. So, yeah. How is it going?

01:17:41.680 --> 01:17:45.020
Actually, I teach a course for graduate students

01:17:45.020 --> 01:17:48.279
in Latino American piano repertoire. It's part

01:17:48.279 --> 01:17:55.239
of piano literature courses at VANS. At Hart

01:17:55.239 --> 01:17:59.060
School? At Hart School, yes. We examine country

01:17:59.060 --> 01:18:05.529
by country. Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela,

01:18:05.789 --> 01:18:13.689
Colombia, Panama. So we take a good look into

01:18:13.689 --> 01:18:18.689
the composers that shaped the 20th century in

01:18:18.689 --> 01:18:21.510
those countries. And we're very, very fascinated.

01:18:21.550 --> 01:18:24.489
For example, we just finished Chavez, Carlos

01:18:24.489 --> 01:18:27.210
Chavez, and Manuel Ponce, and the difference

01:18:27.210 --> 01:18:30.560
between both two composers. from the 20th century

01:18:30.560 --> 01:18:33.180
Mexican piano writing, it's really, really striking.

01:18:33.520 --> 01:18:37.039
Not to tell, you know, the ones that are now

01:18:37.039 --> 01:18:41.859
still alive that are very more on the aleatoristic

01:18:41.859 --> 01:18:44.899
style and things like that. So there's a great

01:18:44.899 --> 01:18:50.539
wealth. There's a great wealth in piano music

01:18:50.539 --> 01:18:54.039
in Latin America. We just know maybe the frosting

01:18:54.039 --> 01:18:56.680
of it, but there's a lot of other very... In

01:18:56.680 --> 01:18:59.630
Argentina, there... You have Alberto Williams.

01:19:00.090 --> 01:19:05.850
You have, well, Jose Castro. Of course, Ginastera.

01:19:06.909 --> 01:19:15.689
And you have Osvaldo Goliov now. So, Richa, it's

01:19:15.689 --> 01:19:18.529
another one that I'm forgetting the name. But

01:19:18.529 --> 01:19:21.170
there are a lot of composers that have written

01:19:21.170 --> 01:19:25.270
for piano music that is fascinating and is worth...

01:19:26.550 --> 01:19:30.609
discovering because it's very very well written

01:19:30.609 --> 01:19:35.970
and very and you know our ears have maybe 50

01:19:35.970 --> 01:19:38.390
years or 70 years ago it was a little bit shocking

01:19:38.390 --> 01:19:43.710
but now our ears have the evolution of our ears

01:19:43.710 --> 01:19:50.050
is great has the capacity of you know absorb

01:19:50.050 --> 01:19:55.720
this music much with more intelligence and understanding

01:19:55.720 --> 01:20:02.340
and appreciated cultural aspects of them. Yeah.

01:20:02.340 --> 01:20:06.659
Yeah. Wonderful. So, you know, as much as you've,

01:20:06.659 --> 01:20:12.220
you know, become this artist and, you know, gain

01:20:12.220 --> 01:20:19.260
your reputation and artistry worldwide, but seems

01:20:19.260 --> 01:20:22.750
like you are giving back. to your home country,

01:20:22.890 --> 01:20:28.350
your where, yeah, your heritage by doing a festival,

01:20:28.609 --> 01:20:30.989
the Puerto Rico International Piano Festival,

01:20:31.170 --> 01:20:34.750
but also promoting Latin American music as well.

01:20:34.989 --> 01:20:36.989
Tell me a little bit. I know you mentioned a

01:20:36.989 --> 01:20:39.989
little bit about the festival, but. Yes, I must

01:20:39.989 --> 01:20:44.510
give a plug on my festival. It's happening. We're

01:20:44.510 --> 01:20:47.880
going to celebrate the 10th. Oh, wow. Congratulations.

01:20:48.539 --> 01:20:51.899
Thank you. It's held at the Conservatory of Music

01:20:51.899 --> 01:20:55.279
in Puerto Rico, in San Juan, Miramar, which is

01:20:55.279 --> 01:21:00.460
a beautiful conservatory. Thanks to one of my

01:21:00.460 --> 01:21:03.920
colleagues, Maria del Carmen Hill, who fought

01:21:03.920 --> 01:21:06.180
for it and got that building and transforming

01:21:06.180 --> 01:21:10.939
it. It was one of the 40 most beautiful conservatories

01:21:10.939 --> 01:21:14.140
in the American territory. And not only that,

01:21:14.220 --> 01:21:18.770
but it's a... Old Stanway School. No way! Wonderful!

01:21:19.409 --> 01:21:22.149
Yeah. So there are wonderful facilities for practicing,

01:21:22.529 --> 01:21:28.789
for playing. The pianos are kept in tip -top

01:21:28.789 --> 01:21:32.750
shape. And it's usually in the summer. This year

01:21:32.750 --> 01:21:38.869
is going to be from June 22nd until June 30th.

01:21:39.069 --> 01:21:46.520
And we have a roster of wonderful artists. Eduardo

01:21:46.520 --> 01:21:51.279
Salim has been a part of it, Terry Njaparitse.

