Fernando Lopes

He was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1935. In his hometown, he began his piano studies at the age of nine with Cecília de Mendonça and later perfected his skills with Arnaldo Estrella, becoming part of his first generation of students.

In 1951 and 1952, he was awarded the 1st Prize in the Youth Music Recitalist Competition. In 1952, he graduated from the Brazilian Conservatory of Music and, in the same year, participated in the Advanced Musical Interpretation Course taught by Magdalena Tagliaferro. In 1953, he performed at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro (TMRJ), interpreting Claude Prey's Choro for 2 pianos, together with Alexandre Kellner.

In 1956, he achieved his first ranking as a soloist with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra (OSB), which resulted in his debut at the TMRJ (Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro) as an orchestral soloist, performing Schumann's Concerto with the OSB under the direction of Eleazar de Carvalho.

He performed this concerto again in 1960 and 1961 with the OSB under the direction of Howard Mitchell and then Arthur Bosmans, respectively, both times at the TMRJ.

In 1957, he placed 8th in the 1st International Piano Competition of Rio de Janeiro, being the highest-ranked Brazilian pianist. In the final, he performed one of the movements of Brahms' Concerto No. 2. In this competition, he received the following awards: Best interpreter of Chopin mazurkas, Oscar Arany Prize, President of the Republic Prize, Polish Embassy Prize, Schwartzmann Prize. In the same year, he performed the complete Brahms Concerto No. 2 as a soloist with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Francisco Mignone. Also in that year, he was one of the founding members of the Union of Musicians of Brazil. In 1958, he came in second place in the 1st National Piano Competition of the City of Bahia, tied with pianist Arthur Moreira Lima, and won the "Rectorate of the University of Bahia" prize.

That year, he was invited to participate in a music improvement course in Saint Petersburg (then Leningrad), USSR. Parallel to his career as a performer, he played an important pedagogical role.

In 1959 and 1960, he took on the activities of piano teacher and director of the Pelotas Conservatory of Music (RS), where he also taught Music History and Chamber Music. In 1959, shortly before the death of Heitor Villa-Lobos, he gave the lecture "Villa-Lobos in our artistic-musical scenario" at this institution, with the collaboration of the Choir of the Pelotas Conservatory of Music, under the direction of Lourdes Nascimento. In 1960, he made his solo recital debut at the TMRJ (Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro), performing works by Frescobaldi-Respighi, Mozart (Sonata No.

11), Villa-Lobos (Impressões Seresteiras), Brahms, and Chopin. That same year, he also recorded Camargo Guarnieri's Sonata for viola and piano and Francisco Mignone's Fantasia for viola and piano with violist Lionello Forzanti for Rádio MEC. The recording of Guarnieri's Sonata was released commercially on disc by the SOARMEC label in 1998, in a volume dedicated to Camargo Guarnieri. With a scholarship from the Brazilian government, he studied in Austria (Vienna and Salzburg) and Germany (Cologne) with the pianist Bruno Seidlhofer, between 1960 and 1961.

In 1961, he obtained the Diploma of Merit at the International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy, and also won the Schelling Grand Prize at the Geneva International Piano Competition, where he tied for 2nd place with the Frenchman Jean Derbès in the men's category. In 1962, back in Brazil, he performed in Curitiba (PR) with the Sociedade de Cultura Artística Brasílio Itiberê, presenting works by Mozart, Schubert (Sonata in A minor, Op.

164), José Vieira Brandão (Study No. 1), Bartok, and Brahms (Sonata No. 1), and also gave two Chopin recitals at the TMRJ. Around this time, he recorded his first LP, titled “Fernando Lopes interpreta Mozart, Ravel, Vieira Brandão, Ernst Widmer”, released by JS Discos, including Mozart's Variations on a Minuet by Duport; Ravel's Alborada del gracioso; José Vieira Brandão's Study No.

1; and Ernst Widmer's Concatenation. From 1962 to 1975, he was director of the School of Music and Performing Arts at the Federal University of Bahia (Free Music Seminars), in Salvador (BA), also holding the chair of piano professor.

In 1963, he performed Brahms' Piano Concerto No.

1 as a soloist with the University of Bahia orchestra in Salvador, and in 1965, he performed Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 as a soloist with the OSB orchestra under the direction of Isaac Karabtchevsky at the TMRJ. In 1966, together with Arnaldo Estrella, he premiered Francisco Mignone's Samba rítmico (second version) for two pianos in Salvador (BA).

In 1967, he gave the world premiere of one of José Siqueira's piano concertos with the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theatre Symphony Orchestra under the composer's direction.

Still in the 1960s, he taught a series of public courses on "Piano Technique and Interpretation" in different cities in Brazil.

He developed an important international career, performing in countries such as Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Romania, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States.

