By Maria Gregoriou
On Friday The Pharos Arts Foundation and the Embassy of Spain will present a piano recital by Pablo Galdo at the Shoe Factory in Nicosia.
Galdo, considered one of the most renowned Spanish pianists and one of the most outstanding performers of his generation, will perform Suite Espanola by Issac Albeniz.
The eight pieces to be performed on Friday are very different from Albeniz’s other pieces as they were composed early on in his career. The entire suite often imitates guitar figurations rather than pianistic ones. Each piece represents a specific region of Spain and is cast as a dance, song or musical form characteristic of that place (Granada, Catalonia, Seville, Cadiz, Aragon, Castille and Cuba).
The Spanish pianist studied with Nicasio Gradaille at the Vigo Superior Conservatoire in Galicia, from where he graduated with a special distinction. He also received master-classes by such renowned musicians as Alicia de Larrocha, Zoltán Kocsis, Tamás Vasáry, Dimitri Bashkirov, Várjon Dénes and Heinz Kämmerling among others. He was also selected to participate in young performers concert cycles and festivals such as Jeneusses Musicales, the Teresa Berganza Association, the Young talents of Budapest in the Buda Castle, the Pedro Barrié de la Maza Foundation and the Juan March Foundation.
Galdo has performed all over the world – in most European countries and the US, in South America, the Middle East and Asia, in venues such as the Carnegie Hall in New York, National Auditorium in Zagreb, the Hong Kong Arts Center, Frederick Chopin Academy, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the Mirabell Palace in Salzburg, the Danube Palace and the F Liszt Academy in Budapest. He has shared the stage with renowned musicians, including Zoltán Kocsis, Lilya Zilberstein, Imre Rohmann, Asier Polo and András Kemenes. Friday will be the first time that he will give a performance in Cyprus.
Recently the pianist recorded a DVD, produced by IRIS, of works by Albéniz, Liszt and Rachmaninoff, a CD, produced by MANS, with works by Bach, Chopin and Liszt, as well as second, all-Albéniz CD. He has also recorded for Spanish Television, Galician Television and Hungarian Radio. The composer Saúl Chapela has dedicated to him his piano work 22 Variations on Two Cells.
He has also given master-classes at the Frederick Chopin Academy in Warsaw, the Academy of Arts in Iceland, the Istanbul State Conservatory, the Academy of Music and Theater of Vilnius, the National Music Academy of Estonia, the National University of Kazakhstan, the Superior School of Music of Neuquén in Argentina, the Kuwait School of Music, as well as in numerous music institutions all over Spain. He is also the Founder and Director of the annual International Piano Master-Classes of the Mercantile Circle in Vigo, which has hosted some of the greatest pianists in the world.
Galdo currently combines his concert activity with his position as piano professor at the Vigo Superior Conservatory of Music (Galicia, Spain) and at the Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio in Madrid.
Piano Recital by Pablo Galdo
The Pharos Arts Foundation presents a piano recital by the Spanish pianist. April 3. The Shoe Factory, Nicosia. 8.30pm. €15/10. Tel: 22-663871
