Latin Grammy® Award-winning pianist-composer Gabriela Montero pays homage to the inextinguishable spirit of the people of Latin America with the world premiere recording of her Piano Concerto No. 1, “Latin” Concerto. The work illuminates the vibrant and complex cultures of the region’s nations. Leipziger Volkszeitung writes of her concert debut of the piece: “Gabriela Montero is a marvellous pianist, a force of nature as an improviser and, as a composer, maybe a new hope for the piano concerto form in itself.” The album also features Ravel’s dazzling, jazz-era-inspired Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Major, and was recorded with The Orchestra of the Americas and conducted by frequent Montero collaborator Carlos Miguel Prieto.
Montero writes:
“When most people think of Latin America, they imagine a place where life, like the music, is full of rhythm, sensuality and primitive energy. I know it’s appealing to market Latin America as a bubbly, fun paradise. But there are dark shadows over it all that can stop us from seeing clearly. These are the shadows of violence and corruption that have prevented some Latin American countries from reaching their full potential. This is the story I wanted to tell; this is why my Latin Concerto shows the complexities of South American life. I don’t want the common perception of Latin Americans to obscure the daily reality of what’s happening in some South American nations. They are not always agents of their own destiny.”
This is Montero’s second release on Orchid Classics. She won the 2015 Latin Grammy® for her first album with the label: the celebrated Ex Patria, her tribute to the people of her native Venezuela. BBC Music Magazine said of the release that, “Here is the full Montero, revelling in her fine technique, and unstoppable creative flow.”
Watch a live performance of Latin Concerto here
Montero & Ravel: Piano Concertos is available on Orchid Classics from 20 September, 2019.