His performances earned him eloquent reviews. John Rockwell of The New York Times stated, "He is on par with the greatest international pianists," and the London newspaper The Daily Telegraph highlighted the pianist's "monstrous technique and striking presence." Among the conductors he worked with, the following stand out: Eleazar de Carvalho, Isaac Karabitchevsky, Francisco Mignone, José Siqueira, Claudio Santoro, Roberto Duarte, Roberto Tibiriçá, Mário Tavares, Benito Juarez, Jamil Maluf, Victor Hugo Toro, Sergio Magnani, Pablo Komlós, Howard Mitchell, Carlos Veiga, Jean Meylan, Dietrich Erdmann, Johannes Hoemberg, Ludovic Bács, and Nicolae Boboc, among others. Some of the orchestras with which he performed throughout his career were: the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, the Rio de Janeiro National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theatre Symphony Orchestra, the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra, the University of Bahia Symphony Orchestra, and the Juiz de Fora Philharmonic Society.

Throughout his career, he dedicated himself to making recordings, which include both national and international repertoire.

He also dedicated himself wholeheartedly to the dissemination and recording of contemporary Brazilian works.

Between 1971 and 1972, he held the world premieres of two works by Ernst Widmer: Prismas and ENTROncamentos SONoros, both with the Symphony Orchestra of the Federal University of Bahia under the direction of the composer himself. In 1972, he held the world premiere of Toccata Op.

25 by Lindembergue Cardoso. In 1973, he performed in Naples, Italy. Between 1975 and 1991, he was a piano professor at the Institute of Arts of Unicamp (State University of Campinas) (SP), where he also served as director on two occasions, training generations of pianists.

In 1976, he won the APCA Award (São Paulo Association of Art Critics) in the Soloist category.

That year, he premiered Raul do Valle's Triptych, dedicated to him.

In 1977, he performed at the Sala Cecilia Meireles in a duo with violinist Salomão Rabinovitz, and in a duo with cellist Leonard Rose. With the former, he performed works such as Claudio Santoro's Sonata No.

4, Brahms' Sonata No. 3, and Prokofiev's Sonata No. 2, for violin and piano; and with the latter, he performed works by Francoeur, Debussy, and Brahms. This year, she also gave the world premiere of “Macaíra ou A pescaria fantástica” by Almeida Prado, for harpsichord and piano four hands, together with Sonia Muniz and harpsichordist Helena Hollnagel, during the II Biennial of Contemporary Brazilian Music at the Sala Cecília Meireles, a performance that was released on LP. In her chamber music activities, she also collaborated with soprano Maria Stader and horn player Hermann Baumann. In 1978, she made her New York debut at Town Hall with works by Mozart, Brahms (Sonata No.

1), Liszt (Sonata), and Almeida Prado (Cartas celestes No.

1). He served on the jury of competitions such as the IV International Piano Competition in Bahia (1964), the VI National Piano Competition of the Union of Musicians of Brazil (1965), the VIII National Piano Competition of the Union of Musicians of Brazil (1967), and the I Lúcia Branco National Piano Competition (1975). In 1979, together with oboist Harold Emert, he performed Henrique de Curitiba's Concerto Amabile with the Radio MEC Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Mário Tavares during the III Biennial of Contemporary Brazilian Music.

At the same event, he performed Sérgio de Vasconcellos-Corrêa's Potyrom (Potyron), dedicated to him, with the Agora Percussion Group.

In 1980, he performed Chopin's 24 Etudes in a recital at IBAM, Rio de Janeiro.

In that same year, he recorded the pioneering LP "O piano brazileiro de Carlos Gomes" for Funarte, featuring then little-known or previously unreleased works such as A cayumba, Grande valsa de bravura, Mormorio, Uma paixão amorosa, and the quadrilles Cachoeira and Quilombo. In 1981, he gave the world premiere of Almeida Prado's Cartas celestes No.

2 at the Jockey Club Auditorium in Rio de Janeiro, and also performed them at the IV Biennial of Contemporary Brazilian Music. In 1982, he recorded Almeida Prado's Cartas Celestes No.

1 to No. 6 on a triple LP released by Estúdio Eldorado, a landmark in the discography of contemporary Brazilian music.

Around 1983, he participated in one of the volumes of the LP series "Músicas e músicos de São Paulo," performing Canção Sertaneja and Encantamento by Camargo Guarnieri, with violinist Nathan Schwartzman. In 1984, he recorded all five piano concertos by Villa-Lobos, together with the Campinas Municipal Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Benito Juarez. This 4-LP box set, released independently, was the world's first complete recording of this concerto cycle.

Recordings of the cadenzas from each concerto were also released in a separate edition that same year by the Unicamp record label, containing a text analyzing the pieces. Also that year, Funarte (Documents of Brazilian Music Vol. 18) released an LP with works by Raul do Valle (Triptych), Ernst Widmer (Concatenation, in a new recording), Ernst Widmer (Suave Mari, Magno... Op. 97), and Lindembergue Cardoso (Toccata for pianoforte), based on recordings he made live in 1976 during the Panorama of Brazilian Piano at the Sala Cecilia Meireles. In 1986, he was the second Brazilian pianist, after Guiomar Novaes, to record Chopin's 24 Etudes on an LP released by Unicamp, which also contained the two notebooks of Brahms' Variations on a Theme of Paganini. The studies were later re-released in 1995 by the L'Art label.

