PIANO CUBANO
PIANO WORKS BY
LECUONA • FARIÑAS • ALÉN
Yamilé Cruz Montero
“Why Piano Cubano? It is a piece of the history of my life and of the country where I was born and raised. During my training as a musician, I performed both international classical works and Cuban repertoire. Both were compulsory in music schools in Havana. I chose for my first album works by Lecuona, Fariñas and Alén, composers with whom I have identified during different stages of my development. I currently live outside Cuba and playing Cuban music for me has become a ‘bridge’ over the Atlantic Ocean, the sun that appears in my room when grey days flood the city, a necessity for the soul.” – Yamilé Cruz Montero
Córdoba from Lecuona's Suite Andalucía
(1895–1963)
(1934–2002)
(b. 1950)
About this Recording
Some of the finest, most stylistically diverse and exciting Cuban piano music can be heard on this recording. Ernesto Lecuona is one of the greatest of all Latin-American composers. Malagueña, from the Suite Andalucía, is considered the most powerful representation of Spain in Cuban music. Drawing on the Cuban genes of son and cancíon, the music of Carlos Fariñas radiates vivid colours, while that of Andrés Alén Rodríguez blends song, habanera and jazz influences.
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 70:10
Yamilé Cruz Montero
Yamilé Cruz Montero studied at the Manuel Saumell Conservatory, the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory and at the Superior Institute of Art in Cuba. She received her Master of Music at the Music University in Munich. She has received several awards from institutions such as Amadeo Roldán and Musicalia in 2002, the María Clara Cullell International Piano Competition in 2004, Musicalia in 2007 and the Cuban Union of Writers and Artists in 2010. She was the first Cuban woman to perform the Third Piano Concerto of Prokofiev and has performed at major events and festivals in Havana. In addition to her European classical repertoire, Montero devotes herself particularly to Latin American composers, presenting new and unknown works.
More Recordings from Latin American Composers
– Pizzicato
– CBC
– The Art Music Lounge
