Clara Rodriguez: Americas without Frontiers - the iconic Venezuelan pianist returns to St James's Piccadilly for an evening full of wonderful music with a varied programme of composers that include Chopin, Ravel and Rachmaninov 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
I shall be 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.
It is a privilege to still be able to make music in this world of ours!