Piano Concert

Hoacio Lavandera

“Sounds of Eternity”: Ludwig van Beethoven – Gustav Mahler – The Beatles – Gustavo Cerati

Luis C. Carontí Auditorium. Av. Colón 31 – Bahía Blanca, November 19, 2025, 8:00 PM

The concert begins with Ludwig van Beethoven’s interpretations of two of England’s most popular melodies, transformed into anthems: “God Save the King” and “Rule Britannia.”

The 33 Diabelli Variations, Op. 120 in C major, were composed between 1819 and 1823. Musicologist Sir Donald Tovey hailed them as “the finest set of variations ever written.”

The second part of this concert includes the original player piano roll versions recorded by Gustav Mahler himself. Paul McCartney: “We’ve always admired Mahler, and he was a huge influence on the Beatles’ music.”

Finally, these compositions will be connected with Horacio Lavandera’s versions of iconic songs by members of The Beatles and Gustavo Cerati.

**Part One**

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

-Variations “God Save the King,” WoO 78

-Variations “Rule Britannia,” WoO 79

-Variations “Diabelli,” Op. 120

**Part Two**

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Ich ging mit Lust (Songs and Songs)
Ging heut Morgen übers Feld (from the song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen)
Das himmlische Leben (from the fourth movement of the Fourth Symphony)
Funeral March (from the first movement of the Fifth Symphony)
Adagietto (from the Fifth Symphony)

Horacio Lavandera (1984*)

-The Beatles Suite (1960-1970)

Allegro. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (by George Harrison).
Andante. Imagine (by John Lennon).

III. Allegro. Eleanor Rigby (by Paul McCartney)

Moderate. Yesterday (by Paul McCartney)
Ready. I Saw Her Standing There (by Paul McCartney)

-Sonata “Soda Stereo” (1983-1997)

Moderate. (From Light Music)
Andante (Tea for Three)

III. Allegro (In the City of Fury)

“Lavandera’s numerous pedal effects surprised and delighted; his enormous virtuosity impressed, reminiscent of Maurizio Pollini’s (and he was at least as virtuosic as the revered Vladimir Horowitz).” This is what the German critic Thomas Ziegner wrote in the Schwäbisches Tageblatt about the performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata, Op. 106, and Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Klavierstück XI at a concert in Rottenburg am Neckar, Baden-Württemberg.

At the age of 16, Lavandera won the 3rd Umberto Micheli International Piano Competition, held at La Scala in Milan, and was awarded a prize by the La Scala Orchestra. Since then, he has performed on some of the most important stages in America, Europe, and Japan, both in recitals and as a soloist with prestigious orchestras. He has performed in venues such as the Herkulessaal (Munich), the Berlin Philharmonic (Berlin), Radio France (Paris), Wigmore Hall (London), Jordan Hall (Boston), Carnegie Hall (New York), the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome), the Musikverein (Vienna), the Hamarikyu Asahi Hall (Tokyo), the Teatro Real (Madrid), and the Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), with prestigious orchestras including the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, the London Chamber Players, and the Orchestra of the Teatro Real, under the direction of Antonio Pappano, Benjamin Zander, and Franz-Paul Decker, among others.

He has been distinguished, among other awards, three times as “Best Instrumental Soloist” by the Argentine Association of Music Critics, and has received an award from Karlheinz Stockhausen and from the “Primer Palau” in Barcelona.

Among his recordings as a solo pianist are: Spanish Composers of the Generation of ’51, sponsored by the Community of Madrid; the CD+DVD Argentine Composers, recorded by Sony Music; Chopin (EPSA Música); In London, recorded live at Wigmore Hall in London, which received the 2016 Gardel Award for Best Classical Music Album; and Images – Dino Saluzzi (ECM Records). In 2016, the NIBIUS label released his CD Horacio Lavandera Plays Astor Piazzolla, winner of the Melómano de Oro Award in October 2016. His CD Ludwig van Beethoven received the Gardel Award for Best Classical Music Album in 2019.

He is the fifth generation of a family of distinguished professional musicians. He began his studies at the age of two with his father, José María Lavandera. At seven, she continued her musical training with her great-aunt, Marta Freigido, a graduate with honors from the Vicente Scaramuzza Conservatory. She furthered her studies with Antonio De Raco and, at sixteen, received a CIDIM scholarship to work with Maurizio Pollini at the Accademia Chigiana di Siena (Italy). At eighteen, she obtained a scholarship from the Carolina Foundation to work with Josep Colom at the University of Alcalá de Henares (Spain). She complemented her piano training with private orchestral conducting lessons from Jorge Rotter, a professor at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, and with musical composition classes with Alberto Posadas (IRCAM).