Hi guys,

It has been a long August month, but I have certainly enjoyed it and you can bet it had a lot of music too... I spent nearly the hole month in the little village of Ezcaray, up in La Rioja, Spain. The food was, as always, delicious and I had a great time playing chess all afternoons.

I must bring some music now... Well, as a matter of fact, I had a video some wonderful music when I was a little boy (oh, about five, six years old), a VHS which was in fact "Peter and the Wolf" by Prokofiev, narrated by the singer Sting... But the rest of the VHS was the story of Peter after "Peter and the Wolf"... To make it short, Peter escaped his home at night and went to a little house down a road where he met all the famous musicians of History, like Mozart or Haydn... All this story was non-talked and illustrated with music by Prokofiev... I loved the second part more than the first, but the little inconvenience of the VHS was that it didn't tell me what were the other tracks, rather than "Peter and the Wolf"...

One day this summer I went to Ezcaray's Public Library, and there I came across a CD which had the same cover as my old VHS... Well, I brought it home and, in fact, the music I just told you about was in the CD. You can imagine how happy I was after making this discovery. Memories from my childhood came back to my head. But wait a minute... I haven't told you what the brilliant music was!!!... It was Prokofiev's "Classical" Symphony and Prokofiev's Overture from Hebrew Themes. I strongly recommend you to watch the following videos as the works of music are simply wonderful, magnificent I may say...

I hope you have enjoyed them and I strongly recommend that, if you have kids, you show them these marvelous works...

See you,

Manu

Hi guys,

Two weeks ago, I had the great opportunity of attending, as a listener student, five Conducting Masterclasses in which the teacher was the well-reknown conductor Maestro Jorma Panula, from Finland. I also met with the students, who were very friendly and were enjoying very much the course as well as me...

This was the I International Conductors Masterclass at El Escorial, close to Madrid and one of the most wonderful cities of Spain due to his historic relevance and his famous monastery, who was, from the end of the XVI century until the begining of the XXth century, a royal residence. The classes were very interesting and exciting. They consisted of a 30 minutes conducting session for every student during the morning. Maestro Panula's corrections came in the afternoon after watching the video of the previous session. The orchestra was the Camerata "Antonio Soler", a string orchestra... I even had the opportunity to conduct a little bit during the course.

The participants had to work, obviously, on string orchestra works like Grieg's "Holberg Suite", Bartók's "Divertimento", or Tchaïkovsky's "Serenade". In the final concert, the different students had improved a lot. Also, Maestro Panula gave the diplomas to all the students, including me...

After this week, I moved to Forum MusiKae in Pozuelo to attend another course. I had the great chance to receive a number of four piano masterclasses with Michael Leuschner, a great teacher. I worked with him Beethoven's "Pathétique" Sonata in C minor, and Bach's Partita nºII also in C minor and his advices were very helpful indeed...

Before I take a little vacation in order to settle things for the next year, and to have the rest I think I deserve, I leave you with two videos. The first one is from my friend Till Schwabenbauer, whom I met during the conductors course (I found it at his webpage)...

The second one is a good version of the Partita I'm playing and preparing for September... I found it complete!!!

Have a pleasant time,
MANU

Hi guys,

I have been these last two weeks up at Ithaca College (NY) in a Summer Piano Institute, having a great time there, and a pair of days discovering New York City...

This Summer Piano Institute at Ithaca College has been one of my best and wonderful experiences and adventures, and I will never forget this summer. Ithaca College is a very nice and big place. The Institute was directed by Dr. Deborah Martin, and the faculty was exceptional. Dr. Phiroze Mehta told us about great pianists and I had the chance to share points of view with him. Dr. Charis Dimaras (by the way a great football fan), a great teacher who gave me interesting advices about my College preparation and gave me various Ensemble lessons. Dr. Jennifer Hayghe helped me improving the pieces I was working on, especially Mendelssohn's Rondó Capriccioso. Dr. Nathan Hess gave me various advices as to matters of playing and an interesting mini masterclass. With Dr. Diane Birr, my Collaborative playing improved and I understood better the concept of an accompanist. Dr. John White gave me really profound Theory classes and with Dr. Susan Avery, our Choir teacher, I enjoyed with my classmates a lot of funny and unforgettable moments. Also, the counselors that helped all of us (we were 35 students) were really splendid chaps and nice guys (thank you David, Michael, Sarah, Brittany and Sam for the good times and the fun we had together!!)...

Also, I made a lot of friends there: Sam, Matthew, Chris, James, Zach, Charles, Lowell, Jeff, Abby, Angela, Daphne, Anna, Belinda, Athena, Sitara, Marci and Annie... with whom I spent a lot of time between sports at free time, when we weren't practicing or having class and we were having a break in work...

As Dr. Martin said: "It has been one of the very best, not to say the best, of all the Piano Summer Institutes we have organized." Well, I hadn't been in none of the previous years, but the great times and passions that everyone of us shared makes me think that she was right. In fact, I'm already dreaming of going back next year!!!

After that wonderful experience, I went to New York City for two days and I must say that the city really amazed me, as to matters of the sky-crappers and all the enourmous buildings. Also, I had a wonderful time visiting the different museums, from the Guggenheim to the Met, and stopping by at Lincoln Center where the Opera House is staged and Carnegie Hall.

Also, the visits to Saint Pathrick's Cathedral, Battery Park, Wall Street and the World Trade Center really were better then I had imagined. Later on, I stepped by the Rockefeller Center, Greenwich Village and the great Waldorf Astoria. I didn't have the time though to go to a Broadway musical, but I walked through China Town, Little Italy and Central Park.

Alas, time flew away and I had to come back to Spain as soon as possible, as I am starting another course here in Madrid... But, nevertheless, New York was a great city and I really, really had a very pleasant time there... I leave you with a version of "Mercutio", a musical number of "Romeo and Juliet" by Prokofiev, which my friend Jeff played at the final showcase recital... I liked it so much that he even passed me a score of the piece. Thanks, Jeff...

I hope I shall be writing soon. See you,
Manu

Hi friends,

Yesterday was the Conservatory's last Concert of the year at the Auditorio Nacional. I was at the backstage and I remembered with my friends from the Orchestra and the Brass Band the great times we had had together through the year. The audience had the opportunity to hear the "Andante e Rondó Hungarese" by Carl Maria von Weber, played by the Orchestra and by the bassoon student Patricia as soloist. This marvelous piece is composed by two sections, a slow one and a more vivid and fast one (I think the second part looks like a hunt)...

The Brass Band played the rapid dance "Mambo" from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story", a little bit like the version you're giong to see, as the members of the Band were dancing on the stage...

I hope you have enjoyed it and see you soon,
MANU

Hi guys,
We have a very bad news today: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau died last night. He will always be to me the great bariton who sang in Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" as the despot Count of Almaviva in the film version made by Ponelle, along with Kiri Te Kanawa, Maria Ewing, Hermann Prey, Paolo Montarsolo and Mirella Freni. His particular voice and musicality is the first thing that I remembered when my mother told me this morning that he had died. He was the one who moved me when he sang the trial scene in "Le Nozze" and with Kiri and Mirella the trio at the end of the second act. I leave you now with these two favorite scenes. Thank you, Dietrich.

R.I.P Dietrich,
MANU