In 1990, he recorded the complete Mozart piano sonatas, released by the Eldorado label in a 4-CD box set (for unknown reasons, Sonata No. 15 in F major, K.

533, was not included). In 1994, he recorded Brahms' three Sonatas for violin and piano with violinist Ayrton Pinto. In 1997, he performed Brahms' Concerto No. 2 as a soloist with the Municipal Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Isaac Karabtchevsky in São Paulo.

He also performed Brahms' Quartet Op.

34 with the Bessler Quartet at the Sala Cecília Meireles, Rio de Janeiro. In 1998, he recorded the album Brasilianas with violinist Salomão Rabinovitz, containing various Brazilian pieces by composers Guerra-Peixe, Francisco Mignone, Pixinguinha, Carlos Almeida, Dante de Souza, Henrique Oswald, Radamés Gnattali, Ernst Widmer (Duo Op. 127 – Scherzando), Ernesto Nazareth, Claudio Santoro (Sonata No.

4 for violin and piano), Camargo Guarnieri, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Dorival Caymmi. In 1999, he participated in a CD dedicated to the Bahian composer Sylvio Deolindo Fróes, performing the solo piano works Dança das folhas secas, Dança negra (Danse nègre), Domingo na aldeia, O que diz a selva ao mar, Prelúdio, Queixas da velha árvore and Vozes d´alva. Around this time, he recorded two of the greatest works in the Romantic piano repertoire: Liszt's Sonata and Schumann's Fantasia, released on an independent CD.

In 2001, he performed Liszt's Piano Concerto No.

1 as a soloist with the Petrobras Pró Música Orchestra (OPPM) under the direction of Roberto Tibiriçá at the Sala Cecilia Meireles. That year, he was one of the pianists to present Liszt's Hexameron, along with José Carlos Cocarelli, Gilberto Tínetti, Sônia Maria Vieira, Sônia Goulart, and Linda Bustani at the TMRJ (Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro).

In 2003, he once again received the APCA (São Paulo Association of Art Critics) award, this time in the Best Instrumentalist category. In 2005, he performed with the OSB (Brazilian Symphony Orchestra) under the direction of José Maria Florêncio at the TMRJ (Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theater).

In 2010, he performed Brahms' Concerto No.

2 as a soloist with the Campinas Municipal Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jamil Maluf, at the Centro de Convivência Cultural (Campinas, SP).

In the same year, he again performed Liszt's Hexameron, together with Arthur Moreira Lima, Jean-Louis Steuerman, João Carlos Martins, Gilberto Tinetti, and José Feghali at the TMRJ.

In 2011, he performed Liszt's Concerto No. 1 as a soloist with the São Pedro Theater Orchestra in São Paulo, under the direction of Roberto Duarte. This year, he made his last commercial recording, with the Ars Brasil ensemble performing chamber works by Henrique Oswald, on a triple CD containing the Piano Quintet Op. 18, the Piano Quartets Op. 5 and Op. 26, the Piano Trio Op. 45, the Sonata Fantasia for piano and cello Op. 44, and the Elegy for cello and piano. In 2012, he returned to perform Liszt's Hexameron, together with Gilberto Tinetti, Giulio Draghi, Flávio Augusto, Sônia Goulart, and Paulo Gori at the TMRJ (Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro).

His last public performance was in March 2013, with the Campinas Symphony Orchestra, when he played Schumann's Concerto, conducted by Victor Hugo Toro.

In 2018, pianist Mauricy Martin, his friend and colleague, produced a video in homage to Fernando Lopes during the Performa Clavis Internacional 2018 (Unicamp Institute of Arts) with testimonials from colleagues, friends, and former students such as Antonio Lauro Del Claro, Carlos Wiik, Hideraldo Grosso, and Eduardo Paiva.

Photos and documents from the pianist's personal archive were also shown.

He was considered by critic Antonio Hernandez as "the greatest pianistic power of the 20th century, after Claudio Arrau," and possessed "that transcendent technique capable of performing in the purest light the most complicated things written for his instrument. He also has imagination, culture, and above all a noble character, a condition also indispensable to artistic greatness." According to Sylvio Lago, he was “an excellent interpreter of Romantic and Brazilian composers; the significant traits of Fernando Lopes's pianistic art are characterized by broad sonority, precision, and beautiful rhythmic definitions, in addition to absolute clarity of phrasing and a rare capacity for mobilizing expressive resources.” Fernando Lopes passed away in Campinas on March 8, 2019. -- Pieces dedicated to Fernando Lopes: Celestial Letters No. 4 (“to my friend Fernando Lopes, great traveler of outer space”), Moments No.

32 to No.

37, Prelude No.

8, and Sonata No.

3 by Almeida Prado; Triptych (I. Fluctuations; II. Ellipses; III. Illumination), by Raul do Valle; Potyron, by Sergio de Vasconcellos-Corrêa.