In its third concert this Saturday at 9 pm in the Sant Carles cultural centre, the 25th Ibiza International Music Festival will pay tribute to the recently deceased painter Erwin Bechtold and pianist Tatiana Franova. It will be a four-hands recital with the most internationally renowned Ibizan pianist, María José Perete, and the French pianist Carole Carniel. Both are experts in the great baroque and romantic repertoire.
The German painter Erwin Bechtold (Cologne, 1925- Sant Carles, 2022), illustrious neighbor of Sant Carles since 1958 was a regular collaborator of the Festival and the International Piano Competition for which he designed the programs, banners and T-shirts with exclusive collections of drawings for 20 years. Slovak pianist Tatiana Franova (Martin, 1945 – Vienna, 2022), Professor of Piano at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, was also a committed artist with Ibiza, performing at the Festival in the 2001, 2003 and 2008 editions and as a permanent member of the jury from 2003 until her death, contributing her extraordinary knowledge of the Central European piano school.
Merging personal and professional tastes in memory of Bechtold and Franova, pianists Carole Carniel and María José Perete will offer an exquisite piano recital for four hands with works to be heard for the first time on the island: the chorale ‘Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106 (1708)’, by Johann Sebastian Bach (in the transcription for piano 4 hands by György Kurtág, 1973), the ‘Legends, op. 59’ (1881) by the Czech composer Antonín Dvorák and the ‘Norwegian Dances, op. 35’ (1881) by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.
Carole Carniel performs for the first time on the island. A graduate of the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris, she has won several prizes in international competitions and released several albums. Laureate of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and the Fédération Internationale Musique Espérance, she won several prizes in international piano competitions, including First Prize at the International Competition ‘Città di Senigallia’ (Italy), First Prize at the International Competition of Musical Youth in Belgrade (Serbia) and Second Prize at the International Music Competition Maria Canals in Barcelona (Spain). He regularly gives recitals as a soloist, in chamber music and with orchestra.
Member of the ensemble Atmusica, she is also dedicated to contemporary music repertoire and participates in multiple creations. His discography includes infrequent repertoire, sometimes recorded on pianoforte and historical instruments. Thus, his discs with works by Brahms (Ligia, 1995); works by Pierre de Bréville and Tristan Klingsor (first world recording, Ligia, 1997); works by Carulli for guitar and pianoforte (Ligia, 1998); Years of Pilgrimage: Switzerland, by Franz Liszt (piano Érard 1840, Ligia, 2000); works for guitar and pianoforte by Beethoven and Diabelli (Ligia, 2003); works by Maria Szymanowska (piano Camille Pleyel 1846, Ligia. 2004) and ‘Dans le salon d’Emma Bardac’ with works by Fauré and Debussy (piano Steinway 1900, Ligia, 2010).
In 2013 she received the Grand Prix de Médecine des Arts de France for her work on memorization. Her book Le yoga du musicien (The musician’s yoga, 2016) was published by the Alexitère publishing house, in France. She currently teaches piano and body awareness at the Conservatoire Régional de Tours (France).
María José Perete
For her part, María José Perete returned to her native island in 2021, as a piano teacher at the Professional Conservatory of Music and Dance of Ibiza, after more than 15 years of international experiences.
Since the teacher Vera Sykora guided her first piano steps at the age of 5, a large number of pedagogues have left a special mark on her training. Among them, the pianists Brenno Ambrosini, Carole Carniel, Pierre-Yves Jalicon and Catherine Schneider, who have accompanied her during her higher degrees in piano, master in musical interpretation, Diplôme national supérieur professionnel de musicien and Diplôme d’état de professeur de piano.
Unanimous first prize winner at the X International Piano Competition of Ibiza (1996) and second prize winner at the International Piano Competition City of San Sebastian (1999), María José Perete has performed as a soloist at the ‘Pianofest’ festivals of the Alfred Schnittke Akademie in Hamburg, ‘Festival de Música Clásica’ in Sigüenza, ‘Semana Internacional de Música de Cámara de Montserrat’ in Valencia, ‘Concerts découverte’ in Poitiers, ‘Les mercredis au conservatoire’ in Istres and ‘Les Notes d’Été’ in Miramas, among others.
In addition to giving concerts as a soloist, María José Perete also devoted herself to chamber music, with her grouping with the ‘Iboshim Trio’, together with the violinist Cristina Prats and the cellist Mónica Marí, standing out. It is also worth mentioning his performance of Mozart’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 9 ‘Jeunehomme’ with the Orquesta Sinfónica Ciutat d’Eivissa, conducted by Adolfo Villalonga Juan, in the ‘Eivissa in C Major’ Festival.
Eager to transmit her musical experiences, María José Perete combines artistic practice with teaching. Before teaching at the Ibiza Conservatory, María José has been a piano teacher at the Regional Conservatory of Poitiers and at the Conservatory ‘Michel Petrucciani’ of Istres Provence West, both in France.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.