A brief encounter with international pianist Robert Andres
With the integral Chopin concerts well underway in Madeira, event organizer and international pianist Robert Andres took time out from his busy schedule to talk about his career and the up and coming Chopin Chamber Music Concert which takes place on the 9th November at the Municipal Theatre Baltazar Dias at 9.30pm.
Croatian-born Robert attended the Zagreb Music Academy, studied in St. Petersburg and Vienna before taking his doctorate at the University of Kansas (Fulbright Scholarship) where he shared the teacher with Artur Pizarro and graduated as a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano and Master of Musicology. Moving to Madeira in 1993 he now teaches piano and the history of music at the Conservatório de Música da Madeira.
He has been the head of the Associação Amigos do Conservatório de Música da Madeira (AACMM) since 1997, an organisation which aims to promote culture and musical education on the island. To date he has organized 130 concerts featuring international and national artists, performed in a further 70 in Madeira alone, while he and his wife, who is also a pianist, have performed throughout Europe and in Madeira, most recently in Germany in October of this year.
When not performing or undertaking the various tasks associated with the AACMM Robert has written ‘Pianos and Pianism’, a book about Frederick Horace Clarke, the founder of the modern piano technique as well as articles for numerous music magazines, encyclopaedias and dictionaries. He worked as a music critic during 1995 – 2002 and also writes the CD and concert notes for fellow pianist and friend Artur Pizarro.
When asked what made him decide to include Chopin’s little known chamber music in the cycle Robert replied that these works had been largely neglected by the general public as they represent a very minor percentage of Chopin’s output (in total Chopin only wrote 19 songs and some pieces for flute and cello). The concert on the 9th will redress this neglect and illustrate a different side of Chopin’s musical development. That said, the ‘Sonata for Cello and Piano Op. 65’ shows great emotional richness, and "I relish the opportunity to play pieces which I find both enjoyable and intense."
The recital will include Variations for Flute and Piano on a theme from Rossini’s ‘La cenerentola’ where Robert will be accompanied by the flautist Eva Rodrigues. The Sonata for cello and piano Op. 65 will be played by Robert and the Hungarian Cellist László Szepsi and they will be joined by the Portuguese violinist Luís Pacheco Cunha for Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano No. 8.
When asked about the challenges of bringing this style of music to Madeira Robert opined that one of the biggest was the public’s need for instant gratification whereas the music composed by someone as complex as Chopin needs to be listened to and absorbed. His music plays on the emotions and to gain the most from each performance you have to listen to the music on an emotional level which means becoming actively involved.
Although organizing any concert is challenging, Madeira is becoming much more involved within the cultural scene which in turn enables more people to have access to and enjoy international and national artists performing the works of great composers. This encourages future artistic development of Madeira’s musical talent.
On a personal note I would like to thank Robert for taking time out to talk to me and I can thoroughly recommend booking early to avoid disappointment for this very special performance.
Words – Jane Harris
