Frank Fernández: an Heir of Chopin and a Romantic
BY OMAR VÁZQUEZ

Celebrations for the Year of Chopin have begun among us auspiciously. Nothing better to mark the bicentennial of the birth of Poland’s most distinguished musician than the hallmark of an artist like Frank Fernández, the great interpretative mastery of which has placed him, for a long time now, on another pinnacle, that of piano performance.

Once more, Frank demonstrated his complete correspondence with the romantic school that had in Chopin one of its most meritorious cultivators. The audience that packed the hall of Havana’s Amadeo Roldán Theater assessed the genius of the interpreter from the beginning of the recital, which he opened with Prelude in E minor (Opus 28, Number 4). The joyful atmosphere increased its tone gradually as Saturday night advanced, with the difficult Scherzo in B minor, a series of four mazurkas; the Nocturne Opus 27; the Impromptu Number 1, Opus 29, four waltzes…to culminate in the Grande Polonaise Brilliante, which really made the auditorium shudder.

There were many other moments of ecstasy, in which with the sole company of the Steinway and by paying close attention to the requirements of every piece, the maestro displayed his understanding of Chopin’s work. It seemed as if he was building a sound cathedral with the keyboard.

Also worth mentioning is the good stage production, which is not something usual in this type of concert. The solid audiovisual conception of Roberto Chile and his project Alas con puntas and the young fine art artists of the Chopin in Cuba collective exhibition (Amalia Angulo, Francis Fernández —Copola—, Jesús Lara, José Antonio Hechavarría, Kamyl Bullaudy, Lorenzo Linares, Marlys Fuego, Verónica Fuego and William Pérez) were skilfully combined.

Actor Héctor Quintero contributed his professionalism with the reading of texts by Alfred Cartot (1877-1962), the great French-Swiss pianist and expert on the work of Frederic Chopin (Zelasowa Wola, Poland, February 22, 1810-Paris, France, October 17, 1849).