Marcos Madrigal offers exclusives about Habana Clásica festival

July 13, 2019

The renowned Cuban pianist Marcos Madrigal is paying special attention today to the preparations for the third edition of the Habana Clásica festival.

Immersed in the dynamics of his usual schedule with performances inside and outside of Italy, the renowned Cuban pianist Marcos Madrigal is paying special attention today to the preparations for the third edition of the Habana Clásica festival.


Mastery and virtuosity characterize this young musician born on January 2, 1984 in the Cuban capital, where he began studying piano at just three years of age, and graduated two decades later with a Gold Diploma from the Higher Institute of Art, guided by the distinguished professor Teresita Junco.


From then on, he continued his training and artistic career in Italy and other countries, with performances in some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world and multiple awards in international competitions.


For the past two years he has been artistic director of 'Habana Clásica', an annual concert season with strong social impact and growing importance, due to the quantity and quality of its participants and activities in different venues in the city, which will celebrate 500 years of its founding next November 16.


In a dialogue with Prensa Latina, Madrigal referred to his most recent commitments and to the organization of the event of which he is the principal inspiration.


In that regard, he explained that after completing a tour of California, United States, he undertook another month-long tour of Finland, from where he returned to Italy to fulfill commitments in several cities during the rest of the summer.


On September 25 he will begin another journey with a six-day stay in Dubai, where he will inaugurate the concert season of the Opera Theater of that city and will participate in collateral activities such as master classes, meetings and conferences.


From there he will return to Italy, before undertaking a month-long tour of France, at the conclusion of which he will travel in mid-October to Havana, where he will participate in a project around the music of Edith Piaf, with the National Ballet of Cuba.


The first of these presentations will be the prelude to 'Habana Clásica', scheduled for November 9-24, and at its opening he will perform with the contemporary dance group 'Mi compañía', directed by Susana Pous, with two ballets by French composer Darius Milhaud, on the 9th and 10th of that month.


With the enthusiasm with which he always speaks of 'Habana Clásica', Madrigal announced that the third edition will have 'triple the guests, triple the concerts, triple the conferences and things', with 'the presence of very important institutions'.


Among the organizations that will attend the event, he mentioned the Opera Theater of Rome and the Festival Piano aux Jacobins, which he considers will be 'a much larger festival than the ones we have done so far, with an incredible roster of artists'.


This year —he said— we will have a popular music concert starring Mónica Marziota (young Cuban-Italian soprano) who will close the event, in which celebrities such as American violinist Tai Murray and Italian pianist Alessandro Stella will return.


Others will make their debut such as Francois Dumont, 'one of the most important French pianists at this moment', who will participate in the second week, 'thanks to the collaboration with the Festival Piano aux Jacobins'.


Madrigal clarified that although the festival will be very focused on the piano, there will also be a notable presence of other instruments, such as the cello, with a quartet performing, taking advantage of the presence of 'four great soloists of this instrument in Havana' on that occasion.


The entire evening —he added— we will dedicate to a repertoire practically unknown in Cuba, which will feature 'from Baroque music to rock', although 'all from a classical perspective'.


During the unique season, tributes will be held to Italy, France, Germany and of course to Havana for its 500th anniversary, with two concerts by fundamentally Cuban artists, such as Bárbara Llanes, Aldo López Gavilán, resident composer of this edition, and Niurka González.

In the context of 'Habana Clásica', community initiatives and other activities will also be carried out, including the presence of a piano restorer sent by a well-known German firm to collaborate in that aspect and promote the creation of a center for the training of piano tuners and restorers in the Cuban capital.