01:21:52.180 --> 01:21:59.979
We have had Pavlina Dokowska from Manus. We have

01:21:59.979 --> 01:22:05.000
had people like Andres Cardenas in the violin

01:22:05.000 --> 01:22:09.579
department, Amit Pellet, a great Israeli cellist.

01:22:09.960 --> 01:22:15.180
So we do chamber music and piano. And of course,

01:22:15.180 --> 01:22:18.600
the Puerto Rican teachers like Maria del Carmen

01:22:18.600 --> 01:22:21.100
Hill, who's the head of the piano department.

01:22:21.479 --> 01:22:26.100
And this year we have Diana Figueroa Pabon, another

01:22:26.100 --> 01:22:29.279
distinguished part of the faculty from Puerto

01:22:29.279 --> 01:22:33.740
Rico. We have in the violin also the... Francisco

01:22:33.740 --> 01:22:37.699
Caban, who's a wonderful pedagogue, and Luis

01:22:37.699 --> 01:22:40.319
Miguel Rojas, although he's Venezuelan. He's

01:22:40.319 --> 01:22:42.239
been in Puerto Rico for many years. He was part

01:22:42.239 --> 01:22:46.319
of El Sistema, a great cellist and a great teacher.

01:22:46.720 --> 01:22:53.039
So we also have Darrett Atkins in the violoncello

01:22:53.039 --> 01:22:56.779
department. He's going to visit us this summer

01:22:56.779 --> 01:22:59.600
from Oberlin and Julia. He's part of the faculty

01:22:59.600 --> 01:23:07.010
there. So we have Manuel Laufer, who specializes

01:23:07.010 --> 01:23:10.470
in contemporary music. So we have a wonderful,

01:23:10.569 --> 01:23:18.890
wonderful festival. Wow. Yes. And then age is

01:23:18.890 --> 01:23:24.390
targeting the professional age? It can be. If

01:23:24.390 --> 01:23:27.949
it's under 18, they need to be accompanied by

01:23:27.949 --> 01:23:31.739
a guardian or a parent. they can, you know, they

01:23:31.739 --> 01:23:36.619
can come. And, you know, and then grads, undergrads,

01:23:36.680 --> 01:23:40.380
you know, students. Great. Yeah, I will make

01:23:40.380 --> 01:23:42.760
sure to list the link in the show notes. Yes,

01:23:42.760 --> 01:23:45.140
that would be great. Yeah, it's the one everybody

01:23:45.140 --> 01:23:48.760
goes, they love it because they fall in love

01:23:48.760 --> 01:23:51.340
with the history, the culture of the island,

01:23:51.699 --> 01:23:57.979
the performing facilities. And the teaching that

01:23:57.979 --> 01:24:01.000
is very intense, but it's excellent, excellent.

01:24:01.380 --> 01:24:04.500
I did this because there was a lapsus in where

01:24:04.500 --> 01:24:07.079
I hear my colleagues from Puerto Rico, oh my

01:24:07.079 --> 01:24:09.640
God, you know, the piano department is not what

01:24:09.640 --> 01:24:12.939
it used to be. You know, we're not producing,

01:24:13.159 --> 01:24:18.619
we're not getting students. So there was a shift

01:24:18.619 --> 01:24:22.659
mostly for opera and there's a great voice talent

01:24:22.659 --> 01:24:25.350
in the island. I think the piano was a little

01:24:25.350 --> 01:24:29.029
bit abandoned. So I thought, well, let me see

01:24:29.029 --> 01:24:37.850
if I can infuse them with a new innovation of

01:24:37.850 --> 01:24:43.689
doing a festival for the conservatory. And it

01:24:43.689 --> 01:24:46.989
has created a lot of enthusiasm. And some of

01:24:46.989 --> 01:24:50.470
the kids from the conservatory have proven that

01:24:50.470 --> 01:24:52.890
they have come here. One of them is studying.

01:24:53.500 --> 01:24:57.380
at the Eisler Conservatory School in Germany,

01:24:57.479 --> 01:25:00.939
in Berlin. The other ones has been here in NYU

01:25:00.939 --> 01:25:06.100
and Mannes. So we're beginning to see, you know,

01:25:06.119 --> 01:25:11.260
local students cross and become very, very competent

01:25:11.260 --> 01:25:15.420
pianists. Oh, wow. So that's, I'm very happy

01:25:15.420 --> 01:25:22.170
about that. Great. So is there any upcoming concert

01:25:22.170 --> 01:25:25.569
you have or any recording that you want to do?

01:25:25.670 --> 01:25:32.750
Let's see. Well, I'm supposed to go to, we're

01:25:32.750 --> 01:25:38.670
also working in Spain with Barcelona and Zaragoza,

01:25:38.689 --> 01:25:42.850
the conservatory. So I'm supposed to go there

01:25:42.850 --> 01:25:45.850
and give master classes. I'm going to Shanghai,

01:25:46.170 --> 01:25:51.010
China. Yes, I was there last summer and had wonderful

01:25:51.010 --> 01:25:55.489
connections, especially the Shanghai Conservatory.

