PORTUGUESE PIANIST IS THE FIRST CHOICE OF THE YEAR FOR ORCHESTERGRABEN

– PIANIST VASCO DANTAS ‘POETIC SCENES ALBUM IS DISTINGUISHED BY THE GERMAN MAGAZINE.

Lusa Agency
10 December 2020, 09:18

The album “Poetic Scenes” (2020), the third by the pianist Vasco Dantas, consisting of German and Portuguese repertoire from the romantic period, is “this year’s first choice” by the German magazine Orchestergraben, was released today.

The album, released last April, had already caught the attention of international critics, namely the English magazine Gramophone, which praised it, and the Pizzicato Journal.

“What an interesting and original idea by Vasco Dantas juxtaposing Schumann’s ‘Kinderszenen’, the virtually unknown transcriptions of Schumann’s songs by Carl Reinecke and piano pieces in the tradition of fado”, read in English criticism who sailed: “More importantly, the young Portuguese virtuoso is an attentive and cultured musician”.

Pizzicato, for his part, wrote: “Dantas does not use basic lyrical-poetic humor, which runs like a thread through all the pieces, for vain staging and also not to languish in poetry. Instead, he convinces with his touch natural, which shows an equally natural relationship with music “.

The CD alignment includes Richard Schumann’s “Cenas Infantiles”, Carl Reinecke’s transcriptions of Robert Schumann’s songs, “Portuguese Scenes – Cantiga d’Amor, Chula and Valsa Caprichos”, by Vianna da Motta, transcriptions of Fados for Piano – “Hylário”, “Corrido”, “I’m hungry not for bread” and “Nolto Lento” -, by Alexandre Rey Colaço, Fado No. 3 of “Portuguese Pages”, by Óscar da Silva, and “Fado”, by Eduardo Burnay.

In the view of Pizzicato Journal, it is a “program that is as demanding as it is dangerous”. “With similar collections of poetic scenes, other artists were shipwrecked”, referring to the Chinese pianist Lang Lang, whose interpretation of “Schumann’s ‘Children’s Scenes’ turned into an interpretive fiasco”, wrote the Italian publication.

The CD was published by Arts Profuktion, and “there was no funding from any Portuguese institution for the creation of this album”, lamented the pianist, who said he was “very happy” with the distinction.

Vasco Dantas was born in 1992, in Porto, and graduated in Music with “1st Class Distinction” at the London Royal College of Music, having studied with Dmitri Alexeev and Niel Immelman.

He completed his master’s degree in Performance with a maximum grade under the guidance of Herbert Koch, at the University of Münster, Germany, where he was accepted for a doctorate.

The pianist has won more than 50 awards in international competitions in Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Among the most recent are the Gian Claudio International Prize in Rome, ‘Grand Prix’ at the Valletta International Piano Competition, the ‘Prix Spécial’ at the Princess Lalla Meryem International Piano Competition, in Morocco, the 1st prize at Porto Santa Cecília International Competition, the 1st Prize in the Estoril Competition and the Fundação Eng. António de Almeida Prize.

Last year, he debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York with a piano recital.

In 2017, he had performed for the first time in Russia, with the Kremling Chamber Orchestra, in the Great Hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

In 2016, Vasco Dantas played with Jülich Sinfonieorchester and Junges Sinfonieorchester Aachen, from Germany.

The previous year had been his debut in Asia, with the Hong Kong Symphonia at the Hong Kong Concert Hall.

Vasco Dantas has performed with the Classical Madeira, Classical Center, Classical South, the Youth Music Festival, Portuguese Philharmonic, Beiras Philharmonic, Gulbenkian, and the Young Portuguese Orchestra, among others.