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The Brazilian pianist, Ricardo Peres, began his concert career in 1982 with a televised concert in his native Brazil. Two years later, at 18, his debut recording made the Brazilian "Top Recordings of the Year" press list. A protégé of the late Malcolm Frager and Alicia de Larrocha during his studies in the USA, he appears regularly in North America to enthusiastic audiences. In a 1996 solo recital, Montréal critic Francine Labelle noted: "...Peres achieved a perfect partnership with his piano. A sort of miracle!".
Hailed as "The Art Tatum of the Tango" by the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Ricardo Peres brings a new attitude to concert audiences. His appearances are about music making, and making it interesting. Peres challenges the conventions of the concert stage with musical syncretism. He delights in programing his own arrangements of the South American folk repertoire along with the European masters. A recital by Ricardo Peres is likely to offer a J.S. Bach Partita side by side with a folk suite by Egberto Gismonti... or the Frédéric Chopin's Preludes followed by a set of Piazzolla tangos... or even chants from Amazon natives whom Peres has visited. "Viscerally compelling" was how Fanfare magazine described the magnetic way he connects with his audiences. The Ottawa Citizen has defined his approach as "something fresh and unique on the piano".
Ricardo Peres has since made records for the Novadisc (1994), ATMA (1997) and Port-Royal (1999) labels.
Ricardo Peres lives in Montréal, Canada. |