01:25:55.850 --> 01:25:59.949
And so that's coming up. My festival is coming

01:25:59.949 --> 01:26:05.069
up. And I'm playing the Knights in the Garden

01:26:05.069 --> 01:26:08.229
of Spain with the Puerto Rico Symphony of Defiance

01:26:08.229 --> 01:26:12.449
next season. So I have a few things to look forward

01:26:12.449 --> 01:26:16.449
to. So my audience can check out your website

01:26:16.449 --> 01:26:20.810
to get the latest news. Your website is at JoseRamosSantana

01:26:20.810 --> 01:26:23.289
.com, correct? Absolutely, yes, yes, yes. Great.

01:26:23.890 --> 01:26:26.390
Well, it's been a really wonderful conversation.

01:26:26.529 --> 01:26:29.329
It's almost time for us to go. Thank you so much,

01:26:29.350 --> 01:26:31.770
Jose, for really joining. But before I forgot

01:26:31.770 --> 01:26:34.010
to tell you, we usually do a little rapid fire

01:26:34.010 --> 01:26:36.890
questions before we go. They are silly questions,

01:26:37.130 --> 01:26:40.630
but every guest has to do it in order for them

01:26:40.630 --> 01:26:43.649
to be dismissed. So I want you to answer them

01:26:43.649 --> 01:26:48.470
as short as possible. And they are really just

01:26:48.470 --> 01:26:51.449
a trivial question. So let's start with one.

01:26:51.609 --> 01:26:56.170
First question. What is your comfort food? Oh,

01:26:56.289 --> 01:26:59.229
my comfort food is Puerto Rican food. Oh, yes.

01:27:00.210 --> 01:27:02.930
How do you like your coffee in the morning? I

01:27:02.930 --> 01:27:05.369
can't live without it. I cannot live without

01:27:05.369 --> 01:27:07.369
it. You cannot live without it. Puerto Rican

01:27:07.369 --> 01:27:11.630
coffee. Okay. Are you a cat person or dog person?

01:27:12.109 --> 01:27:15.729
Both, but I tend to be more cats. Summer or winter?

01:27:16.430 --> 01:27:20.640
Oh, summer. We need to get out of this miserable

01:27:20.640 --> 01:27:25.260
winter. Yes. Okay. Now, level two. What skill

01:27:25.260 --> 01:27:27.579
have you always wanted to learn but haven't had

01:27:27.579 --> 01:27:34.500
a chance to? To be an artist, a painter. Oh.

01:27:35.039 --> 01:27:38.659
What is your word to live by or words to live

01:27:38.659 --> 01:27:45.359
by? Don't lose your focus and don't lose your

01:27:45.359 --> 01:27:49.920
faith. Great. What is the most important quality

01:27:49.920 --> 01:27:53.279
you look for in other people? Innate goodness,

01:27:53.600 --> 01:28:02.359
integrity, innate honesty. Name three people

01:28:02.359 --> 01:28:06.739
who inspire you, living or dead. That's hard.

01:28:07.180 --> 01:28:11.399
I know. Just whoever comes to your mind. Well,

01:28:11.420 --> 01:28:16.680
one of them is Mr. Casals, Pablo Casals. I admire

01:28:16.680 --> 01:28:20.739
him greatly. Great respect for him. My teacher,

01:28:20.939 --> 01:28:24.800
Del Marcos, was a great, great influence. I'm

01:28:24.800 --> 01:28:33.880
very thankful for her. And the last one is, I

01:28:33.880 --> 01:28:40.159
would say, well, my mother. Wonderful. Great.

01:28:40.680 --> 01:28:43.899
So last question. Fill in the blank. Music is

01:28:43.899 --> 01:28:49.909
blank. Music is life. Beautiful. Great. This

01:28:49.909 --> 01:28:52.789
concludes the episode of The Piano Pot. A heartfelt

01:28:52.789 --> 01:28:56.149
thanks to you, Jose, for joining us today. Thank

01:28:56.149 --> 01:28:58.750
you. And then to our wonderful audience, you

01:28:58.750 --> 01:29:00.989
can learn more about Jose and his work by visiting

01:29:00.989 --> 01:29:05.609
his website at joseramosantana .com and start

01:29:05.609 --> 01:29:07.850
listening to his incredible recordings. And then,

01:29:07.869 --> 01:29:10.560
of course, thanks to our... Faithful fans and

01:29:10.560 --> 01:29:12.500
listeners for tuning in today. If you enjoyed

01:29:12.500 --> 01:29:14.840
today's episode, please give it a thumbs up and

01:29:14.840 --> 01:29:16.920
subscribe to the PianoPod's YouTube channel.

01:29:17.100 --> 01:29:19.640
And don't forget to share and review this episode

01:29:19.640 --> 01:29:23.319
on your go -to podcast platform. I will see you

01:29:23.319 --> 01:29:25.460
for the next episode of the PianoPod. And thank

01:29:25.460 --> 01:29:27.859
you so much, Jose, once again. Thank you very

01:29:27.859 --> 01:29:29.939
much for your opportunity. It was a pleasure

01:29:29.939 --> 01:29:32.720
to be with you. Oh, thank you, Jose.