Wednesday 29 November at 7.30 pm at St. James’s Church, Piccadilly
Venezuelan pianist Clara Rodriguez returns to St. James’s Piccadilly for an evening full of wonderful music with a varied programme of composers that include Chopin, Ravel and Rachmaninoff as well as a selection of fantastically joyful and intriguing compositions by composers from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela to launch Clara Rodriguez’s new CD “Americas Without Frontiers” on Nimbus Records.
Tickets from: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2981552
Dear friends,
I am happy to announce that I shall be playing a recital on Wednesday 29th November at 7.30 pm at the beautiful St. James’s Church in Piccadilly.
This time I shall be also paying homage to my teacher, the English pianist Phyllis Sellick (1911-2007) in the tenth year of her death.
She was and still is a great inspiration for my playing and my teaching. She transmitted to me knowledge from her vast artistic experience as well as the one received from her own teachers that included Isidor Philipp – fact that made her a great-grand pupil of Chopin’s – and from Maurice Ravel in Paris.
In London she and her husband, Cyril Smith, were part of the élite of musicians of the time that included names such as Michael Tippet, Vaughan Williams, Arthur Bliss, who all wrote pieces especially for them. Her admiration for the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, who was a personal friend of the couple, was unquestionable and she demonstrated a deep understanding of his music.
I have decided to play a programme that will include iconic works by Chopin, Ravel and Rachmaninoff in her honour as well as pieces from my new CD “Americas Without Frontiers”, copies of which you will be able to get on the night.
Dominic Seligman will read anecdotes from the life and work of Phyllis Sellcik; poet and Timothy Adès will read his English translation of the poem TIME OF MAN by Atahualpa Yupanqui and Leonardo Muller texts by Alejo Carpentier and Alfonsina Storni.
It is a privilege to still be able to make music in this world of ours!
Programme
Four Venezuelan waltzes:
Evencio Castellanos: Mañanita Caraqueña
Ramón Delgado Palacios: La dulzura de tu rostro
Maria Luisa Escobar: Noche de luna en Altamira
Teresa Carreño: Mi Teresita
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Three Preludes Op. 23
E flat No 6, G minor No 5, D major No 4
Frèdèric Chopin: Ballade Op. 23 No 1 in G minor
INTERVAL
Ludovic Lamothe: La dangereuse
Germán Darío Pérez: Tranquilamente, un tipo leal
Germán Darío Pérez: Ancestro
Maurice Ravel: Pavane pour une enfante défunte
Maurice Ravel: Three pieces from Le Tombeau de Couperin:
Prelude – Menuet – Toccata
Ariel Ramírez: Alfonsina y el mar
Ernesto Lecuona: Malagueña
Image by Carlos David; Photography by Antolín Sánchez
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