Maria Canals i Cendrós

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Maria Canals i Cendrós (born March 12, 1914 in Barcelona ; † July 28, 2010 there ) was a Spanish classical pianist and music teacher. As a pianist, she made the Catalan and Spanish piano literature by Enrique Granados , Manuel de Falla , Joaquin Turina , Manuel Blancafort and Frederic Mompou internationally known. As a music teacher, she established the Acadèmia de Música Ars Nova and the Concurs de Piano Maria Canals , the international Maria Canals piano competition. As a piano student of Ricardo Viñes , she is counted as a member of the Catalan Pianist School .

Live and act

From the musical beginning to the first concerts

Maria Canals came into contact with music from an early age. She took piano lessons at an early age from her father Joaquim Canals , a piano teacher at the Barcelona Municipal Conservatory . At the age of eleven she enrolled at this conservatory. There she received further piano lessons from her father, while Lluís Millet introduced her to solfeggio , music theory and composition. Later Lluís Millet also taught her privately, which resulted in a deep artistic relationship of great significance. In April 1932 Maria Canals made her professional concert debut at the Municipal Conservatory of Barcelona .

From 1941 to 1943 Maria Canals received private tuition from Ricardo Viñes for two years. Since Canals gained a much deeper understanding of the preferred French piano literature in these lessons, she was able to improve significantly in terms of technology and expression. At the same time Viñes introduced her to the musical life of Barcelona through numerous joint private concerts. After the civil war, specifically on May 30, 1942, Canals gave a concert with Viñes at the Palau de la Música in Barcoln , where she made her solo debut in November of the same year.

Artistic development and professional contacts

After the civil war, Canals slowly grew into a sought-after interpreter thanks to her advances in music and piano technique for composers. From this process a deep friendship grew with the Catalan composer Manuel Blancafort . This mediated her acquaintance with composers such as Frederic Mompou and Xavier Montsalvatge as well as with other personalities from culture and music.

It was Blancafort who suggested the renowned pianist Ricard Viñes for Canals' further piano training. Canals had premiered many of Blancafort's works, including Nocturne No. 2 on November 9, 1947 and the Iberian Concerto on March 3, 1950 . Canals had a penchant for interpreting contemporary works. She gave world premieres of works by Xavier Montsalvatge, Frederic Mompou and her husband Rossend Lates i Serrat. As a pianist, premieres and general performances of contemporary music were important to her.

Maria Canals began her concert career in the 1940s, right after the Spanish Civil War. In addition to concert activities in Madrid, she has appeared in France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Above all, after her first solo concert on November 10, 1942, she had numerous appearances in the Palau de la Música in Barcelona.

From private lessons to the Acadèmia Ars Nova

In 1948 the writer, music critic and Rossend Llates founded the Acadèmia Ars Nova together with his then fiancée Maria Canals . The number of students who took up the classes grew steadily. After only two years, due to the increasing number of students, the academy had to be relocated from the private house to a spacious attic in the Rambla de Catalunya, where it developed into a renowned training center.

From the very beginning, Canals attached great importance to the fact that her students gave concert lectures in various places in the city, such as the Sala Lluís Millet , the Palau de la Música , the municipal library or the Institut francais. By playing in front of an audience, they should gain self-confidence in the presentation. In addition to these recitals, the Academy offered numerous conferences and music courses with speakers of international standing. She introduced prizes to promote the quality of interpretation among students. These efforts produced outstanding students such as Maria Neus Miró, Maria Roma, Pere Carboné, Núria Escofet, and Leonora Milà.

El Concurs Internacional Maria Canals

In 1954, Maria Canals established the Concurs Internacional Maria Canals within the Acadèmia Ars Nova . Young pianists should be given a platform for a successful concert career here.

Publications

Maria Canals published the autobiographical works “Una vida dins la música” (1969, A life in music) and “Quaranta anys de vida del concurs d'execució musical: alguns records” (1998, forty years of music competition. Some memories). Together with her husband Rossend Lates i Serrat, she published the work "Beethoven: la vida i l'obra, visió actual" (Beethoven: Life and Work. The Current View) in 1970.

Honors and prizes

  • 1965 “Stella della Solidarità Italiana” (awarded by the President of the Republic of Italy).
  • 1979 «Generalitat de Catalunya diploma for merits in the field of culture and music» (awarded by the President of Catalonia, Josep Tarradellas ).
  • 1981 "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts des Lettres" (Knight of the Order of the Arts, appointed by the Minister of Culture of the Republic of France).
  • 1990 «Creu de Sant Jordi» (Sant Jordi Cross for excellence in the field of culture, awarded by the Generalitat de Catalunya).
  • 1990 "Medalla al Mérito en Bellas Artes" (Silver Medal of Merit in Fine Arts, awarded by the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Spain).
  • 1994 "Medalla d'or al mèrit artístic" (gold medal of the city of Barcelona for services to art).

See also

literature

Web links

Individual references and comments

  1. ↑ This article is a translation of the article of the same name on the Catalan language Wikipedia. In the German personal article , the chapter on the Concurs de Piano Maria Canals (Maria Canals piano competition) has been shortened, as there is a separate article on this topic in the German Wikipedia.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Center de Documentació de L'Orfeó Català: Maria Canals.
  3. ↑ Generalitat de Catalunya - Culturcat (web archive): Catalan musicians (19th Century AC - 20th Century AC). Retrieved January 21, 2019 . There is a section on the Catalan Pianist School .
  4. ↑ See also the article Maria Canals International Music Competition .
  5. ↑ Enciclopèdia Catalana.
personal data
SURNAME Canals i Cendrós, Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Canals i Cendrós, Maria Remei; Canals i Cendrós, Maria del Remei
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish classical pianist and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Barcelona
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 2010
Place of death Barcelona