The pianist María Luisa Cantos offered on Sunday, September 22, at the Ateneo de Madrid a concert that marked her return to Madrid.
The event opened with a few words from the Swiss ambassador to Spain, Hanspeter Mock Bosque, not for nothing, for many years, María Luisa Cantos has been the great ambassador of Spanish music in Switzerland. His work of dissemination has been fundamental for the development in Switzerland of a deep idea of the Spanish musical richness, beyond a folkloric knowledge, of the topic of flamenco, behind which is hidden a tradition of great height in music.
“Today we meet at the Ateneo de Madrid to pay tribute to one of the most prominent figures of the piano in Spain and Switzerland and a key personality in the recent musical history of both countries, María Luisa Cantos, said Hanspeter Mock Bosque. This return of María Luisa Cantos to Madrid, represents a moment of celebration for all who love music. Throughout her career, she has proven herself an incredible performer, able to bring to life composers such as Brahms, Debussy and Zbinden, and today she will delight us with a program that promises to be unforgettable.”
“But, over the years, I concluded the Swiss ambassador, Maria Luisa has not only been a prominent pianist at an international level, but also a great spokesperson for Spanish music in Switzerland. Its dissemination and research work has enabled the Swiss public to discover and appreciate the richness and depth of the Spanish musical tradition. That’s why his name is associated in Switzerland not only with musical excellence, but also with a deep cultural commitment.”
The Music Section of the Ateneo and the Fundación Piú Mosso dedicated a tribute to one of the great Spanish pianists. At the beginning of the session, the documentary María Luis Cantos: music and word was screened, broadcast by TVE on the program La aventura del saber. This report served as an announcement for the concert with which Cantos opened the concerts of El Escorial, in early August. A return with entrance through the large door of one of the great piano ladies. With Rosa Sabater and Alicia de Larrocha, he forms a triumvirate that is at the forefront of the most creative artists.
In the recital, María Luis Cantos played Johannes Brahms: Intermezzo op. 118 | Capriccio op. 76 | Intermezzo op. 76, to Julien-François Zbinden: Suite Brève en ut | Prélude en forme de Nocturne et Tarentelle, Claude Debussy: Préludes «Voiles» et «La porte du vin» | Toccata from the “Suite pour le Piano”.
Maria Luis Cantos is the alma mater of the Foundation of the well-known International Courses of Interpretation of Spanish Music which have been held annually in Baden/Switzerland since 1979 and which have become a solid reference point in musical life, constituting a forum-cultural unique in its kind. In 1990 he created the Fundación Música Española Suiza, whose main objective is the promotion and dissemination of Spanish music in Switzerland and its impact in Central Europe, being its president and artistic director, Order of Elizabeth the Catholic, for his cultural merits abroad.
