Cuban pianist Frank Fernández will give a concert in Germany

February 7, 2020

Cuban pianist and composer Frank Fernández is preparing a concert today in a venue specially equipped for musical production in the historic Allerheiligen-Hofkirche church in Munich, Germany.

According to the Cuban artist, authorities from the European country invited him to perform today, February 7, in that temple located in downtown Munich, which has a great history as it was built between 1826 and 1837, but was nearly destroyed during World War II.

The marks from the bombs of the armed conflict lasted for decades there until it was restored and converted to host concerts and events.

Although Fernández did not reveal details of the program, almost certainly—as in most of his concerts—he will begin with the famous Ave Maria by Franz Schubert, because it is a work that gives him peace and he believes prepares the audience for something extraordinary.

As he explained on one occasion, it is his instrumental version because the Austrian composer originally wrote the piece for voice and piano.

I studied a great arrangement by Frank Liszt but it seemed too virtuosic to me, too brilliant, and I decided in the entire first part to transcribe what Schubert wrote: the right hand fundamentally does what the singer would do, the left accompanies, he clarified.

As the piece unfolds I incorporate pianistic elements into it but without the harmony or original melody of Schubert disappearing, I try to make a version without falling into autobiography, and I try to maintain the spiritual, collected, intimate and passionate world of the work, he detailed.

Fernández is considered the father of the Cuban piano school because his students, without attending foreign conservatories, have won 27 international awards.

Critics from several continents praise the virtuosity of the pianist who graduated with a gold diploma from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.

To date, he is the only Cuban who holds the Pushkin Medal, awarded directly by the president of Russia, Vladímir Putin.

For some he is 'a being touched by divinity', others highlight his power at the piano and most agree in calling him one of the masterful interpreters of the most sublime moments of universal music and, therefore, one of the greatest pianists in the world.

With more than 200 awards in his curriculum, Fernández has earned a reputation as a versatile musician since his own compositions exceed 650 in different formats: ballets, choirs, film soundtracks, radio, television and arrangements for popular music groups.