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Santiago Rodriguez has been called "among the finest pianists in the world" (The Baltimore Sun, 1995). He performs internationally with leading orchestras, including the London Symphony, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Weimar Philharmonic, the Yomiuri-Nippon Symphony Orchestra of Japan, the Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, Seattle, Indianapolis, and Houston Symphony Orchestras, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., and the American Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Mr. Rodriguez has appeared in recital at the Schauspielhaus in Berlin, Leipzig's Gewandhaus, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Montreal's Theatre Maisonneuve, the Santander Festival in Spain, Alice Tully Hall in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Herbst Theater in San Francisco, the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, and in July of 1997, at the prestigious Ravenna Festival in Italy where the critics proclaimed that "he conquered the audience". He opened the 1997-98 seasons of both the Long Island and Syracuse Symphony Orchestras. | |||
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and I doubt whether any of the works on these two discs have
often been played with such a spellbinding mix of high-born virtuosity and
poetic glamour" (March 1996). Volume 2 was awarded the 1995 Washington Area
Music Award for best classical recording of 1995, and Volume 3 was selected
by Classical Pulse as one of the best recordings of 1995. The next disc
in this series, featuring works for two pianos and four-hands, is scheduled
for release in 1999. His latest recording project took him to Berlin where
he recorded Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 and Chopin Piano Concerto No.
2 with the Berliner Symphoniker. This CD will be available in the Spring
of 1999.Volume 2 was awarded the 1995 Washington AreaMusic Award for best classical recording of 1995, and Volume 3 was selected
by Classical Pulse as one of the best recordings of 1995. The next disc
in this series, featuring works for two pianos and four-hands, is scheduled
for release in 1999. His latest recording project took him to Berlin where
he recorded Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 and Chopin Piano Concerto No.
2 with the Berliner Symphoniker. This CD will be available in the Spring
of 1999.
Santiago Rodriguez' other recordings of repertoire from Bach to Ginastera, all on ƒLAN, have been acclaimed for their "blazing conviction, tremendous technical strength, unswerving concentration and galvanic excitement..." (American Record Guide National Public Radio's Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection recommends three of Mr. Rodriguez' recordings as "the best available" performances, and his recording of the Rachmaninov and Prokofiev Third Concertos has been internationally acclaimed as one of the best in recorded history; the Chicago Tribune spoke of "the enormous sweep and impeccable control," and American Record Guide concluded that "this Rachmaninov Third goes immediately to the top of the list." Mr. Rodriguez has recorded numerous world premieres, including Piano Concerto No. 1 by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco; the Concertino for piano, strings, and cymbals of Carlos Surinach; Leonard Bernstein's Touches; piano concertos from the movies Nightsong and Phantom of the Opera, both of which are featured on his release, Piano in Hollywood; and the Piano Sonata No. 2 of Alberto Ginastera, a piece which, at the composer's invitation, was given its New York premiere by Mr. Rodriguez in 1982. Santiago Rodriguez was born in C‡rdenas, Cuba and began his piano studies at age four. After Castro seized power in Cuba, his parents sent Mr Rodriguez and his younger brother to America under the care of the Catholic Charities. He spent the next six years in an orphanage in New Orleans. Fortunately, his mother had concealed money along with a note begging the nuns to continue his musical education. Two years after his arrival, he made his concert debut at age ten performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27 with the New Orleans Philharmonic. His international career was launched in 1981 when he won the Silver medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and received a special prize for the best performance of Leonard Bernstein's Touches, a work commissioned for the competition. He was one of the first recipients of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Mr. Rodriguez' unique life and artistry were profiled on the CBS program Sunday Morning with Charles Kurault in 1993. He has also been featured numerous times on the ABC, NBC, PBS, CNN, and CBC television networks. Santiago Rodriguez holds a masters degree from the Juilliard School, where he was a pupil of Adele Marcus, and he completed his undergraduate studies magna cum laude with William Race at the University of Texas. eee |
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