Clara Rodriguez piano recital

Mirtru Escalona Mijares: 3 Preludes (World premiere)
Claude Debussy: Suite bergamasque
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Hommage à Chopin
Astor Piazzolla: Le grand tango
Interval
Astor Piazzolla: Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (The 4 Seasons of Buenos Aires)
José María Vitier: Danzón de fin de siglo
Germán Darío Pérez: Ancestro (bambuco) (London premiere)
Germán Darío Pérez: Tranquilamente, un tipo leal (pasillo) (London premiere)
Federico Ruiz: Zumba que zumba (joropo)

Caracas born pianist Clara Rodriguez is often described as an ambassador of Latin-American piano music, and this concert celebrates South American dances and French influence on the music of the 20th and 21st centuries.

In this concert, mixing solo piano works and chamber music, Clara Rodriguez, alongside three guest musicians, performs pieces of music for which she feels special affinity and affection.

Beginning with the delicate Suite Bergamasque by Claude Debussy, which includes the famous 'Clair de lune', she continues with the London première of Three Preludes by the young Venezuelan composer Mirtru Escalona in which innovative sounds are explored, creating a world of reflection.

Mirtru Escalona lives and works in Paris, has won an array of prizes and his music is in much demand worldwide.

Clara Rodriguez also gives a performance of Villa-Lobos's 'Hommage a Chopin', an exuberant portrait of Chopin's poetry and passion from the view point of the Amazonian composer.

Two large compositions by Astor Piazzolla also feature in the programme - 'Le Grand Tango', dedicated to Mstilav Rostropovich, and the 'Four Seasons of Buenos Aires' in a piano trio version. These pieces are played alongside the French cellist Jordan Gregoris and the Russian violinist Ilya Movchan.

To end the evening Clara Rodríguez plays with fellow Venezuelan percussionist Wilmer Sifontes dances from Cuba and Venezuela, as well as a Bambuco and a Pasillo (London premières) by the Colombian composer Germán Darío Pérez .

'Clara Rodríguez has been recognised for some time now as the ideal pianist to perform Latin American composers, her performances are alive with vitality'. Jonathan Woolf, Music Web

'Playing with a passion that keeps her from coming up for air, she delivers the contemporary classic works with a fluidity and grace that takes things to a whole other level of the game. One of those players that makes you wonder how she can make so much sound all by herself, a South American piano playing gem' Chris Spector, Midwest Record

Clara Rodriguez plays Ante El Escorial by Ernesto Lecuona

Clara Rodriguez piano
Wilmer Sifontes percussion
Jordan Gregoris cello
Ilya Movchan violin