Presentation of the American Liszt Society Medal to Luiz de Moura Castro (June 27th, 2021)
Luiz Carlos de Moura Castro - President Emeritus
Professor de Moura Castro, a brilliant pianist, and professor of piano at Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Conservatori Superior del Liceu in Barcelona and Pro Arte Seminarios de Musica in Rio de Janeiro. Two generations of His students are now virtuosos in their own right, performing and teaching across the world. He is recognized as one of the most important interpreters of Liszt and, naturally, he has a special love for Chopin. His CD recording of Chopin Nocturnes appeared on the cover of Fanfare Magazine (May/June 2013), where the reviewer compared them as a possible alternative to Rubinstein's.
Since 2013 Professor de Moura Castro has been President of the Fryderyk Chopin Society of Connecticut, and has played a pivotal role in its revival. Under his leadership the Society has become a premier cultural institution offering Central Connecticut six to eight recitals by world renowned pianists.
“Although words about music have been my métier for most of my professional life, I would require the pen of a Dickens or a Balzac to do justice in prose to this recital. Since I am neither a Dickens nor a Balzac, I must borrow from poetry and fall back on some lines from Wordsworth: ‘That music in my heart I bore, long after it was heard no more. ”
“In 60 years, I have never heard such Liszt playing. Under Luiz’s hands the piano sometimes became a voice, an orchestra, an organ.”
“Trained in Rio and at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, de Moura Castro must have been fortunate in his teachers—he himself went on to establish a wide-ranging career as an educator, primarily in the U.S.—because there’s a Golden Age sensibility behind his playing that can’t help but remind me of Shura Cherkassky, among others.”
“It is not an exaggeration to claim that Luiz de Moura Castro can be considered an artist in the highest ranks....he has performed to enthusiastic acclaim throughout the world and his soul reflects the generosity and spiritual confraternity so typical to Liszt. On this 50th anniversary of the ALS it is proper to recognize this icon of high standards, warmth and generosity, whose ideals we as a society aspire to emulate as a fitting role model for Lisztians the world over.”
Biography
Professor Luiz de Moura Castro is a world-renowned pianist, master teacher and adjudicator with over 55 recordings. He was recognized as Eminent Alumnus of the renowned secondary institution, the Colégio Pedro II (College of Peter II) in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro, and graduated summa cum laude from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. )He also studied at the Academia de Música Lorenzo Fernândez (Lorenzo Fernandez Academy of Music) and the Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem (Franz Liszt Academy of Music) in Budapest. He gave his debut recital at the age of nine years old in the Teatro Nacional de Rio de Janeiro (National Theater of Rio de Janeiro.)
A native of Rio de Janeiro and a resident of the United States, he regularly tours across the globe bringing quality classical music to diverse audiences and teaching a new generation of musicians. …
Especially renowned as a pedagogue, Professor de Moura Castro was included in the International Who’s Who in Music and The Most Wanted Piano Teachers in America by Benjamin Saver. Invited by the renowned Lili Kraus to teach at the Texas Christian University, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas from Brazil in 1968. From 1978 he has been a professor of piano at the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford, where he was chair of the piano department for 15 years. He was also a visiting professor at the Catholic University in Washington D.C., was associate professor at the Juan Pedro Carerro Music School in Barcelona, and has taught regularly at the Conservatori del Liceu in Barcelona, the Escola de Musica in Brasilia, and the Pro Arte Seminaros de Musica in Rio de Janeiro. He is the President of the Fryderyk Chopin Society of Connecticut, has been a board member of the American Liszt Society for over a decade, and has served as adjudicator for the Fulbright Commission, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and the Music Teachers' National Association Performance Competition.
Along with Spanish soprano Maria Jose Montiel, their album Modhina was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2002. In 2014, he was honored to be inducted into the Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame in Connecticut, and received official citations from the Connecticut General Assembly, Governor Dannel P. Malloy, and Senator Richard Blumenthal. He was awarded an Honorary Hungarian Citizenship and Medal of the Silver Raven in 2013 from the Corvino Cultural Association in California for his life long dedication to the works of Liszt and received a special citation as “Supreme Lisztian” along with renowned Liszt scholar, Alan Walker.
He has appeared with the Orchestre de Chambre Lausanne, Lisbon Radio Orchestra, Orchestra Filharmonichi di Turino, the Slovak Philharmonic, the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Yaroslavl Symphony and the London, Dallas, Saint Louis, Fort Worth, Hartford and Syracuse symphonies, in addition to all the major orchestras in Brazil. Solo recitals include the Metropolitan Museum and Merkin Hall (New York), Rubenstein Hall (St. Petersburg Academy), Piccola Scala (Milan), Teatro Ghione (Rome), Salle Gaveau (Paris), Palau de la Musica (Barcelona), Studio Ansermet (Geneva), and the Sala Cecilia Meireles and Teatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro).
Discography
Of Professor De Moura Castro’s 55 recordings here are some favorites:
Luiz de Moura Castro Plays Schumann Live! CD (2011)
Live Piano Recital by a master pianist celebrating Schumann's 200th birthday. Arabeske, Scenes from Childhood, Carnaval.
Rachmaninov CD (2015)
The best of romantic piano and orchestral music. "Here ...
Chopin: Nocturnes CD (2012)
These 19 Nocturnes (meaning night music) are known as some of the most beautiful and gentle music to be composed by Chopin. Written for the piano, these pieces calm the mind and soothe the soul.
Music for the Heart CD (2016)
A Liszt recital during the 2012 American Liszt Society festival which brought tears to the eyes of all and a standing ovation. Poetry, deep feeling, communication, artistry of the highest level.