Pablo’s Christmas gift

Classical music impresario Pablo Tariman gave Metro Manilans an early Christmas gift in the person of Alvaro Pierri, guitarist par excellence last Tuesday. On Saturday, he will be presenting Russian pianist Ilya Rashkovskiy at the Philamlife Theater on United Nation’s Avenue at 8 p.m.

Pierri’s performance was simply awesome, an exhilarating experience. Just what we needed in these troubled times. He started with Nicolo Paganini’s Grande Sonata, followed by Miguel Llobet’s Preludio y Mazurca, and Federico Moreno Torroba’s Sonatina.

For the second part of the program, he dispensed with William Walton’s Five Bagatelles that was in the program and instead did Two Pieces by Vila-Lobos.

The second part became a tribute to Latin American music greats, Mexican Manuel Ponce and Argentinian Albert Ginastera, whom he both described as “nationalists.” Ginastera’s Sonata for Guitar Op. 47’s combined folk Argentine rhythm and classic lyricism. The performance was energetic and physically demanding, it was inconsiderate to ask for an encore.

The audience gave him a standing ovation.

Complaining about the strong air-conditioning, the 54- year old artist said it’s like being in Canada (Montreal) where he is based. He has a slight resemblance to but definitely handsomer than American pop singer and songwriter Barry Manilow.

Born to a family of musicians in Montevideo, Uruguay, Pierri began studying piano at four with his mother, Ada Estades, and one year later he began taking guitar lessons with his aunt, Olga Pierri. He subsequently received further training from Abel Carlevaro and Guido Santórsola. He won first prize at international competitions in Porto Alegre and Buenos Aires, as well as first prize and the jury’s gold medal at the 18th Concours international de guitare in Paris.

When he made his North American debut at Kaufmann Concert Hall in New York in 1978, critics compared him with such great masters as Segovia, Bream and Yepes. Settling in Montreal in 1981, he joined the teaching staff of McGill University, UQAM and the Orford Arts Centre, in addition to being guest professor in Paris, Bordeaux, Frankfurt, Berlin and Rome. He has performed regularly in Europe and America, in recital or with orchestra. He has premiered works by Bazan, Brouwer, Carlevaro, Gonzalez, J. Hétu, Kaplan, Lanza, Piazzolla, Rougier and Santórsola. On CD, he has recorded Guitar Recital featuring works by Brouwer, Falla, Gismonti, Hétu, and Torroba, released in 1991 (Amplitude CLCD-2010). He has made several other albums for Métropole-Polydor (France) and Blue Angel (Germany).

The Dec. 8 performance by the good-looking Ilya Rashkovskiy will be a return engagement after a highly successful Manila debut last year. In that performance, he endeared himself to the audience not only with his superior music but his sweetness. Girls were shouting, “Ilya, will marry me?”

Ilya was a prizewinner of the First Hong Kong International Piano Competition and the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris and one of the top prizewinners of the 2007 Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels.

For Saturday’s show, Rashkovskiy’s repertoire will be inspired by dance: Chopin’s Seven Waltzes, Scriabin’s Valse, Op. 38 Ab major, Ravel’s La Valse and Valses Nobles Sentimentales, Liszt’s Soirees de Vienne: Valse-Carpice No. 6 and Mephisto Waltz.

Rashkovskiy’s concert will close this year’s Great Performance Series sponsored by Philippine American Life Insurance Company, Chopin Society of Hongkong and the Manila Pavilion Hotel.

For inquiries on Rashkovskiy’s concert, please call 02) 9007023 or cell 09065104270.