BOTTIROLI, JOSÉ ANTONIO (1920–1990)

A Global Music Award ‘Outstanding Achievement’ winner and Premios de la Academia de la Música de España nominee, Fabio Banegas is an established Argentine-American classical pianist and music publisher. A recipient of the Mozarteu Santa Fe competition prize and the Redfield Award of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, he has performed internationally across Europe and the Americas. His acclaimed discography, released on the Naxos, Grand Piano and Guild Music labels, includes numerous world premières, and in addition to the complete piano works of José Antonio Bottiroli, he has debuted pieces by Eduardo Grau, Nicolás Alfredo Alessio and Jacobo Ficher, both on record and in live performance. He studied at the National University of Rosario with Nelly Gabús and Ana María Cué, and earned a Master of Music from California State University, Fullerton under the guidance of Susan Svrček.

Formed by Spanish pianists Antón Dolgov and Maite León, the internationally acclaimed Antón and Maite Piano Duo was awarded First Prize at both the Concurs Josep Mirabent i Magrans and the International Competition ‘Luigi Zanuccoli’, and won the Spanish Young Musical Talent Award at El Primer Palau competition. The duo has appeared across Spain, including at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Sala Mozart in Zaragoza and Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, as well as further afield, with performances at the Musikverein Graz in Austria, the Philharmonic Society of Lima in Peru, and Harbin Grand Theatre in China. The duo’s debut album, Essenz (IBS Classical), was rated ‘Gold’ by Melómano magazine, and received five stars from Ritmo. Regular guests of the Schubertíada de Vilabertrán, the Festival de Música y Danza Granada and the Festival de Piano Rafael Orozco in Córdoba, both Dolgov and León have featured as soloists with the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Goya and the Orquesta sinfónica del Cusco.

José Antonio Bottiroli’s music emerged in stark contrast within the Argentinean classical landscape created by his predecessors, as he did not find inspiration in folklore and native dances. He also diverged from the modernist and avant-garde musical aesthetic adopted by many of his contemporaries. Instead, he found in the short musical forms of Romanticism the ideal medium for his expression, which he infused with diverse moods, extreme subjectivism, intimacy and his own real-life experiences.